John Stewart: Green Lantern Appreciation 2021

[Customizer]

I just purchased Green Lantern #1 on Comixology .

Thank you for choosing the career path you have Redjack

May your run be long and fruitful.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I'll just quote myself from the GL thread:


Okay, here are my thoughts on the first issue.

First, I had to re-read it. This is a good sign because usually I only re-read stuff like Morrison or Hickman before making a judgement. It means that this book packs a lot. First read I didn't like as much: it felt like Geoffrey Thorne (and since you do post on this boards sir, how do you prefer to be referred to? Geoffrey? Mr. Thorne? Redjack?) tried to solve every perceived problem with the GL franchise in the first issue. Then I thought about it some, and that's not a valid complaint; in fact it's exactly what I asked for. S I re-read it, realized I missed a bunch of stuff, and really, really liked this. There's too much for plain text so I'll try to make topics:

• Characterization: Usually, character work is relegated to the second plane when a book has so many concepts as this one. Not here: there's great, and very subtle character work on this issue. From Jordan meaning well and treating John like an equal, but being sort of clueless about his mindset, to John and Simon's sort of shorthand, as if they know where the other stands, to Kelli's attitude, to John's introspective, almost strategic positioning in this world, these characters felt very real to me. The Guardian's self analysis was a plus, as were "greasy politician" Sinestro and all the Aliens. The captain in particular, with her disdain to human languages, plays on words and all reminded of that Thanagar issue of Morrison Animal-Man, she just portrays the "War-minded people which, yet, views everyone else as backward barbarians" so well. (The whole Jordan-John-Simon thing stuck with me, though. Seems like life, with so little dialogue)

• Concepts: As someone used to play encyclopedia, there's a lot in this book. Lots of references, lots of moving parts, lots of **** I don't recognize - which is great since it doesn't happen often. Feels like everything GL was thrown into the mix, and my favorite hasn’t even showed up yet. (It’s Jo. I’m older reader, but I prefer new stuff.).

• World Building: this felt like ASOIAF in space. I like ASOIAF very much, but I don’t like medieval fantasy, and I do like space. So, yeah!

On top of that, the art was just beautiful. I believe that this book has potential. If it lasts enough - and I hope it does - it may become one of those things like Mark Waid’s Flash, which has to be referenced going forward whether the authors want it or not. It may be the book to finally elevate John among comic book audiences. I’m impressed, really.

Count on me for the ride.

[Sodam Yat]

I'll just quote myself from the GL thread:


Okay, here are my thoughts on the first issue.

First, I had to re-read it. This is a good sign because usually I only re-read stuff like Morrison or Hickman before making a judgement. It means that this book packs a lot. First read I didn't like as much: it felt like Geoffrey Thorne (and since you do post on this boards sir, how do you prefer to be referred to? Geoffrey? Mr. Thorne? Redjack?) tried to solve every perceived problem with the GL franchise in the first issue. Then I thought about it some, and that's not a valid complaint; in fact it's exactly what I asked for. S I re-read it, realized I missed a bunch of stuff, and really, really liked this. There's too much for plain text so I'll try to make topics:

• Characterization: Usually, character work is relegated to the second plane when a book has so many concepts as this one. Not here: there's great, and very subtle character work on this issue. From Jordan meaning well and treating John like an equal, but being sort of clueless about his mindset, to John and Simon's sort of shorthand, as if they know where the other stands, to Kelli's attitude, to John's introspective, almost strategic positioning in this world, these characters felt very real to me. The Guardian's self analysis was a plus, as were "greasy politician" Sinestro and all the Aliens. The captain in particular, with her disdain to human languages, plays on words and all reminded of that Thanagar issue of Morrison Animal-Man, she just portrays the "War-minded people which, yet, views everyone else as backward barbarians" so well. (The whole Jordan-John-Simon thing stuck with me, though. Seems like life, with so little dialogue)

• Concepts: As someone used to play encyclopedia, there's a lot in this book. Lots of references, lots of moving parts, lots of **** I don't recognize - which is great since it doesn't happen often. Feels like everything GL was thrown into the mix, and my favorite hasn’t even showed up yet. (It’s Jo. I’m older reader, but I prefer new stuff.).

• World Building: this felt like ASOIAF in space. I like ASOIAF very much, but I don’t like medieval fantasy, and I do like space. So, yeah!

On top of that, the art was just beautiful. I believe that this book has potential. If it lasts enough - and I hope it does - it may become one of those things like Mark Waid’s Flash, which has to be referenced going forward whether the authors want it or not. It may be the book to finally elevate John among comic book audiences. I’m impressed, really.

Count on me for the ride.

Great review!!

[Vordan]

There’s a rumor going around that John will be the GL in Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game. On one hand it’s representation for John, on the other it’s in a crappy Games as a Service where the JL are under Brainiac’s control and exist to prop up Harley Quinn and the Hot Topic Squad.

[Frontier]

There’s a rumor going around that John will be the GL in Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game. On one hand it’s representation for John, on the other it’s in a crappy Games as a Service where the JL are under Brainiac’s control and exist to prop up Harley Quinn and the Hot Topic Squad.

