John Stewart Appreciation 2019

[Cosmic Emerald 23]

I don't really care about dick measuring DCU feats all that much. I'd rather read good stories with good characters that explore those characters, so I would rather have John have his own book than be a part of the Justice League, if I had to choose one. Especially since John doesn't seem to be playing a crucial role in Justice League, and his being a member of the League doesn't look to be leading to any multimedia benefits, like cartoons, movies, toys, video games, and so on.

As for villains, I don't have any original characters in mind for John to face, but I would have him go up against Krona, the Qwardians, Grayven, Anti-Monitor, and the Manhunters. No Emotional Spectrum or Invisible Spectrum anything would be in the title if I had my way. I would probably change his costume back to the standard Green Lantern uniform with the white gloves and even the underwear because I feel what he's been wearing now--the Bruce Timm design--though streamlined and modern, lacks flair. While the Gil Kane design may be seen as hokey and dated, I think it has flair in spades. I would also change his hair style more in line to what he originally had.

I like it, back to GL roots, especially with the costume (as you can already tell lol)....well minus the underwear part but I like it nonetheless.

[Cosmic Emerald 23]

Like a new rouge's gallery from scratch? Like completely original characters? Hmmm, that's a tough one, I'll have to get back to you on that. My pitch, as it stand, to add to John's rouges gallery would be start by having him build a more personally adversarial relationship with Umbrax (not Sinestro using the UV, the actual living star), I would imagine he wouldn't take to kindly to him breaking his influence and helping the League repel him from Earth. Also, I would bring back and update Grayven, son of Darkseid, for the post-Flashpoint landscape.

I have a wild one that I don't want to be a regular adversary, more of a fun meta-commentary on DC's nepotism, character supremacy and insistence (intentionally or not) on fandom war. I'd have him face of against Parallax, the real Parallax; Hal Jordan. It wouldn't be in the main timeline, that would limit what I want to do, but I would make it so John has to face off with a Hal from a universe where, after he slaughtered the Green Lantern Corps, Hal never redeemed himself and Johns never retconned his sins away. Whether it's our John or if it's a complete elseworld scenario is flexible. Ultimately, I wouldn't want John to kill Hal (that would feel too mean-spirited even if Hal is still a murderous psycho) but there needs to be an all out fight issue where there is just no holds barred.

Well I didn't mean like bust out a whole new rogues gallery lol, I'm pretty sure you guys have lives. I meant like one post builds on another till we get a sizable gallery.

Interesting choices, especially with Hal Parallax, that'd be tight to see them both slug it out.

[Falcon16]

I would also change his hair style more in line to what he originally had.

Ya mean the afro? LMAO

[Vampire Savior]

Ya mean the afro? LMAO

Yes. I get the impression you think that's weird, or something.

I felt John's afro was pretty...normal. Not even really dated. It's not like it was way huge or out of control or anything, and it's a hairstyle that I think SO MANY black males who have hair that grows in like that have had at SOME POINT in their lives. This is kind of what I'm thinking about, but this isn't the costume I would give him.



One reason why I would do this is because I'm tired of these generic looking bald and short haired black guys. Some (ignorant) people say all black people look the same, and if you would go by these comics, you'd believe it. One of the things I personally try to do is show that it's okay for a black man to have hair, and it doesn't have to all look the same. Not all black people's hair is the same. Some kinkier, some wavier, some straight. I've just kind of gotten tired of this generic template that is used for black men, so I would change John's look up some.

[Falcon16]

Yes. I get the impression you think that's weird, or something.

I felt John's afro was pretty...normal. Not even really dated. It's not like it was way huge or out of control or anything, and it's a hairstyle that I think SO MANY black males who have hair that grows in like that have had at SOME POINT in their lives. This is kind of what I'm thinking about, but this isn't the costume I would give him.



One reason why I would do this is because I'm tired of these generic looking bald and short haired black guys. Some (ignorant) people say all black people look the same, and if you would go by these comics, you'd believe it. One of the things I personally try to do is show that it's okay for a black man to have hair, and it doesn't have to all look the same. Not all black people's hair is the same. Some kinkier, some wavier, some straight. I've just kind of gotten tired of this generic template that is used for black men, so I would change John's look up some.

