Green Lantern John Stewart Appreciation Thread

[Anthony Shaw]

The image of the black guy with a goatee and bald head is extremely played out in my opinion. Though this is still one of John's most popular looks.

I enjoyed the look in the DCAU, but I felt that should have been temporary. I was glad that look did not carry over to the books.

I did not like that look on Black Lightning, either.

[Anthony Shaw]

I'm failing to understand how John showing up in a JL group shot drawn by Jim Cheung does anything to prove that Geoff Johns did all he could to hold him back...?

I can't speak for Sodam, but I believe that mind-set came from John being the least developed, and thus most boring character during Geoff Johns' "golden age" GL run (not to mention the aborted plan to have him killed off).

[Marvell2100]

That is a great image.

However, I do prefer John with hair on his head.

I think Luke Cage got the bald black hero image locked down.

The image of the black guy with a goatee and bald head is extremely played out in my opinion. Though this is still one of John's most popular looks.

I agree. That seems to be the go to look for nearly every black male in a comic book. I was mad as heck when they took Bishop's dreads and made him bald.

Thankfully they brought them back.

[Marvell2100]

I can't speak for Sodam, but I believe that mind-set came from John being the least developed, and thus most boring character during Geoff Johns' "golden age" GL run(not to mention the aborted plan to have him killed off).

Yeah that was a hot mess.

Let's kill one of our most powerful and popular Black males! That's a great way to give motivation our other heroes!"

[Anthony Shaw]

Yeah that was a hot mess.

Let's kill one of our most powerful and popular Black males! That's a great way to give motivation our other heroes!"

And the fact that he was the least developed probably gave off the impression no one would complain much. They also introduced Simon, who many felt was intended to replace John, too.

Geoff made it a point to retcon a lot of Hal baggage, or never mention stuff from the 1980's (unless it came from Alan Moore), but he kept Xanshi.

What's so dynamic about a man sitting in space navel gazing about a doomed planet?

They had a chance to resurrect Kat during Blackest Night, and possibly give John a peaceful send-off, until another writer wanted to bring back the Stewart family.

It is very easy to believe Geoff had something against John. John's appearance in the Darkseid War was a joke, despite his social media declaration of researching the character.

I am hoping Snyder gives us a bold new direction. However, I still hope John appears in a GL book.

[4sake Baned]

By Chris Samnee.

Too cool...

[SecretWarrior]

I agree. That seems to be the go to look for nearly every black male in a comic book. I was mad as heck when they took Bishop's dreads and made him bald.

Thankfully they brought them back.

Patriot was always a funny example to me since he's a teenager. They decided to forego the goatee with him though. :P

[Anthony Shaw]

I love this version because he kinda looks like me.

[Sodam Yat]

I can't speak for Sodam, but I believe that mind-set came from John being the least developed, and thus most boring character during Geoff Johns' "golden age" GL run (not to mention the aborted plan to have him killed off).

And the fact that he was the least developed probably gave off the impression no one would complain much. They also introduced Simon, who many felt was intended to replace John, too.

Geoff made it a point to retcon a lot of Hal baggage, or never mention stuff from the 1980's (unless it came from Alan Moore), but he kept Xanshi.

What's so dynamic about a man sitting in space navel gazing about a doomed planet?

They had a chance to resurrect Kat during Blackest Night, and possibly give John a peaceful send-off, until another writer wanted to bring back the Stewart family.

It is very easy to believe Geoff had something against John. John's appearance in the Darkseid War was a joke, despite his social media declaration of researching the character.

I am hoping Snyder gives us a bold new direction. However, I still hope John appears in a GL book.

Pretty much these.

I would add that Hal, Kyle and Guy had their own solos whether it was a mini or not, while John hasn't under the Geoff Johns' era.

Despite John's popularity, thanks to the GL cartoon, he seemed to be very neglected in media appearances for years before Young Justice aired.

Without Geoff Johns taking over, I don't think it would have taken over a decade to see the new lineup being very similar to the JL DCAU cartoon. It took a big name writer to finally go with this, which I'm very grateful

Geoff Johns' vision certainly didn't align with the elements of the DCAU.

Wally West, who was in the JL DCAU was also treated unfairly and been neglected in the new 52.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Are we really back to the conspiracy theories?

It's a reach to equate Geoff Johns and DC Editorial's clear mismanagement of John Stewart during his GL run with him having some grudge against the character.

Johns never intended for John Stewart to get the short-end of the stick when he revamped the GL franchise. Hell, he had John call out Batman in the very first issue of GL: Rebirth and had John singlehandedly take down Superman a few issues later. These are not the actions of a guy who doesn't like John Stewart or has an axe to grind against him. Geoff Johns first started reading GL in 1985 when John Stewart was the star of the book for cryin' out loud.

As I understand it, the original plan was for GL after Rebirth was for Hal & John to be partners patrolling Sector 2814, while Guy & Kyle would headline GLCorps. Since John was then the resident GL of the Justice League, Hal would get the spotlight of the GL title. However, as with many well-laid plans, things often don't work out the way you wanted, particularly with a guy like Dan Didio in charge, who's management style is as energetic as it is chaotic in those days.

