John Stewart: Green Lantern Appreciation 2022

[Anthony Shaw]

Since you're a fan of both characters, you won't like Hal's treatment in this movie. It's really bad. You'll like how they treat John, though. The movie seems to be more geared towards DCAU fans. So if you look at it from a DCAU perspective, you'll like it. But it's an overall good animated movie from a neutral standpoint imo.

In Sodam, I trust. It's great that John is back in animation again.

Hey, John once sat on a rock in space thinking about Hal's love life. I still want those two as allies in outside media. Hopefully, it will happen in the next reboot.

I rather Katma than Hawkgirl.

Me too!

As an MCU fan, I'm still salty that Gamora was singing the Spinners "Rubberband Man". That should have been Kat. She is due for a modern interpretation.

Just watched BEWARE MY POWER.

I liked it. I didn't LOVE it but I definitely liked it and, as a jump off for more GL films in the Tomorrow-verse, I'm here for it.

There were some issues but I think they have to do with me knowing the source material intimately. For a person who knows nearly nothing about Green Lantern outside the realm of animation, this works fine.

I think the suit design is solid but not my favorite. I thought the final fight din't quite have a foundation for who came out on top. It felt like an explanatory scene was missing.

Over all I give it an A-

I'll definitely come back for more.

In RJ, I trust.

[4sake Baned]

I wonder who DC should tap next for John. I would love to see him get a limited series or a crossover with someone. if they were to go the crossover route my pick would be him and Black Lightning teaming up. partially because I love the idea of Jefferson in space (an environment that could up the scale of his abilities) but also because I'm always been partial to the idea of them being linked by family. either him or have him team up with Jackson Hyde's Aquaman for an adventure in The Confluence.

I want to see John & BL for the same reasons…

[j9ac9k]

It'll never happen, but I think John interacting with another John, Dr Manhattan could be awesome. The architect and the "watch maker" - both knowing what it's like to have godly powers and also serve the military. I'd just want to see an issue of them having a conversation - especially since JS never lost his humanity the way Dr M did.

Ha - if anything, it's more likely to happen on HBO than the comics.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

error.

it was late.

I should have just hit reply.

Ah, that would certainly explain it.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I wonder who DC should tap next for John. I would love to see him get a limited series or a crossover with someone. if they were to go the crossover route my pick would be him and Black Lightning teaming up. partially because I love the idea of Jefferson in space (an environment that could up the scale of his abilities) but also because I'm always been partial to the idea of them being linked by family. either him or have him team up with Jackson Hyde's Aquaman for an adventure in The Confluence.

Did they ever explicitly nix the idea of Jefferson's wife being John's sister?

[lemonpeace]

Did they ever explicitly nix the idea of Jefferson's wife being John's sister?

I don't think so. I know John did have a sister that definitelt wasn't Lynn at one point in the Post-Crisis continuity (around the Kyle Rayner era iirc) but John's history has changed multiple times since then and I don't think any of those histories (outside of his military service) has been dug into enough to explicitly nix the possibility. on John's side at least, but I think Black Lightning is in a similar boat so I don't think it's a non-possibility on his side as well.

[Frontier]

I remember Lynn in Black Lightning (the show) mentioning her brother John being in the army. Of course a lot of people were wondering if she meant Diggle .

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I don't think so. I know John did have a sister that definitelt wasn't Lynn at one point in the Post-Crisis continuity (around the Kyle Rayner era iirc) but John's history has changed multiple times since then and I don't think any of those histories (outside of his military service) has been dug into enough to explicitly nix the possibility. on John's side at least, but I think Black Lightning is in a similar boat so I don't think it's a non-possibility on his side as well.

Oh, yeah, John had a sister in Winnick's shameless MASH finale rip-off. That might be one of the worst John stories I've ever read.

I think we can all safely assume that turd has been flushed back into the deepest bowels of Hypertime, never to return.

I'm not sure if I necessarily want Lynn to be John's sister though. I kind of liked the relationship that Ridley established for John and Jefferson, in which he projected assumptions upon John that weren't actually true. That's a pretty interesting angle to use with two of DC's earliest and most prominent black superheroes.

Either way, I think a Green Lantern/Black Lightning mini-series could do well enough for DC to give it a shot. I don't know how many new fans the CW show brought to the character in the comics (probably not many), but it might be worth seeing if some talented creators could make something out of this pairing.

[John Venus]

Throw in Static Shock and I'm game.

[sifighter]

What about John and Shilo Norman (mister miracle)? John’s becoming a god, Shilo worked with the New Gods. Could be an interesting match.

[andersonh1]

I'm not afraid of Hal Jordan disappearing (despite the constant "sky is falling" panic the Hal thread seems stuck in), just as I wasn't afraid of John disappearing (despite the exact same conspiratorial nonsense that the John thread engaged in).

My concern is that if you continually depict a character in a certain way that's negative, you're devaluating that character which could diminish their popularity and make it less likely for them to get used in a positive way again.

Let's take Superman, my favorite character, as an example. The most high profile stories told about him over the last few decades have all revolved around him either dying, turning evil, or being sad, all wrapped up in fairly hollow platitudes about 'hope'. These story elements have been repeated over and over to the point that they've become, for some, the primary elements associated with the character. The failure to put out high-profile Superman stories in which he's depicted as a fun sunny character filled with wonder and optimism has very likely contributed to Superman's diminishing popularity. There are other factors, of course, but the failure to present Superman in a way that showcases the elements that audiences originally loved about the character are a big part of it.