Cyborg used to have a half afro

[Falcon16]

how does this not sound like innuendo
Screen Shot 2019-06-09 at 8.37.34 PM.jpg

[Lirica]

Very cool. Unfortunately, yeah, Multiverse has terrible distribution. Part of it was going so heavily in on the DCEU stuff to spearhead the waves (like Hasbro does with Marvel Legends), except when the movies proved less popular, the stores stopped ordering as much.

Yeah, it's such a shame too, since McFarlane toys is getting the new license and most likely they're going to start back up with a bunch of Batman figures and the other JL founders. John will probably have better luck than some other characters in their line, but it'll still be a while I imagine. John has had at least some of the more high-end collectible figures, though, right?

DC Multiverse has been a crap shoot when it comes to regular stores.
It's either you see a bunch of them or you are LUCKY to see any.

I have YET to see Vixen's figure in any store. Jessica Cruz and Batwoman vary when you see them.
While Spoiler shockingly has been seen at Wal-Mart in bulk with Harley where I live. Now I am seeing Ray in larger numbers.
I did not know Wallace had one until I saw him for $25 at Movie Trading Post. Aside from there I have yet to see that line anywhere else.
I will be shocked if I see John in any stores before the year ends unless it's at Movie Trading Post.

I think Holt pretty much explained about Multiverse's terrible distribution now. I think he and Wally will be seen sooner rather than later, but from the online stores that kinda markup the prices or bundle them. One would definitely have to go digging and check places often for a regular priced one sadly.

[j9ac9k]

I have a wild one that I don't want to be a regular adversary, more of a fun meta-commentary on DC's nepotism, character supremacy and insistence (intentionally or not) on fandom war. I'd have him face of against Parallax, the real Parallax; Hal Jordan. It wouldn't be in the main timeline, that would limit what I want to do, but I would make it so John has to face off with a Hal from a universe where, after he slaughtered the Green Lantern Corps, Hal never redeemed himself and Johns never retconned his sins away. Whether it's our John or if it's a complete elseworld scenario is flexible. Ultimately, I wouldn't want John to kill Hal (that would feel too mean-spirited even if Hal is still a murderous psycho) but there needs to be an all out fight issue where there is just no holds barred.

This is in no way far-fetched. There is a Hal Parallax running around loose in the DCU. He came over from the Convergence event, popped up in GL #50, fought Hal a bit, then flew off. There hasn't been a follow-up to this.

For John's rogues, I like the idea of a revamped Grayven, and of course some version of Fatality. Like any rogue's gallery, he should have one that reflects who he is as a person and their conflicts would highlight the hero's character. I said this when John was leading the GLC, but I like the idea of a more sentient Manhunter robot with an actual personality who can be their leader and be a rival for John as tactician and soldier, like two generals always trying to out-maneuver each other. He should also have one who he has personal ties with from before he was a GL - just because that part of his life always needs more exploration and like many of the current earth GLs, he needs more connections to earth.

[lemonpeace]

This is in no way far-fetched. There is a Hal Parallax running around loose in the DCU. He came over from the Convergence event, popped up in GL #50, fought Hal a bit, then flew off. There hasn't been a follow-up to this.

I knew about there being a Parallax Hal popping up in convergence but I always assumed they dealt with him by now. Interesting, in that case, if that one's been around in the DC universe somewhere then I'd let John kill him at the end of their confrontation just to tie up loose-ends.

[Anthony Shaw]

I knew about there being a Parallax Hal popping up in convergence but I always assumed they dealt with him by now. Interesting, in that case, if that one's been around in the DC universe somewhere then I'd let John kill him at the end of their confrontation just to tie up loose-ends.

Killing that version of Hal might be easier said, than done. That version of Parallax may have cured John's paralysis.





I could see John having some angst about doing it after a long, drawn-out battle.

[j9ac9k]

Good point about Parallax curing John. Depending on how it goes, maybe they'd end up having a weird "frenemy" relationship like Jack Knight and The Shade...?

But realistically, if DC never let Hal (even as The Spectre) kill Cyborg Superman, I doubt they'd let John kill Hallalax.

[lemonpeace]

Killing that version of Hal might be easier said, than done. That version of Parallax may have cured John's paralysis.





