John Stewart Appreciation 2019

[Vampire Savior]

Been thinkin about how awesome it would be to have a John Stewart book done by Alex Ross, like how he did Batman War on Crime, etc. A really deep dive into the character, what makes him tick, what he stands for, and what he means to the people of Earth as well as in space.

I was organizing my collection some and I coincidentally happened upon the issue of Justice that has John Stewart using the ring in it. Alex Ross does a good rendition of John Stewart. I think John looks really cool in the standard Green Lantern uniform. There's just something about the white gloves with the dark skin plus the afro that actually makes for a pretty striking image. His GL uniform from Justice League cartoon is cool, sleek and modern, but it lacks a little flare that John in the classic uniform has, and Ross captures that well.

[Holt]

Do these guys dislike the Justice League cartoons that much!?

They dislike anyone taking away the focus from their favorites. Dan Didio is on record saying that when he first got hired at DC, he went in with the goal of one day getting Barry Allen and Hal Jordan resurrected. I don't know if Didio has ever made his feelings on John in particular known, but he's publicly stated that he dislikes Wally and that the only reason Wally ever became popular was because Mark Waid wrote him exactly like Barry (which is ironic, since most adaptations give Barry parts of Wally's personality, not vice versa). Given his general attitude towards certain legacy characters (notice the way Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain both got thrown under the bus), he seems like one of those dudes who hates the versions of the characters that he specifically didn't grow up with.

Which, could be fine. Not everyone working at DC or Marvel is gonna like every character. To pretend otherwise is absurd. But he seems to actively downplay or wreck those characters even when it's clear there is a paying audience that could be giving the company money to see more of them. Wally West held his own book for close to 20 years. Clearly quite a few people like him and were willing to pay money to read about him. But nope. Didio thinks he's superfluous, so he goes bye bye after the Flashpoint reboot, and now this.

[LP22]

At least John gets mentioned in outside media like arrow verse appearing in video games and gets to be in crossover comics with other companies,Wally never even gets that and not to mention Kyle and probably the most neglected character in the lantern franchise(and DC sure lose money not trying to give John Kyle and Wally books even for experiment to see if they sell).

[lemonpeace]

Panel of John from Justice League #25 preview, man I wish future John wasn't an op; he's so chill and confident. Also, his tank looks BAD. ASS.

[Holt]

Panel of John from Justice League #25 preview, man I wish future John wasn't an op; he's so chill and confident. Also, his tank looks BAD. ASS.

I'm still surprised they haven't given canon John the shaved head.

[lemonpeace]

I'm still surprised they haven't given canon John the shaved head.

I'm glad they haven't. Making the black Male characters bald imo usually betrays a lack of creativity in the character design. It's bad enough most creative teams can only think of, including the bald, 3 maybe 4 ways to do black (particularly but not limited to male) hair at a time. To the point it sometimes genuinely gets hard keeping track of which black guy is talking on panel sometimes.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'm glad they haven't. Making the black Male characters bald imo usually betrays a lack of creativity in the character design. It's bad enough most creative teams can only think of, including the bald, 3 maybe 4 ways to do black (particularly but not limited to male) hair at a time. To the point it sometimes genuinely gets hard keeping track of which black guy is talking on panel sometimes.

It helps that John has a visually distinctive and unique haircut already. Not many black heroes can say that.

That said, I wouldn't complain if John grew out a goatee

[HandofPrometheus]

Panel of John from Justice League #25 preview, man I wish future John wasn't an op; he's so chill and confident. Also, his tank looks BAD. ASS.

Lmao older John was about to kick young Johns ass. Love the way older John is sitting on the tank. John needs to be written with that type of confidence and charisma again.

[Johnny]

At least John gets mentioned in outside media like arrow verse appearing in video games and gets to be in crossover comics with other companies,Wally never even gets that and not to mention Kyle and probably the most neglected character in the lantern franchise(and DC sure lose money not trying to give John Kyle and Wally books even for experiment to see if they sell).

That's a good point, when people talk about their favorites being mistreated or neglected, just show them Wally, Kyle, Guy or Simon. Show them Ted Kord or Tim Drake or Stephanie Brown. When you compare John to any of those, it tends to put things in a rather different perspective.

[LP22]

That's a good point, when people talk about their favorites being mistreated or neglected, just show them Wally, Kyle, Guy or Simon. Show them Ted Kord or Tim Drake or Stephanie Brown. When you compare John to any of those, it tends to put things in a rather different perspective.

And I totally understand because every fan of a character can feel he's or she's being mistreated all I'm saying is there are worse situations for characters and I believe DC is wasting money on not giving John,Kyle,guy and Wally books or at least put them in outside media to expose them to more fans and potentially use that to make comics that will sell,it's like DC doesn't want to make money

[SecretWarrior]

Just heard DC is adding a multiverse Batman to the Green Lantern book, which seems like a desperate move to increase sale. Feel free to change my mind.

[Vampire Savior]

That's a good point, when people talk about their favorites being mistreated or neglected, just show them Wally, Kyle, Guy or Simon. Show them Ted Kord or Tim Drake or Stephanie Brown. When you compare John to any of those, it tends to put things in a rather different perspective.

The thing about characters like Tim Drake, Wally West, and Kyle Rayner, and even Ted Kord, is that they were at least given chances to actually matter in the universe. They have long, acclaimed solo runs or highly important, very praised stints in the Justice League, or both. At one time, the company was totally behind them, and that's how they developed fanbases.

John Stewart has never mattered that much in the comic books. He only has a fanbase of any note because of Warner Animation, which is a completely different company. John Stewart may be treated better now than them, but it doesn't make a whole lot of difference (to me at least) because John Stewart basically doesn't do a whole lot of anything and usually has never mattered. And one of the few times he has mattered he failed to save a planet.

[SebastianS]

The thing about characters like Tim Drake, Wally West, and Kyle Rayner, and even Ted Kord, is that they were at least given chances to actually matter in the universe. They have long, acclaimed solo runs or highly important, very praised stints in the Justice League, or both. At one time, the company was totally behind them, and that's how they developed fanbases.

John Stewart has never mattered that much in the comic books. He only has a fanbase of any note because of Warner Animation, which is a completely different company. John Stewart may be treated better now than them, but it doesn't make a whole lot of difference (to me at least) because John Stewart basically doesn't do a whole lot of anything and usually has never mattered. And one of the few times he has mattered he failed to save a planet.

Well, I think it really depends on what the fans want.

Personally, after 20 years of not having Kyle Rayner anywhere, I decided to get Titans only because Kyle joined the team. My bar became such that I would buy whatever book in which Kyle is present, even if it is a team book, where he is clearly not the main protagonist. That's the reason why I also bought Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. But Titans was canceled anyway, so I am back to no Kyle.

At the very least, John fans should be happy to have their beloved character in a monthly book. Bonus point because the character is not being trashed by the writer.

[lemonpeace]

Just heard DC is adding a multiverse Batman to the Green Lantern book, which seems like a desperate move to increase sale. Feel free to change my mind.

You mind sending the source?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Just heard DC is adding a multiverse Batman to the Green Lantern book, which seems like a desperate move to increase sale. Feel free to change my mind.

According to Liam Sharp, The Green Lantern is gaining more readers each month and is now DC's best selling title outside of Batman and the big event books. Morrison's stuff tends to do better once word of mouth builds and more readers outside the traditional mainstream superhero audience get hooked. I would expect it to do even better in TPB as well.