John Stewart Appreciation 2019

[Sodam Yat]

Make the Flash Wally, and I'm there .

I think Scott Snyder is imagining Barry as Wally

[Frontier]

I think Scott Snyder is imagining Barry as Wally

Doesn't everybody who doesn't write (or apparently read) the Flash solo book ?

[Sodam Yat]

Doesn't everybody who doesn't write (or apparently read) the Flash solo book ?

You're right on that one

[lemonpeace]

this is a pretty rad panel with John

[Vampire Savior]

I've always imagined a "Green Lantern Adventures" type book as a team book with all the Earth Lanterns together.

This would be one of the worst things for John Stewart. You can bet your ass he would be buried under all the other Earth Lanterns or given a boring role, like sitting out every mission or being behind a desk the whole time.

[Sodam Yat]

This would be one of the worst things for John Stewart. You can bet your ass he would be buried under all the other Earth Lanterns or given a boring role, like sitting out every mission or being behind a desk the whole time.

The fanbase is very divided. A team book with John in it, would make a lot of John fans nervous. It's a terrible feeling and I don't want to experience that again.

[Cosmic Emerald 23]

This would be one of the worst things for John Stewart. You can bet your ass he would be buried under all the other Earth Lanterns or given a boring role, like sitting out every mission or being behind a desk the whole time.

Yep. Precisely why I only stated I wanted a John Stewart book. No more team settings (unless it's the JL) for John, because he won't get the attention he needs. I also went with Timm and Dini because they're some of the few creators who actually like and care about John enough to give him real development and focus. That, and I think it would be easier to sell considering the majority of Stewart fans (like myself) come from the DCAU crowd, so nostalgia and familiarity would play a role in garnering interest.

[lemonpeace]

Yep. Precisely why I only stated I wanted a John Stewart book. No more team settings (unless it's the JL) for John, because he won't get the attention he needs. I also went with Timm and Dini because they're some of the few creators who actually like and care about John enough to give him real development and focus. That, and I think it would be easier to sell considering the majority of Stewart fans (like myself) come from the DCAU crowd, so nostalgia and familiarity would play a role in garnering interest.

I love the DCAU take on the character but I couldn't get behind a Bruce Timm written John. I think McDuffie's influence is what really made John's character early on and laid a solid foundation that carried throughout the series and I still find Timm's whole Batman/Batgirl choice icky in a way that makes me uneasy when approaching his work. I think there are a few writers who, while i'm not sure if they have a personal interest in the character, i feel would knock it out the park if they got a substantial run on a John solo. After reading his Cyborg and hearing what he wanted to do with that character before editorial stepped in, David Walker would be an awesome pick to take on John Stewart. I definitely think he'd explore any new concept Snyder gives John and would bring in his own. Joshua Williamson is another good one, his Flash run has had some lows but the highs are pretty amazing and he for sure is more of the Snyder "do something new" school of thought than the Johns "do the nostalgia thing" school; even though he does fall into that side sometimes. I said it before but I still think (if he ever does black characters again) Christopher Priest would be an awesome choice too. I don't know if he'll playball with the UV and anything else Snyder might throw John's way but he would definitely take the character in some interesting directions. I don't think he usually writes for DC but if they could poach him, I would love to see Al Ewing's take on John Stewart; especially if John keeps the human power battery thing. His Immortal Hulk run is fantastic and his Ultimates run was awesome, and that was largely due to how intelligent and capable he wrote particularly Blue Marvel but also Black Panther. He does a good job of keeping the characters real and interesting while showing how powerful they are and I think John needs someone like that if we're ever gonna get John from under the dismissive "he's boring" cloud. While I would like to see John on earth interacting with other heroes, I would be fine with taking him back to the cosmos if it's with Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort together.

[DragonsChi]

[Anthony Shaw]

I love the DCAU take on the character but I couldn't get behind a Bruce Timm written John. I think McDuffie's influence is what really made John's character early on and laid a solid foundation that carried throughout the series and I still find Timm's whole Batman/Batgirl choice icky in a way that makes me uneasy when approaching his work. I think there are a few writers who, while i'm not sure if they have a personal interest in the character, i feel would knock it out the park if they got a substantial run on a John solo. After reading his Cyborg and hearing what he wanted to do with that character before editorial stepped in, David Walker would be an awesome pick to take on John Stewart. I definitely think he'd explore any new concept Snyder gives John and would bring in his own. Joshua Williamson is another good one, his Flash run has had some lows but the highs are pretty amazing and he for sure is more of the Snyder "do something new" school of thought than the Johns "do the nostalgia thing" school; even though he does fall into that side sometimes. I said it before but I still think (if he ever does black characters again) Christopher Priest would be an awesome choice too. I don't know if he'll playball with the UV and anything else Snyder might throw John's way but he would definitely take the character in some interesting directions. I don't think he usually writes for DC but if they could poach him, I would love to see Al Ewing's take on John Stewart; especially if John keeps the human power battery thing. His Immortal Hulk run is fantastic and his Ultimates run was awesome, and that was largely due to how intelligent and capable he wrote particularly Blue Marvel but also Black Panther. He does a good job of keeping the characters real and interesting while showing how powerful they are and I think John needs someone like that if we're ever gonna get John from under the dismissive "he's boring" cloud. While I would like to see John on earth interacting with other heroes, I would be fine with taking him back to the cosmos if it's with Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort together.

Priest was the writer who killed Kat. I think he also had John jailed and tortured in South Nambia. Priest started the whole trope of making John's life miserable. John being known as the f-up Green Lantern came from Priest. Under Priest, John was already a hot mess before Starlin used him. I say keep Priest & Starlin away from John Stewart.

