Geoff Johns interview

There’s a great 2-part interview with Geoff Johns over at comicbookresources.com.

Geoff is one of ‘those writers’ that you either love or hate. He came to DC Comics and reworked the Flash and the JSA (with Blade’s screenwriter David Goyer) at a key moment in the company’s history when super hero comics were finally coming back into their own. Grant Morrison had made both the hipster ‘I hate comics but love the Invisibles‘ crowd and the classic comic loving ‘I love Superman but not what DC has done to him’ group happy with his JLA series and created a demand for good super hero comics.Johns made those comics.

After JSA, he took on the gnarled knot of half-thought-out ideas that was Hawkman, revived Teen Titans and then did the impossible, he made Green Lantern a best-selling series for DC for probably the first time since the 1960’s. Some dislike the hard-edged world that Johns has helped to create, a world of violence and insanity that culminated in the mega-event Infinite Crisis, but it’s here to stay.

In addition, Johns has helped to create a kind of community of writers including Morrison,  Greg Rucka and Mark Waid that has helped invite readers into a universe of interlocking stories rather than stand alone creations. The follow-up to Infinite Crisis, 52, remains one of the most successful comics ever created and to date the only successful weekly comic project (I’m looking at you, Countdown!).

Currently he’s working on reviving the ailing house of Superman which is good news. For years, there has been a revolving door of great creative teams on both Action Comics and Superman that has made readers exhausted and impatient for DC to get their act together. In the interview, Johns hints that their wait will be worth while.

The current storyline re-introducing the Legion of Super Heroes with star artist Gary Frank (of Supreme Power) is working up to be an explosive tale that could change the status quot for the Man of Steel.

There’s also a statement in the interview that makes this fan gleeful with hope, that he’d like to write one of the Avengers titles along with Bendis. For anyone who read his incredible run on the title back in the day, this could not be a better idea.

Please, comic book fairies,  hear my wish!

Green Lantern

While the original Green Lantern debuted in 1940, it is fair to say that the Silver Age Green Lantern of 1959 is an entirely different character. Created by Bill Finger and cartoonist Martin Nodell, the original ring slinger was an engineer who sculpted his ring and power battery from a meteorite that struck a train. Much like the other heroes of the time, he was more of a fantasy character, his ring exhibiting a strange emerald flame as it worked its magic.After the successful revamping of the Flash, word came down from Julius Schwartz that the Silver Age was upon us. In short order, the other former super heroes of WWII were given a modernization. Chief amongst them was Green Lantern.

In comic book history, artist Gil Kane is known for many of his works, but writer John Broome is most commonly known for Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern. The character was designed after Paul Newman and meant to be an homage to EE Doc Smith’s Lenseman novels. The series was a full-on science fiction super hero comic. Test pilot Hal Jordan was given his power ring by a dying red-skinned spaceman named Abin Sur and directed to use its power to uphold justice. The ring was capable of creating anything that the bearer could imagine and was only ineffectual against that which is yellow. As Green Lantern, Jordan fought everything from common thugs to robots to evil from the ant-matter universe of Qward.

Much like The Flash and Hawkman, Green Lantern was a campy comic book series built on thrills and wild storylines that sent the reader through a series of double takes month after month.

In time, GL became a founding member of the Justice League of America alongside The Flash, Batman, Aquaman, Superman, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman. His series saw many developments, but chief amongst them was the revelation that Jordan was one of a Corps of Green Lanterns that protected the entire galaxy from evil. Headed by the blue-skinned Guardians of the Galaxy, the Corps was made up of bizarre aliens all incredibly designed with the non-stop imagination of Gil Kane.

Hal Jordan appeared in his own cartoon series for a short time in 1966 where his trusty mechanic Pieface was replaced with a Venutian named Kiro… explain that!

Green Lantern was also a member of the Super Friends during their long fight with the Legion of Doom. Voiced by famed actor of the stage Sir Lawrence Olivier (or not), the character was shown to be on the same power level as Superman.

