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  1. #1
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Default Would Geoff John's GL Be As Big If It Starred John Stewart instead of Hal?

    John Stewart was getting unprecedented attention due to the Bruce Timm Justice League series and had just returned to being a Green Lantern in the pages of Joe Kelly's JLA.

  2. #2
    Astonishing Member Sodam Yat's Avatar
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    I'm going to say, "yes". I think if John Stewart was the main Green Lantern during the Geoff Johns era, I think it would be as big if not bigger. Not only this, but I believe that kind of move would break the barrier and give out more opportunities for diverse characters at DC comics books. At least it would give more DC fans more hope. I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the reasons why John was treated the worse, compared to the other Green Lantern characters, where they had their own books.

    The reason I answered yes, is because as much as I don't like Geoff Johns and don't have no respect for the guy personally after the things he's done with John, there's no doubt that he's a talented writer. The point is that you don't necessarily need to be a Hal Jordan fan to read the books. It's his story that appealed to a lot of to comic book readers.

  3. #3
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    The answer is no. (I love John Stewart/Mosaic but read below...)

    When Hal Jordan was replaced by Kyle Rayner in the 90's Green Lantern fans were furious. Hal was the hero they loved waking up to watch Saturday morning cartoons as a kid, and now he had been turned into a mass murderer to be replaced by a newbie.

    Kyle brought in new GL fans, but the ground swell for Hal Jordan just kept boiling and boiling until the lid was going to pop off. If you had been around during the early 2000's on the now defunct DC message boards, there was one common theme. (Bring back Hal) to the point the GL board was turned into a virtual warzone. DC brought Hal back, not just because Geoff Johns loved him, but because they saw the $$$$ dollar signs, plain and simple.

  4. #4
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    I'll say that John in the lead would definitely change the course of the narrative, if only for his redemption arc being that of hubris instead of betrayal. He also has a weaker connection to Sinestro which is really key to the run.

    I think if we're just changing leads, no. If Johns did tailor it more to John? Maybe, but I don't know who or what they could do to replace Sinestro and Hal's relationship except use Parallax himself. I'm leaning no presently, but I do think it brought enough attention back to GL as a franchise that it would have been the right time to have John lead a book all his own and they squandered that chance

  5. #5
    Astonishing Member phantom1592's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The no face guy View Post
    The answer is no. (I love John Stewart/Mosaic but read below...)

    When Hal Jordan was replaced by Kyle Rayner in the 90's Green Lantern fans were furious. Hal was the hero they loved waking up to watch Saturday morning cartoons as a kid, and now he had been turned into a mass murderer to be replaced by a newbie.

    Kyle brought in new GL fans, but the ground swell for Hal Jordan just kept boiling and boiling until the lid was going to pop off. If you had been around during the early 2000's on the now defunct DC message boards, there was one common theme. (Bring back Hal) to the point the GL board was turned into a virtual warzone. DC brought Hal back, not just because Geoff Johns loved him, but because they saw the $$$$ dollar signs, plain and simple.
    Agreed.

    Johns writing is generally hit and miss. He's had some great runs and some generally forgetable ones. I don't believe that Rebirth and his GL run was a hit because of his fantastic writing... i wholeheartedly believe because it was THE RETURN OF HAL JORDAN!!!!! The golden boy that 10 years later still had fans foaming at the mouth over.

    As has been mentioned, John stewart had already gotten his ring back... his JL costume came over.. and that was the status quo for 2 years and nothing happened. If anything i believe that the failure of the John fans to set the world on fire after his return is what prompted DC to bring back Hal. That was the perfect opportunity for John to leap into the spotlight and ignite all those JL fans that pushed for him... but nothing really happened.

    If Geoff Johns tried to push him again 2 years later... i think the result would have been about the same.

    Stewart has always had fans... but they were never as rabid as the Hal fans (myself included) were.

  6. #6
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    First of all, if they didn't plan to bring Hal Jordan back, Geoff Johns wouldn't be on board to write GL. So this question itself is a pseudo-proposition.
    Second, Geoff Johns said many many times that IT HAS TO BE Hal. The mythology started with Parallax became the living yellow impurity which tied into Sinestro’s ring. Then there came the Sinestro Corps War, the rainbow lanterns, Blackest Night, etc. Star Sapphire is Hal Jordan's true love. Indigo Tribe was founded by Hal's predecessor. Everything is connected to the linchpin, Hal Jordan. Also Geoff Johns said the unique relationship of Hal/Sinestro is the core of the whole Green Lantern run.
    So sorry, those who said "any other character would do" really didn't read comics carefully.