It is funny how Geoff Johns kept the Priest stories that wrecked John while ignoring the role Carol played in those same tales.

[HandofPrometheus]

Priest was the writer who killed Kat. I think he also had John jailed and tortured in South Nambia. Priest started the whole trope of making John's life miserable. John being known as the f-up Green Lantern came from Priest. Under Priest, John was already a hot mess before Starlin used him. I say keep Priest & Starlin away from John Stewart.

It is funny how Geoff Johns kept the Priest stories that wrecked John while ignoring the role Carol played in those same tales.

Had no idea it was Priest who killed Kat

[HandofPrometheus]

I love how nobody knew John and every villain was like "A BLACK GREEN LANTERN? WHERE'S HAL?" and then John would just beat the crap out of them and gloat about it.

[Vampire Savior]

Had no idea it was Priest who killed Kat

He was known as Jim Owsley at the time, and wrote Green Lantern stories in the late 80s. I also vote on keeping Priest away from John Stewart. Priest played a very substantial role in sidelining the character. Right before Priest had Katma murdered, he had John coax Hal Jordan into using his power ring to steal diamonds from a mine. It was pretty ridiculous.

And yes, it's funny how only John Stewart's tragedies are remembered. Even well before the scandal with Gerard Jones came to light, the powers that be were already trying hard to sweep Mosaic under the rug. Look how much Johns and his crew referenced Xanshi, but not once referenced how John managed the Mosaic World. It's stuff like that which makes it apparent the people at the publishing house don't care about the character and are utterly out of touch with his fanbase. It's also interesting how the most popular incarnation of John Stewart--the DCAU version--never has him be responsible for the destruction of a world or have Katma murdered. You would think the writers and editors at DC would take a cue from that. They would, if they actually cared about the character.

[Sodam Yat]

Here's a list of writers, who has a bad history with John Stewart in a book. Their history involves John being written to look bad and/or they intentionally sideline him for another (white) Green Lantern. This is a list of writers that needs to STAY AWAY from John Stewart. They deserve no second chance:


Judd Winick - Responsible for killing his sister, had John almost be a gang banger in his origin story (yes, this was written. Very racial stereotypical). Not only this, but had John make endless complaints about how much of a failure John is as a Green Lantern and John admitting that Guy and Hal are better Green Lanterns.

Mark Waid - Made it seem like Kyle could easily beat John, confined John to a wheelchair, despite the fact that he has been VERY successful on the DCAU animated series

Geoff Johns - Made John irrelevant in ALL stories after Rebirth, brought up past tragedies, written him as a black best friend to make Hal look good in Rebirth

Peter Tomasi - Had his favorite Guy Gardner save John out of trouble, made Guy the more focus in stories, John killed off a Green Lantern, only had Guy Gardner appeared in the origin story of GLC issue 0 and left out John's origin story, he made Guy the only important character when Hal was in the dead zone and had John do a boring side mission such as putting Mogo back together again while having Guy do the fun stuff at the main event, made Fatality John's love interest (made no sense whatsoever).

Tony Bedard - Again, had his favorite Kyle save John out of trouble, made Kyle more of the focus in stories, written for John to kill off a Green Lantern such as Mogo.

Christopher Priest - Responsible for killing off Kat (as what has been said in this thread by Anthony and Vampire).

Tom King - Killed off John, made him a black best friend, written him to be out of character for Hal to look good. I had no problem with Hal being the center of the story, but the way he written John was unnecessary.

I left out Tom Taylor, because he did use John as a leaguer in the Justice League/Power Rangers crossover. If it wasn't for that, he would have made the list as well.

DC should've done way better than this. This is totally uncalled for. No excuses here.

So to any new John readers, it's not recommended to read stories from those writers, because they don't care much for the character as they should have and you won't see any good John stories in those books.

[Cosmic Emerald 23]

I'm tired of being upset, let's get back to something positive, shall we? If you had control of a John solo era, what would you incorporate? I'm talkin' villains, love interests, family, other supporting cast, feats, new concepts, the whole shebang. As for me:

1) Create a brand new mainstay love interest (assuming Kat isn't revived), maybe a childhood friend from the past.

2) New suit - His current suit is iconic but it needs some more flare, so it'll be more of a tweak than a total redesign to his current suit. I want it to symbolize a new, better era for John.

3) Characterization - Give a good mix of 80's John and DCAU John for a more charismatic and interesting version. Let him smile, let him be witty, let his anger erupt, let him be an inspiration to the people. Let him say the oath with splash pages more. No more moping, self doubting, and staying stone-face stoic.

4) His villains shouldn't be lame like a majority of GL's Earth-based villains, they need to be a more viable threat that challenge his ideals, intellect, and fighting skills. They also need to stick around and not be killed off/forgotten immediately.

5) Expand upon his "Opener of Doors" prophecy (assuming Snyder hasn't already gotten to it) and give him a front and center role in the mythos like Kyle and Hal.

6) Show off John's more creative side with his constructs and ring functions. Not to the extent of Kyle but don't restrict him to machine guns and jackhammers. Also show his willpower being on the same level of Hal and Sinestro.

7) As much as I'm interested in the UV stuff, ditch the emotional/invisible spectrum stuff (for the most part). Focus on the Greens and the rest of the cosmos.

8) Give him a more exciting job on Earth, maybe as a DEO agent so he has that action hero appeal, while still holding onto his architectural side when he's on GL duty.

9) Throw in some graphic novels and elseworlds stories for good measure, maybe dig up that All-star Green Lantern pitch that was turned down.

10) Give John his own fictional city in the Detroit area so when anyone references it, fans will know "hey, that's John's city", much like with Amnesty Bay = Aquaman, Keystone City = Flash.