John Stewart's spot in Justice League was lost in the aftermath of Identity Crisis, which moved the focus from the current members to the Satellite Era, which necessitated Hal instead of John. When Brad Meltzer took over, he kept Hal on to play off the relationships between Dinah and Roy. Johns tried to compensate for this by bringing John Stewart back into the GL title, but he was already focused on setting up dozens of new characters and concepts to have room for another co-lead. When Meltzer finished his run, Dwayne McDuffie took over and finally brought John Stewart back in the League. Unfortunately, McDuffie going public over his frustrations with DC editorial's various edicts got him fired. James Robinson then took over, who wanted to use Jade and Saint Walker.

Again, there is absolutely no evidence to show that Geoff Johns dislikes John Stewart. Was he a priority for him during his run? Not really, but neither were plenty of other characters. For better or worse, Johns was concentrating on setting up all his big new concepts like the Emotional Spectrum, most of which paid off huge for him and DC. Was John Stewart the victim of poor planning and mismanagement? Absolutely.

Mishandling a character is not the same as having malice against that character. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

[Raijin]

Are we really back to the conspiracy theories?

It's a reach to equate Geoff Johns and DC Editorial's clear mismanagement of John Stewart during his GL run with him having some grudge against the character.

Johns never intended for John Stewart to get the short-end of the stick when he revamped the GL franchise. Hell, he had John call out Batman in the very first issue of GL: Rebirth and had John singlehandedly take down Superman a few issues later. These are not the actions of a guy who doesn't like John Stewart or has an axe to grind against him. Geoff Johns first started reading GL in 1985 when John Stewart was the star of the book for cryin' out loud.

As I understand it, the original plan was for GL after Rebirth was for Hal & John to be partners patrolling Sector 2814, while Guy & Kyle would headline GLCorps. Since John was then the resident GL of the Justice League, Hal would get the spotlight of the GL title. However, as with many well-laid plans, things often don't work out the way you wanted, particularly with a guy like Dan Didio in charge, who's management style is as energetic as it is chaotic in those days.

John Stewart's spot in Justice League was lost in the aftermath of Identity Crisis, which moved the focus from the current members to the Satellite Era, which necessitated Hal instead of John. When Brad Meltzer took over, he kept Hal on to play off the relationships between Dinah and Roy. Johns tried to compensate for this by bringing John Stewart back into the GL title, but he was already focused on setting up dozens of new characters and concepts to have room for another co-lead. When Meltzer finished his run, Dwayne McDuffie took over and finally brought John Stewart back in the League. Unfortunately, McDuffie going public over his frustrations with DC editorial's various edicts got him fired. James Robinson then took over, who wanted to use Jade and Saint Walker.

Again, there is absolutely no evidence to show that Geoff Johns dislikes John Stewart. Was he a priority for him during his run? Not really, but neither were plenty of other characters. For better or worse, Johns was concentrating on setting up all his big new concepts like the Emotional Spectrum, most of which paid off huge for him and DC. Was John Stewart the victim of poor planning and mismanagement? Absolutely.

Mishandling a character is not the same as having malice against that character. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

This really needed to be said. I love John Stewart but some of the claims on here a bit much. People need to understand that not every writer is going to be a huge fan of a character you like. This all just boils down to preference simply.

[SecretWarrior]

Okay, why did Joshua Hale Fialkov leave the Rebirth-era GL books he was hired for?

The decision to kill off John Stewart came after which (bombed) film in which people wondered why John Stewart wasn't the main character?

The decision to kill off John Stewart came after the introduction of a new minority character introduced by which writer?

How did Johns find time for Baz, who got several issues of the main GL title for his origin, and Jessica, who got significant panel space in Justice League, but not fan favorite John Stewart, who starred in a critically acclaimed cartoon viewed by millions of people who knew him as the only Green Lantern?

And why did Johns not develop John Stewart at all over the course of a nine-year run?

I doubt Johns--the creative leader of the franchise for 9+years--didn't realize there was support for the character, so why did he never make any effort to address or correct this? (Let's not forget all of the times John Stewart was hyped up in solicits only to do nothing or show up on 1 or 2 pages to prop up some other character.)

Circumstantial, sure. But together, all of this more strongly supports one particular inference over any other.

The only other inference you could make is continuous (9+ years), gross mismanagement of the highest order all centered on a single fan favorite character, while DC clearly made an effort pushing other, much newer (and often less well known) characters.

[SecretWarrior]

[Sodam Yat]

You do seem very knowledgeable and make strong cases, Bored, so I'll address a few:

Are we really back to the conspiracy theories?

It's a reach to equate Geoff Johns and DC Editorial's clear mismanagement of John Stewart during his GL run with him having some grudge against the character.

Speculations and conspiracies like these are going to be created among fans, due to Geoff Johns not giving the character a chance, despite his huge popularity, which Geoff Johns had nearly a decade to do something with a character, but failed to do so.