Back when it was rumored to be a live service game I was thinking they could use all the GL's and just re-use assets.

[Sodam Yat]

There’s a rumor going around that John will be the GL in Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game. On one hand it’s representation for John, on the other it’s in a crappy Games as a Service where the JL are under Brainiac’s control and exist to prop up Harley Quinn and the Hot Topic Squad.

Interesting. What do you mean as a service? Like some subscription service to play the game?

[Vordan]

Interesting. What do you mean as a service? Like some subscription service to play the game?

You know Destiny? Avengers? That’s a “Game as a Service”. The polite take is that it’s a game that’s intended to keep players playing it for long periods of time by delivering constant downloadable content (DLC), such as new maps, playable characters, enemies, etc all free and funded by microtransactions. In reality it typically means launching a game with sweet f*** all to do and then selling the full game to you piece by piece. There’s a ton of failed attempts: The Division, Anthem, Avengers, etc, Suicide Squad is supposed to be WB’s stab at it.

[Sodam Yat]

You know Destiny? Avengers? That’s a “Game as a Service”. The polite take is that it’s a game that’s intended to keep players playing it for long periods of time by delivering constant downloadable content (DLC), such as new maps, playable characters, enemies, etc all free and funded by microtransactions. In reality it typically means launching a game with sweet f*** all to do and then selling the full game to you piece by piece. There’s a ton of failed attempts: The Division, Anthem, Avengers, etc, Suicide Squad is supposed to be WB’s stab at it.

Ah, so it's that type of game. I don't have any games as a service. It's definitely a rip off.

[BohemiaDrinker]

You know Destiny? Avengers? That’s a “Game as a Service”. The polite take is that it’s a game that’s intended to keep players playing it for long periods of time by delivering constant downloadable content (DLC), such as new maps, playable characters, enemies, etc all free and funded by microtransactions. In reality it typically means launching a game with sweet f*** all to do and then selling the full game to you piece by piece. There’s a ton of failed attempts: The Division, Anthem, Avengers, etc, Suicide Squad is supposed to be WB’s stab at it.

OFF TOPIC: I really don't understand why everyone trying this don't just copy Warframe's business model.

[Besouro]

I'll just quote myself from the GL thread:


Okay, here are my thoughts on the first issue.

First, I had to re-read it. This is a good sign because usually I only re-read stuff like Morrison or Hickman before making a judgement. It means that this book packs a lot. First read I didn't like as much: it felt like Geoffrey Thorne (and since you do post on this boards sir, how do you prefer to be referred to? Geoffrey? Mr. Thorne? Redjack?) tried to solve every perceived problem with the GL franchise in the first issue. Then I thought about it some, and that's not a valid complaint; in fact it's exactly what I asked for. S I re-read it, realized I missed a bunch of stuff, and really, really liked this. There's too much for plain text so I'll try to make topics:

• Characterization: Usually, character work is relegated to the second plane when a book has so many concepts as this one. Not here: there's great, and very subtle character work on this issue. From Jordan meaning well and treating John like an equal, but being sort of clueless about his mindset, to John and Simon's sort of shorthand, as if they know where the other stands, to Kelli's attitude, to John's introspective, almost strategic positioning in this world, these characters felt very real to me. The Guardian's self analysis was a plus, as were "greasy politician" Sinestro and all the Aliens. The captain in particular, with her disdain to human languages, plays on words and all reminded of that Thanagar issue of Morrison Animal-Man, she just portrays the "War-minded people which, yet, views everyone else as backward barbarians" so well. (The whole Jordan-John-Simon thing stuck with me, though. Seems like life, with so little dialogue)

• Concepts: As someone used to play encyclopedia, there's a lot in this book. Lots of references, lots of moving parts, lots of **** I don't recognize - which is great since it doesn't happen often. Feels like everything GL was thrown into the mix, and my favorite hasn’t even showed up yet. (It’s Jo. I’m older reader, but I prefer new stuff.).

• World Building: this felt like ASOIAF in space. I like ASOIAF very much, but I don’t like medieval fantasy, and I do like space. So, yeah!

On top of that, the art was just beautiful. I believe that this book has potential. If it lasts enough - and I hope it does - it may become one of those things like Mark Waid’s Flash, which has to be referenced going forward whether the authors want it or not. It may be the book to finally elevate John among comic book audiences. I’m impressed, really.

Count on me for the ride.

Brilliant review, well said.

I'm going to ask this right away: Shouldn't this book be called Green Lantern Corps?

Because that's pretty much what it is.

Mind you, that's one of the few weird decisions in an otherwise solid first entry.

Geoffrey Thorne who also handled the main sections of the Future State: Green Lantern title, is in charge of launching this new volume and he continues the same vibe as in that series. John Stewart continues to be the main character and, just like in Robert Venditti's run, he remains as leader of the Corps which has always been cool in my book since I believe John is the most capable for that role of all the Earth Lanterns, plus, Thorne gets his character fine showing how competent he is at leading the whole team and dealing with the new political course that his group has been assigned to.

