Originally Posted by
Anthony Shaw
Geoff was not required to make John compelling. He did not have to even use him.
While I like John, I did not find him as interesting as the other characters during that run. After the SCW, John was shown sitting on rock in space, thinking about who Hal was gonna seduce next. Sorry John, but that is Hector Hammond's job to ponder stuff like that. During the 2005 Rebirth, Guy already told John to get his head right, and move on. Yeah, John showed he had more will-power than the ring could manifest, but he has zero agency.
Let's look at Blackest Night.
I think John Stewart could have really shined during Blackest Night in a one-shot, or two part tie-in by a different writer. I was underwhelmed with his interaction with black lanterns Katma & Xanshi. I think Kurt Busiek, Joe Kelly, or J. M. DeMatteis would have put forth a more emotional story than the one Geoff cranked out. The story Geoff wrote felt like filler. I wish Geoff let someone else write that story.
I got more feels from the limited scenes with Carter Hall, Ray Palmer, and Kendra than the story with John. I have very little knowledge of Carter, Ray, and Kendra. I still remember Ray asking Carter not to hang up the phone so he could visit. Ray needed to talk to his bro, but Carter was not in the mood. The stuff with Carter & Kendra was interesting. I wanted more, but Black Lantern Ralph showed up. I never read a story with Ralph, yet I was captivated by that incarnation, and the history he shared with Ray & Carter. That piqued my interest in the Satellite JLA. I have not read Blackest Night in years, yet that stuck with me. That is compelling writing, to me.
The scenes Geoff wrote with Mera dealing with her Black Lantern family was more compelling to me than John Stewart. I think that was when Mera started to get noticed by readers outside the traditional Aquaman fandom.
I got more LOL's from Barry & Hal bantering about the Clark Kent persona, and how Kal was able to romance Lois Lane before BL Martian Manhunter showed. Again, Geoff made MM more compelling than John. You can tell Geoff enjoyed writing that.
John, Mera, Carter, Ray, and Kendra all were dealing with tragedy & loss that comes from death. Besides the action (and dark humor), the BL story was a way for a writer to hit various character beats with the heroes involved.
I just felt more passion from Geoff with those other characters, than with John. Geoff just never had a feel for John, imo.