Now, the Green Lantern characters, in comparison, are relatively minor in comparison to Superman, but the same problems can arise if creators aren't careful in relying too much on the same story tropes. In the last year or so, the comics have depicted Hal Jordan as turning evil due to some kind of malevolent possession a three times already, [spoiler] and now the animated movie, too [/spoiler]. If that continues, then that's all the character ends up becoming for a lot of people and they'll be less likely to want to pay money for their stories.

Likewise, John Stewart being depicted as a tragedy-filled ex-marine widower forever lamenting his mistake on Xanshi likely made the character much less appealing to comics readers. Thankfully, that is changing and I'm sure it will benefit the character in the long-term.

Like with John, I don't think there's any bad story that can't be fixed eventually with a better story, but I do think that these silly fictional characters can be damaged, diminished, or whatever other word you want to use for it, by telling stories that don't really show them as the character audiences fell in love with.

Well said.

[James Cameron]

I was surprised by how much this new Green Lantern film borrows from the "Rann-Thanagar War" storyline, and how it seemed to appeal more to fans of the DCAU John Stewart than the character from the books. One thing I heard recently that I felt was a good way of putting it was that they "put a bunch of Green Lantern lore in a blender" and used the resulting concoction to prop up John instead of spotlighting the aspects of his story that are uniquely his. Overall I didn't enjoy it, because my three favorite characters - John, Hal, and Sinestro - were all portrayed the opposite of how I know them. John at least was portrayed the best of the three, I just wish he was in a better movie.

[Refrax5]

I was surprised by how much this new Green Lantern film borrows from the "Rann-Thanagar War" storyline, and how it seemed to appeal more to fans of the DCAU John Stewart than the character from the books. One thing I heard recently that I felt was a good way of putting it was that they "put a bunch of Green Lantern lore in a blender" and used the resulting concoction to prop up John instead of spotlighting the aspects of his story that are uniquely his. Overall I didn't enjoy it, because my three favorite characters - John, Hal, and Sinestro - were all portrayed the opposite of how I know them. John at least was portrayed the best of the three, I just wish he was in a better movie.

That's one of the reasons I wasn't that interested. The JLU version of John is basically an entirely different character than the comic version already (even if they've grafted a lot of his qualities into the comic version later), so I've always had mixed feelings about him, but that show was so good and John was so cool in it that they kind of got away with it. But it feels like the John of the comics that I like so much--thoughtful, socially conscious, and more willing to use his brain before his fists--falls more by the wayside in favor of the one-note military guy.

Obviously I don't like what they did to Hal, but I don't like what they did to John either.

[J. D. Guy]

What's not going to happen is ANY of these Lanterns getting shoved away with, sadly, the possible exception of Simon Baz who no one seems to want to do right and thus is made expendable. Simon and Keli (who isn't even a Green Lantern) are the only potentially killable Lanterns who could die and stay dead.

I gotta say, knowing this to be an ugly reality makes me deeply uncomfortable and unsettled.

Simon in particular being so decanted and discarded on all sides so casually by what feels like everyone except for me? There's something about that really hurts on a personal level that I can't quite fathom the why for.

Simon's my favorite Green Lantern. Top 3 alongside John and Jessica (the latter of who's fanbase has alas elicited reservations regarding her that I wish weren't there). I immensely enjoyed Johns' use of and debut of him. And I absolutely loved Sam Humphries excellent writing for and consideration of both him and Jessica in the first half of the Rebirth Green Lanterns book. (It's why I like Baz and Cruz as a fiercely platonic relationship, and why I appreciated how Humphries resisted the urge so many have to auto-define guys like Simon as stereotypically assumed, unilaterally straight horny dudes, something the Green Lanterns writer who came after Humphries left utterly threw aside.)

Simon being the Green Lantern pillar of interpersonal empathy? Being able to use that empathy to do amazing things? (Much of his iconic feats and character moments are defined by Simon's willfully-backed empathetic nature.) I love that. I respect that.

And I wish more did likewise.

[Mantis-Ray]

I gotta say, knowing this to be an ugly reality makes me deeply uncomfortable and unsettled.

Simon in particular being so decanted and discarded on all sides so casually by what feels like everyone except for me? There's something about that really hurts on a personal level that I can't quite fathom the why for.

Simon's my favorite Green Lantern. Top 3 alongside John and Jessica (the latter of who's fanbase has alas elicited reservations regarding her that I wish weren't there). I immensely enjoyed Johns' use of and debut of him. And I absolutely loved Sam Humphries excellent writing for and consideration of both him and Jessica in the first half of the Rebirth Green Lanterns book. (It's why I like Baz and Cruz as a fiercely platonic relationship, and why I appreciated how Humphries resisted the urge so many have to auto-define guys like Simon as stereotypically assumed, unilaterally straight horny dudes, something the Green Lanterns writer who came after Humphries left utterly threw aside.)

Simon being the Green Lantern pillar of interpersonal empathy? Being able to use that empathy to do amazing things? (Much of his iconic feats and character moments are defined by Simon's willfully-backed empathetic nature.) I love that. I respect that.

And I wish more did likewise.

I'm reminded I found it profoundly disappointing how the DC Superhero Girls cartoon went with Hal as Jess' only contemporary human Lantern and also changed his personality to make him a douchebag jerk jock idiot so Jess can come across looking better.

Immensely lazy and just plain insulting on multiple counts. They could have brought in Simon and have him have a positive dynamic with Jess, but they instead went with a douchebag Hal because every girl's relationship with their male counterpart in that show has to be exceedingly negative. Superman's a jerk to Kara, Robin's a jerk to Batgirl, Green Arrow is a jerk to Zatana, and Hal is a jerk to Jess.