John Stewart Appreciation 2019

[Anthony Shaw]

As time goes on, I find Green Lantern constructs more and more cheesy, and John falling back on rifles and machine guns is really tired at this point. It makes sense considering his military background, but it's a dull trope now, kind of like his military background in general. It's not as if I'd want that dropped from his character history, but it's an easy "go-to" defining trait for writers, and they squeeze it dry, often while not informing readers of anything else about the character, except perhaps that he's a thinker and planner.

The DCAU version worked because John was constantly bouncing off other characters, particularity those who were polar opposite of him. That was part of what made that incarnation interesting. Funny enough, the one person more regimented than DCAU John was DCAU Katma Tui.

The military background was added to the comic incarnation, but none of the interpersonal dynamics to compliment his story.

Hence, we have stoic black male hero-fellow.

[lemonpeace]

To me, Blue is a mix of Superman, John Stewart, and Reed Richards. I find him to be a highly interesting character that I strongly desire to see utilized more and fleshed out. Alas, nobody at Marvel will even attempt to touch him with a 10ft pole, probably because his immense powerset and intellect may be too daunting of a task to portray for the writers.

I'd actually say John is in better condition than Blue is right now, since John has been more consistently utilized in various things comics + outside media. Like I said on this thread regarding our boy John and on Blue's thread, all that can change with a successful movie. It's a faint hope to hold onto (maybe less for John), but it's all we've got.

I can't say John is necessarily in better condition than Blue Marvel, sure John has more consistently utilized but how pivotal has he been to those appearances in recent years? how well written and fleshed out has he been? John gets used more consistently used because he's been around the block longer but, in the current comic/superhero storytelling landscape, I believe Blue Marvel gets handled with better care when he's put on-page. Blue Marvel's origin is contemporarily relevant and he is rarely relegated to being background or a cheerleader, or a sidekick if he's in the panel he's usually doing something that points to his strengths as a character. I just don't think John gets written as consistently compelling or with as much care comparatively

[SecretWarrior]

The DCAU version worked because John was constantly bouncing off other characters, particularity those who were polar opposite of him. That was part of what made that incarnation interesting. Funny enough, the one person more regimented than DCAU John was DCAU Katma Tui.

The military background was added to the comic incarnation, but none of the interpersonal dynamics to compliment his story.

Hence, we have stoic black male hero-fellow.

Van Jensen gave John characters to bounce off of. But now-- Poof!

Writers can also choose to dive more deeply into who John is to make him more compelling. I mean just check out a Denzel Washington movie like Man on Fire or American Gangster--stoic but awesome. Batman and Cyclops are also stoic, but they get interesting stories. We don't know anything about comic book John. He has no developed sense of humor, no villains, and no particular role in the mythology (when he should be leading man).

I've been thinking about John's personality, and I think in the DCAU and current comics he's supposed to be a Meyers-Briggs/Socionics ESTJ/ESTj, in contrast to the Hal Jordan ESTP/ESTp (think James Kirk, Han Solo, Jamie Lannister, and Anakin Skywalker) (though sometimes written as ENFP/ENFp). I won't go into the specifics of the ESTJ personality type, but other characters who share it but have more depth include: Robb Stark, Hermione Granger, Peter Pevensie, Leia Organa,Thresh, and Jack McCallister.

ESTJ and ESTP interaction:

[SecretWarrior]

[SecretWarrior]

[Holt]

John will be appearing in the new Green Lantern: Legacy OGN.

[Shockingjustice]

John will be appearing in the new Green Lantern: Legacy OGN.

I'm actually somewhat looking forward to this comic for this character. I hope it does well though I feel like DC won't market it well.

[lemonpeace]

I've been thinking about John's character a lot recently and i made me wonder; If you were writing John, how would you characterize him? I'm not talking plot points or supporting characters, moreso what parts of his personality, which personas, which stories or incarnations would you emphasize and/or utilize?

[HandofPrometheus]

I've been thinking about John's character a lot recently and i made me wonder; If you were writing John, how would you characterize him? I'm not talking plot points or supporting characters, moreso what parts of his personality, which personas, which stories or incarnations would you emphasize and/or utilize?

I'm writing him as his Bronze Age personality with bits of how Van Jenson wrote him.

[Cosmic Emerald 23]

I'm writing him as his Bronze Age personality with bits of how Van Jenson wrote him.

Ditto, I'd also throw in bits of DCAU John for good measure.

[Marvell2100]

I've been thinking about John's character a lot recently and i made me wonder; If you were writing John, how would you characterize him? I'm not talking plot points or supporting characters, moreso what parts of his personality, which personas, which stories or incarnations would you emphasize and/or utilize?

I like JL/JLU Johns' personality. Soften him up a tad and I think he's good to go.

It's kinda weird in the current JL that they aren't doing more about his new ring. What's the power source for the ring? Would he still be considered a Green Lantern There should be a story about that somewhere down the line.

And his pairing with Barry in the JL/Doom war is kinda strange as well. You have Diana, Bats and Supes on one team, very, very powerful. And then there's John and Barry. Are they considering those two just as powerful?

[SecretWarrior]

John will be appearing in the new Green Lantern: Legacy OGN.

I like the slight modifications to his costume here. Would be complete with the black gloves

[Sodam Yat]

It's nice to see John mentoring someone, but I do think he at least deserves some kind of solo, though

[Sodam Yat]

I like the slight modifications to his costume here. Would be complete with the black gloves

His costume does indeed look more modern here. Personally, I'm fine with either black gloves or bare hands

[Vampire Savior]

I would put John Stewart back in white gloves if it were up to me. In my view the white gloves worked really well on John because they contrasted with his dark skin.

His costume as it is these days...while not bad at all, is a bit on the bland side. It doesn't take a whole lot to add a good amount of flair to a costume. For Green Lantern, the white gloves and mask help a lot, for Batman, it's the ears and claw thingies he has on his gloves and the bat-wing edges on his cape, for Mega Man, it's his helmet and arm cannon, and distinctive boots. John has neither the mask or gloves, and he has too large an area of black that isn't broken up by any accents of green or some other color. The most interesting part of his visual is probably his eyes. That said, the suit succeeds at looking more like an official uniform than the Gil Kane design, but he's supposed to be a superhero, and in that regard, it's boring, especially when you remove the black gloves.

Personally, I think his best costume was the Gil Kane one he debuted with. The Bruce Timm one has its advantages, it looks more like something to be taken seriously, and I think it can be translated into live action easier because of that, but for a fun, exciting, colorful, and imaginative superhero--which, ideally Green Lantern should be, IMO--it fails. Especially when the shade of green is a darker or more jade color (the cartoons used a jade-like color, which wasn't the best choice, IMO). A bright spring green works to contrast with the black better, and makes the hero seem overall more lively.