During the 1970’s, the title was altered into a team book by Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano.

Dubbed Green Lantern / Green Arrow, the series followed a conservative Hal Jordan on the road with loud-mouthed liberal Green Arrow ‘in search of the American Dream.’

The alteration brought a large and vocal readership to the title and remains a major mark in comic book history.

Stories delved into issues such as racism, over-population and corrupt business practices that the duo encountered while driving across the country in a pickup truck with a humanized Guardian who was just as eager to see every Stuckies on Route 66 that he could.

Two replacement Green Lanterns were also introduced, Guy Gardner and John Stewart (after Gardner fell into a coma).

Guy was initially a well-meaning human who appeared to be for all intents and purposes, similar to Hal Jordan. It wasn’t until he was awoken from his coma that his mind became skewed into the personality that comic book fans know and love.

He was introduced in 1985 after the continuity changing series Crisis on Infinite Earths as the Green Lantern and took Hal’s place in the Justice League where he butted heads with team leader Batman until Guy was knocked out cold… with just one punch from the caped crusader.

John Stewart, by contrast, was a headstrong and defiant character fitting into the notion of the ‘angry Black man’ commonly found in comic books of the 1970’s. When Jordan decided to finally split from the Corps once and for all, Stewart’s role shifted from back-up to primary Green Lantern for his sector.

Stewart’s time as Green Lantern in the comic book series was brief and often overshadowed by Hal Jordan’s continuing soap opera.

John Stewart finally got the recognition he deserved when he was chosen by Bruce Timm to be their primary Green Lantern in the Justice League cartoon series over Hal Jordan (probably due to many factors including DC Editorial’s reluctance to let Timm and company use certain characters). As such, Stewart became exposed to an audience that never even heard of Green Lantern.

After Crisis settled down, DC returned Hal Jordan to his series where he became a going gray tough guy. After his home town of Coast City was destroyed, Jordan went mental and took on the entire Green Lantern Corps, taking their rings as he left their corpses to rot in space before becoming the villain Parallax.

The last surviving Guardian chose Kyle Rayner as the new Green Lantern, much to the chagrin to many a faithful reader.

Due to the transformation of Jordan into a mustache-twirling villain, many fans felt betrayed and refused to accept Rayner as the new guy, despite several stories that depicted him as the ‘last Green Lantern.’

Eventually, Parallax sacrificed himself to restart the sun and re-appeared as the Spectre. If fans of Hal Jordan were angry before, they were now furious.

Two years ago, Jordan returned to his status as the greatest Green Lantern of them all in the miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth. Writer Geoff Johns, known for untangling the sordid and confusing threads of continuity that plagued Hawkman, made sense of Jordan’s bizarre journey and firmly set him back in his rightful place.

Alongside the monthly Green Lantern Corps starring Guy Gardner and occasionally John Stewart, the Green Lantern series is currently a top seller for DC Comics.

Most recently, Jordan’s most evil foe Sinestro returned from the anti-matter universe of Qward with an entire legion of yellow power ring bearing aliens (including an evil cyborg Superman, evil Superboy and an anti-matter giant) set on destroying the entire Green Lantern Corps. The storyline, entitled Sinestro Corps War, has been running throughout both Green Lantern titles and will conclude in a few months.

There are few character such as Green Lantern that have had such wild shifts in popularity. While he was the character that could not survive cancellation at one point, he is now the come back kid of comics, his series having re-earned the acceptance of Green Lantern fans and newcomers to the character alike.

One thing I never really understood was the what the big deal over a power ring was. I mean you only have to look online to see how to make your own power ring.

And anarchy ruled the cosmos.

Recommended reading:

Showcase Presents: Green Lantern, Vol. 1
Showcase Presents: Green Lantern, Vol. 2
Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection - Volume 1
Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection - Volume 2
Green Lantern: Fear Itself (Green Lantern)
Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight & A New Dawn
Green Lantern: Rebirth
Green Lantern Vol. 1: No Fear
Green Lantern Vol. 2: Revenge of the Green Lanterns