Johns never intended for John Stewart to get the short-end of the stick when he revamped the GL franchise.

But he did. There's really no excuses here for Johns' intentions.

Hell, he had John call out Batman in the very first issue of GL: Rebirth and had John singlehandedly take down Superman a few issues later. These are not the actions of a guy who doesn't like John Stewart or has an axe to grind against him.

John Stewart only called out Batman to prop up Hal Jordan. It's just another way of hyping up the character and making him the greatest, while John plays the lesser inferior character. That instance is nothing more than John being a black best friend. This is as bad as what Tom King did with John in the Darkseid War One-Shot.

John having good feats doesn't necessarily mean that he's fond of the character though. I don't think those examples are convincing that Geoff Johns liking John Stewart. During the New 52, Hal Jordan has been humiliated against powerhouses under Johns' run. Robert Venditti was on record stating that Hal Jordan is his favorite Green Lantern. And despite all of that, he's been known to have Hal be a terrible and incompetent leader and being defeated against other beings.

Geoff Johns first started reading GL in 1985 when John Stewart was the star of the book for cryin' out loud.

Geoff Johns has also said that he grew up under Wally West and not Barry Allen, but look how that all turned out when the New 52 was introduced. Just because he read John and Wally before those other Silver Age characters, doesn't mean he like those characters. What happened with John and Wally during Johns' reign is an example of that. He just grew up identifying himself more with Hal and Barry to the point where those characters such as John and Wally has been treated unfairly.

As I understand it, the original plan was for GL after Rebirth was for Hal & John to be partners patrolling Sector 2814, while Guy & Kyle would headline GLCorps. Since John was then the resident GL of the Justice League, Hal would get the spotlight of the GL title. However, as with many well-laid plans, things often don't work out the way you wanted, particularly with a guy like Dan Didio in charge, who's management style is as energetic as it is chaotic in those days.

As someone who was first starting reading Green Lantern comics, my main issue wasn't that John Stewart not being in the main spotlight. The problem was how much diminished he was. Even guest starring characters like Ollie and Guy had relevant roles to play in, while John rarely had panels in those books. That doesn't sound like a guy who likes John Stewart at all.

John Stewart's spot in Justice League was lost in the aftermath of Identity Crisis, which moved the focus from the current members to the Satellite Era, which necessitated Hal instead of John. When Brad Meltzer took over, he kept Hal on to play off the relationships between Dinah and Roy. Johns tried to compensate for this by bringing John Stewart back into the GL title, but he was already focused on setting up dozens of new characters and concepts to have room for another co-lead. When Meltzer finished his run, Dwayne McDuffie took over and finally brought John Stewart back in the League. Unfortunately, McDuffie going public over his frustrations with DC editorial's various edicts got him fired. James Robinson then took over, who wanted to use Jade and Saint Walker.

Again, there is absolutely no evidence to show that Geoff Johns dislikes John Stewart. Was he a priority for him during his run? Not really, but neither were plenty of other characters. For better or worse, Johns was concentrating on setting up all his big new concepts like the Emotional Spectrum, most of which paid off huge for him and DC. Was John Stewart the victim of poor planning and mismanagement? Absolutely.

Mishandling a character is not the same as having malice against that character. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

Where was Geoff Johns at when editorial suggested to kill off the character? For someone who's considered a big Green Lantern fan, I would expect him to address those issues, but it was rather the high-ups at DC that addressed the issue.

There's absolutely no excuses for the bad things that Geoff Johns did to John Stewart. It's a shame that the only black guy at the time didn't get to have a solo or mini, while Guy, Kyle, an Hal got to. It's ridiculous and very upsetting that a strong popular minority character isn't considered good enough to get treated equally like those characters under the Geoff Johns' era.

With that said, there's VERY good things going on with John this year. I'm very grateful that we don't have to live through the Johns' era again. It's been a total nightmare as a John Stewart fan.

[Sodam Yat]

Okay, why did Joshua Hale Fialkov leave the Rebirth-era GL books he was hired for?

The decision to kill off John Stewart came after which (bombed) film in which people wondered why John Stewart wasn't the main character?

The decision to kill off John Stewart came after the introduction of a new minority character introduced by which writer?

How did Johns find time for Baz, who got several issues of the main GL title for his origin, and Jessica, who got significant panel space in Justice League, but not fan favorite John Stewart, who starred in a critically acclaimed cartoon viewed by millions of people who knew him as the only Green Lantern?

And why did Johns not develop John Stewart at all over the course of a nine-year run?

I doubt Johns--the creative leader of the franchise for 9+years--didn't realize there was support for the character, so why did he never made any effort to address or correct this? (Let's not forget all of the times John Stewart was hyped up in solicits only to do nothing or show up on 1 or 2 pages to prop up some other character.)

Circumstantial, sure. But together, all of this more strongly supports one particular inference over any other.

The only other inference you could make is continuous (9+ years), gross mismanagement of the highest order all centered on a single fan favorite character, while DC clearly made an effort pushing other, much newer (and often less well known) characters.

Pretty much this.