John Stewart: Green Lantern Appreciation 2022

[StarSpangledMan]

I'm very excited for PKJ's Green Lantern issue

[HandofPrometheus]

Every word that came out of PKJ mouth was something I wanted to hear writers say outloud.

[Johnny]

He is right since the more you see certain characters being written in a specific way, you may think that's their entire characterization. The more you see John as the "ex-marine" or Hal as the "reckless pilot" you may very well end up thinking they are one-dimensional since that's the way you see them being written all the time. There's definitely such thing as creating the wrong kind of awareness and it's good to see someone like PKJ knows that.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

As someone who was bored to tears with the "stoic marine" characterization John's been stuck with for about a decade, I'm really excited to see what PKJ has in store for the character. Thorne's run helped pull the character out of a very long rut, so it's great to see other creators continue pushing the character beyond that pretty dull archetype.

Even though we can trace the whole marine backstory to JLU, the character only got interesting on that show when McDuffie showed us parts of John that weren't the well-trodden hard ass marine stuff.

[Frontier]

Good to hear .

[Sodam Yat]

I just finished reading Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League - Green Lantern. The writing on this book is amazing. After reading this book, it clearly shows he's VERY serious about writing a John Stewart book. His passion clearly shows here. I love the narration and how John's Marine background and Architect background is blended perfectly. As a John Stewart fan, this was a good example in what I was looking for in a John Stewart writer. It's another example on how to write a really good John Stewart story without bringing up Xanshi. Some scenes of the book looks like what you would expect in a John Stewart solo, where some scenes takes place on Earth. We get to see what kind of character John really is without the ring.

When writers bring up Xanshi, I get the impression that they're not passionate enough or just lazy and not willing to invest much into the character. PKJ is definitely not that writer. He's one of the few writers who gets the character and has a lot of passion for this character.

[Sodam Yat]

I'm very excited for PKJ's Green Lantern issue

The issue was great!

But it kinds of worries me when he says I hope other writers pick up in the future... threads. So he may not be the next Green Lantern writer. I also 100% agree what he says about that. There's been too many problems when new writers taking over, they don't pick up any developments that was left with the previous writer.

[sifighter]

So wait John Stewart has a sister like in past continuity but she died is what this special was saying?

[Johnny]

Doesn't "Eleanor" stand for "Lynn" anyway? Hence I figured this was supposed to be a new version of Lynn Stewart. But I'm not sure giving him a dead sister was necessary. The guy has enough tragedy as it is. Dead wife, dead planet, now a dead sister too? Jeez.

[Sodam Yat]

So wait John Stewart has a sister like in past continuity but she died is what this special was saying?

Yeah, he killed his sister accidentally in a car crash. It was Judd Winick who wrote that garbage in there. It was one of the reasons why John was bound in a wheelchair.

[Sodam Yat]

Doesn't "Eleanor" stand for "Lynn" anyway?

I think so, yeah.

Hence I figured this was supposed to be a new version of Lynn Stewart. But I'm not sure giving him a dead sister was necessary. The guy has enough tragedy as it is. Dead wife, dead planet, now a dead sister too? Jeez.

I thought it was a way to make up on what was so tragic in his past. I'm also wondering whether it would be some kind of retcon: Like he's not the fault of his sister's death or something. The way she died can be totally different.

[Johnny]

Damn, so the dead sister aspect was already there before? And he was responsible for her death too?? For god's sake, DC has been more cruel to this character than I thought. Yeah hope they retcon that part about him being responsible.

[Sodam Yat]

DC has been very cruel to the character to the point where you would never even thought he would have made it this far (featured in video games, lead character in the main GL title, his own solo movie etc). It was coming to the point where he was almost un-repairable. I think it's a testament that DC can really do great things for a character, despite how badly he was written in the past. That says a lot. All it takes is really effort and it's being shown here.

All the things they're doing with John, I feel like I'm in a John Stewart fan's paradise lol.

[Sodam Yat]

I'm also glad that PKJ never brought up how she died. It would just add burden in this story. And that's not what the writer is trying to do here, since the story illustrates on what makes him special and competent in what he does as a hero and a retired one.

I did feel that having Jason Todd in this issue was so random, though.

[Frontier]

Was it established she was dead before or was this just to explain why she was never around in John's life?