The rest of the cast also get decent moments. Unlike Brian Bendis, Thorne at the very least tries to justify very hard Teen Lantern's place on the team but unfortunately has to follow the same one-note portrayal that Bendis created along with adding some really irritating Spanglish lines that are not even properly written (again, people who don't know Spanish should really stop trying to write in Spanish). Simon and Guy get adequate scenes based on their previous portrayals in comparison.

The plot is really intriguing so far due that it handles yet another Bendis' plot-point like the United Planets but in a more compelling manner with the Corps acting like ambassadors and controlling possible attacks that could disrupt the peace they're fighting for and the writer creates good solutions that go along with that mentality. There's also a nice amount of content in this chapter compared to other opening issues.

Not so fond of the appearance of a Thanagarian woman that look suspiciously similar as Shayera Hol from the Justice League Animated series since it seems like Thorne might want to replicate the romance between John and her but who knows? Maybe he will bring some surprises about it.

Dexter Soy does a fantastic job in pencils with a vibrant style and precise storytelling. Marco Santucci's work on the other hand, is just fine, not bad but not that impressive and doesn't contribute a lot to the story.

Promising beginning. Let's see how things go on.

I really REALLY enjoyed this first issue....and it's story foundations and world building is superb!!!

Mr. G. Thorne brilliantly hammered it home. This is definitely a must read monthly.

Finally the GLC and United Planets in the same story....and how Brilliant GL John deduced how to defeat that all consuming 'beast' which seemed almost unbeatable.

Can't wait to read future issues.

Glad to see some of the RLs but it would be nice to a group of United spectrum corps to protect the various parts of the United Planets as well as being the centre group to police inter-corp wars and/or rivlaries.

[abetterday]

The first issue was good but this series looks like it will be more of a Green lantern Corps run than the John Stewart stand along series that I was hoping for. So in a way it's a catfish. Why can't we have a origin recap and timeline of when John first became a Green Lantern and and an updated status in regards to his family, friends and who he hangs out with on Earth. Why did they replace Cyborg with John in the Justice League only to send him out into deep space in yet another Star Wars type of adventure # 10,000? How can new readers get to know John if the first issue isn't reader friendly? How can new readers relate to John if he isn't shown being grounded on Earth doing normal things that other Superheroes are doing such as being around family and friends and going out to play a round of golf?

[Sodam Yat]

The first issue was good but this series looks like it will be more of a Green lantern Corps run than the John Stewart stand along series that I was hoping for. So in a way it's a catfish. Why can't we have a origin recap and timeline of when John first became a Green Lantern and and an updated status in regards to his family, friends and who he hangs out with on Earth. Why did they replace Cyborg with John in the Justice League only to send him out into deep space in yet another Star Wars type of adventure # 10,000? How can new readers get to know John if the first issue isn't reader friendly? How can new readers relate to John if he isn't shown being grounded on Earth doing normal things that other Superheroes are doing such as being around family and friends and going out to play a round of golf?

I think we may very well have a Green Lantern origin with John Stewart sometime in the future.

The problem is that when you have quite a few human Green Lanterns and there's only one Green Lantern book, they have to be used somewhere. I'm pretty sure, that was one of the reasons why the editors wanted Redjack to use other human Green Lantern characters. Personally, I prefer most of John's stories to be away in space than on Earth, unless he's in the Justice Leauge or there's some big event that's taking place on Earth. It's easier to have characters that's specifically tied for John when he's on space than on Earth imo. We don't often see a black superhero ruling the cosmos these days. Also the United Planets is being established with John as front and center. This is a good build up for the character imo.

And a Star Wars type adventure sounds promising! lol

[Redjack]

Star Wars...

Focus on John...

Green Lantern Corps run...

Emotional Spectrum...

[abetterday]

I think we may very well have a Green Lantern origin with John Stewart sometime in the future.

The problem is that when you have quite a few human Green Lanterns and there's only one Green Lantern book, they have to be used somewhere. I'm pretty sure, that was one of the reasons why the editors wanted Redjack to use other human Green Lantern characters. Personally, I prefer most of John's stories to be away in space than on Earth, unless he's in the Justice Leauge or there's some big event that's taking place on Earth. It's easier to have characters that's specifically tied for John when he's on space than on Earth imo. We don't often see a black superhero ruling the cosmos these days. Also the United Planets is being established with John as front and center. This is a good build up for the character imo.

And a Star Wars type adventure sounds promising! lol

IMO Star Wars is the worst thing to happen to comics because everybody tries to replicate it.
There are no characters in Green lantern # 1 that's specifically tied to John Stewart. He is indistinguishable to the rest of the members of the corps. he does not have any family or friends to ground him. He no longer has a day job. How can new readers relate. I thought the goal was to make John the premiere black superhero of the DC Universe?

[Sodam Yat]

The Alex Maleev variant just came in through the mail yesterday. It looks good!