I could see John having some angst about doing it after a long, drawn-out battle.

hmmm, yeah, now that you bring it up, I could play with the idea that John would be conflicted given what Parallax did for him but the issue is (unlike Hal) John has been rebooted with a lot of the universe, so it's unclear if that incident happened post-Flashpoint. The other issue I have with that is, in retrospect, I hated a lot of what they did with John post-Mosaic (i'm relatively neutral on the Darkstar era but I do hate the costume) into the wheelchair era; the curing itself i found annoying too. Considering I much prefer his post-Flashpoint origin and that wheelchair saga would contradict it, I wouldn't reestablish that in continuity for John. At best, I'll have Parallax reference he gave John his legs just for John to have no idea what he's talking about because it's not the same John, and I'd lean in on that point to emphasize the fact that John isn't the "friendly ethnic" sidekick he started out as anymore.

Parallax in this narrative is a relic of a bygone age. For this version there was no redemption, Parallax's sins are all his own, and, in the meta-narrative, he represents the hurdle of overcoming the status quo of the past that characters of color have to deal with to stand on their own today. However, I want to do it without beating you over the head with another story where we lean too heavily on "the tragedy of being black" since people tend to get skittish when you touch on race overtly in comics. It would be a story with subtle commentary that you don't have to get because you can enjoy it without seeing the commentary due to it being a rad fight between two heavyhitters (similar to how Superboy-Prime represents obsessive fanboyism in Infinite Crisis). If we had John go limp-dicked because "oh no, mazzah gave me muh legz I can't kill mazzah" (i'm being hyperbolic here to drive the point, don't have a cow) even in the face of him being a mass-murderer, it would undercut that and it shifts the focus from John's progression past his reliance on Hal and puts him right back into Hal's shadow.

If we want a story that plays with his relationship with Hal Jordan, we can explore John and Hal's relationship with the actual Hal, not this guy, ya know?

[Anthony Shaw]

Good point about Parallax curing John. Depending on how it goes, maybe they'd end up having a weird "frenemy" relationship like Jack Knight and The Shade...?

But realistically, if DC never let Hal (even as The Spectre) kill Cyborg Superman, I doubt they'd let John kill Hallalax.

Great points.

[Anthony Shaw]

hmmm, yeah, now that you bring it up, I could play with the idea that John would be conflicted given what Parallax did for him but the issue is (unlike Hal) John has been rebooted with a lot of the universe, so it's unclear if that incident happened post-Flashpoint. The other issue I have with that is, in retrospect, I hated a lot of what they did with John post-Mosaic (i'm relatively neutral on the Darkstar era but I do hate the costume) into the wheelchair era; the curing itself i found annoying too. Considering I much prefer his post-Flashpoint origin and that wheelchair saga would contradict it, I wouldn't reestablish that in continuity for John. At best, I'll have Parallax reference he gave John his legs just for John to have no idea what he's talking about because it's not the same John, and I'd lean in on that point to emphasize the fact that John isn't the "friendly ethnic" sidekick he started out as anymore.

Parallax in this narrative is a relic of a bygone age. For this version there was no redemption, Parallax's sins are all his own, and, in the meta-narrative, he represents the hurdle of overcoming the status quo of the past that characters of color have to deal with to stand on their own today. However, I want to do it without beating you over the head with another story where we lean too heavily on "the tragedy of being black" since people tend to get skittish when you touch on race overtly in comics. It would be a story with subtle commentary that you don't have to get because you can enjoy it without seeing the commentary due to it being a rad fight between two heavyhitters (similar to how Superboy-Prime represents obsessive fanboyism in Infinite Crisis). If we had John go limp-dicked because "oh no, mazzah gave me muh legz I can't kill mazzah" (i'm being hyperbolic here to drive the point, don't have a cow) even in the face of him being a mass-murderer, it would undercut that and it shifts the focus from John's progression past his reliance on Hal and puts him right back into Hal's shadow.

If we want a story that plays with his relationship with Hal Jordan, we can explore John and Hal's relationship with the actual Hal, not this guy, ya know?

Ignore that crappy Geoff Johns stuff.

Real John might be the worst ethnic sidekick.....ever.

[Lirica]

I would like for John to interact with Parallax Hal from Convergence, but certainly not to kill, since I think there a lot of other characters I 'd like to see him interact with as well. Not sure if he healed John, though. Isn't this version (at this point) already an alternate timeline version based on what happened in Convergence: Green Lantern/Parallax? At least, that's what I thought from his future appearances until GL #50 where Hal didn't remember he had been Parallax for half the issue. Convergence still kinda confuses me. lol

Some version of Fatality should definitely make a reappearance for John to face off against too.