  7. #7
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    To answer to OP, then no.

    You lose the connections to Parallax, Sinestro, The Carol Star Sapphire. Black Hand too.

    Would Detroit be the setting instead of Coast Coty?

    You lose the tension with the previous fallen lanterns.

    He’d have to use different guest stars than Ollie in Rebirth and Barry in Blackest Night.

    Actually, if John Stewart was used for that run, then it would have to be Hal not Black Hand as the main Black Lantern.

  8. #8
    DARKSEID LAUGHS... Crazy Diamond's Avatar
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    In order for that to work Johns would have wanted to write John Stewart in the first place and judging by how he was handled during is run that is not a comic I would've wanted to read.
    Personally I would've liked to have seen how Dwayne Mcduffie would've handled John Stewart in the comics. I remember there was a rumor that he had submitted a proposal for having John Stewart as the lead in GL but it wasn't even read by the editorial at the time because he was not on good terms with DC.

    As far as not having Parallax or what not all that would need to happen is to build up John Stewart more as a character. It's not like Parallax (yellow space bug) was all that great of a villain and I don't know anyone who was asking for Black Hand to come back. With a different protagonist I'm guessing the series would take a different approach not just take what already happened and put John Stewart in it.

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member SiegePerilous02's Avatar
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    Johns constructed the story around Hal (including heavy focus on his arch nemesis Sinestro) and a lot of its success was the hype surrounding Hal's return to GL status after Emerald Twilight. It's not as simple as swapping out protagonists, especially as evidence suggests Johns is not as interested in Stewart as he is in Jordan. So I don't think it would be as successful, simply because it wasn't going to happen based on what we know.

    That being said, with how successful the GL property was at the time, they could and should have done way more with John than they did even if it wasn't as the lead.

  10. #10
    Boisterously Confused
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    I think there's no way to answer the question of whether it would have been "as big" (which I'm taking to mean "popular" or "successful"). It would, of necessity, have been different b/c Johns would have been driving the story with a different narrative, but it could have been very good seeing Stewart rising to make the role of "Greatest GL" is own.

  11. #11
    ...of the Black Priests Midnight_v's Avatar
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    No

    Because this

    In order for that to work Johns would have wanted to write John Stewart in the first place and judging by how he was handled during is run that is not a comic I would've wanted to read.
    Personally I would've liked to have seen how Dwayne Mcduffie would've handled John Stewart in the comics.
    I've noticed that you can FORCE a writer to write a character they don't want to write, but you CAN'T force them to write them well.

    Theres a huge difference between a project of passion, or desire and the outcome vs a creator "Just phoning it in" so if Geoff Johns didn't go with GL and did so much with Hal
    its likely because thats who he wanted to write.

    I don't wanna walk away disgusted at anymore runs because the authors writing a character they hate.
    My priority is enjoying and supporting stories of timeless heroism and conflict.
    Everything else is irrelevant.

  12. #12
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    Would we have needed a GL Rebirth if it starred John? That kind of became central to the whole run.
    Quote Originally Posted by Crazy Diamond View Post
    As far as not having Parallax or what not all that would need to happen is to build up John Stewart more as a character. It's not like Parallax (yellow space bug) was all that great of a villain and I don't know anyone who was asking for Black Hand to come back. With a different protagonist I'm guessing the series would take a different approach not just take what already happened and put John Stewart in it.
    Parallax is more of a force of nature then a villain. I think more people cared about Black Hand after Johns updated them then they ever did before, he at least had a stronger gimmick.

  13. #13
    Ultimate Member SiegePerilous02's Avatar
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    I dont think anyone asked for Black Hand to come back but Johns had alteady had success with the Flash's old school rogues mostly from the Broome era. Stands to reason he would update Hal's from the same period. And since Black Hand led to the biggest storyline, it ended up working.

  14. #14
    Hey Baby--Wha's Happ'nin? HandofPrometheus's Avatar
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    I would say no.

  15. #15
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    Most likely not. A lot of the things that caused the fervor of Johns' run were circumstantial and they don't apply at all to John Stewart, such as Hal Jordan being returned from the dead and made a hero again. Furthermore, in all likelihood, Geoff Johns would have written the character horribly. And lastly, let's face it, John Stewart does not have near the following that Hal Jordan does among the comics reading audience, so the audience probably would not have been as excited to see a comic focused on him.

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