Justice League of America: Vibe was one of the New 52 gems you missed out on.

You wouldn’t know it because even DC is self-deprecating in the comic’s first issue solicitation:

“No, that’s not a typo. Vibe stars in his own ongoing monthly title, starting with this debut issue co-written by GEOFF JOHNS!”

A large share of comics fans still think of Vibe as 1986’s Paco Ramon, the stereotypical depiction of a Hispanic former street gang member whose “vibratory” powers were related to break-dancing. His costume only highlighted his character’s ridiculousness; the top, in a style usually reserved for female characters, revealed skin from chest to navel. In the midst of DC’s maturing tone in the Copper Age, Vibe stuck out as a remainder of the silly, childish Silver Age. Even as part of the Justice League, trained by Aquaman and teammates with Steel, few took him seriously.

On the other hand, the New 52 Vibe is a clean slate, something DC has claimed to try to do for most of their universe with varying effects. Francisco Ramon is one of the best character reboots in the past 2+ years, if not the best. With his reality-warping powers, he connects directly with the company-wide reboot, which has had DC exploring its multiverse and all the adventures it has to offer. Earth 2 and World’s Finest are titles straight from one of those other dimensions while recent Big Bads from Earth 3, the Crime Syndicate, have come to wreak havoc on vulnerable Earth Prime. DC’s creative staff and editorial have indicated that more worlds will come into play for the future. But what makes the main DCU so important? How are all these transdimensional strangers able to come through the gates separating the 52 universes? The answers to those questions are in Vibe because instead of break-dancing, we now have the multiverse's broken rules. Between his newfound power and his touching closeness with his family, Vibe came out a brilliant book and an integral building block to the DCM.

The first two issues of Vibe were written by Johns and Andrew Kreisberg (Pete Woods penciled #1-7, Sean Parsons #2-7, and Andres Guinaldo and Mark Irwin #8-10) so most of the writing responsibilities of Vibe went to Sterling Gates, who completed the series. Gates, therefore, had the task of not only developing Vibe’s character—which he did quite successfully given the series’ readers’ distress at its #10 cancellation last month—but also how Vibe’s story serves as exposition for many other of the company's books, especially when it comes to villains from other dimensions. Among the important elements of Justice League of America: Vibe were Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S., which formed the Justice League of America and the Suicide Squad among other significant occurrences in the new canon. A.R.G.U.S. has its own miniseries tie-in to the currently ongoing Forever Evil event. Who’s writing this miniseries? Sterling Gates.

This month’s solicitation for your convenience:

FOREVER EVIL: A.R.G.U.S. #4

Written by STERLING GATES

Art and cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND

1:25 B&W Variant cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND

On sale JANUARY 29 • 32 pg, FC, 4 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T

Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.

Steve Trevor’s quest to learn where the missing heroes are leads him to an unlikely ally—Killer Frost—and to one of his most deadly enemies: Cheetah!

Gates has several upcoming books in the future with their own vital additions to the New 52. Check out Stormwatch #30’s solicitation for April:

STORMWATCH #30

Written by STERLING GATES

Art and cover by JEREMY ROBERTS

On sale APRIL 2 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ • FINAL ISSUE

A “FUTURES END” prelude! The original Stormwatch team returns, as this story sets up the organization’s role in the future of the DC Universe!

A long-struggling comic, Stormwatch is the last title other than The Movement that features characters from Wildstorm Comics, which closed in 2010 after longtime financial difficulties. Therefore, this solicitation determines the future of, at the very least, four members of The Authority if not more of their fellow Wildstorm heroes. Although the summary remains vague in its promise of a new direction for Stormwatch, the main assurance for Wildstorm fans is Gates's participation because his writing in the last couple of years has been consistently good quality.

Gates’s talents have shown him as capable of handling such endeavors since before the New 52. His best-known work is his run on Supergirl during the New Krypton arc. As for more of his recent, valuable contributions to the rebooted universe, he wrote 4 titles for September’s “Villains' Month”* with 3 co-written by event-coordinator Geoff Johns, and 3 regarding the biggest DC superhero teams, Justice League and Justice League of America. While other writers such as Charles Soule and Matt Kindt have been lauded for their rises to greatness in 2013 by the comics community, DC is insisting that Gates deserves the same by handing him important assignments. So keep an eye on titles with Sterling Gates’s name on them in 2014 because it is likely that the man will have much more world-building to share with you in the upcoming year.

*Justice League #23.4: Secret Society

Justice League of America #7.2: Killer Frost

Justice League of America #7.4: Black Adam

Aquaman #23.2: Ocean Master