Yesterday , a man retired . He is a adult male who has been idolized by many , and hate by others . This man was elected by man to rein a universe , to resolve good and evil , right from faulty , and to guide his children in the light . I ’m address , of course , of retentive - fourth dimension Green Lantern author Geoff Johns . What , did someone else kip down yesterday ?
Geoff Johns has helmed the Green Lantern comics for over nine age , and now he ’s maltreat down from the comic and the character most associated with his name , after issue # 20 . To say he ’s been a success would be an understatement . He revitalized the grapheme . He ’s arguably add more to the Green Lantern universe than anybody , ever . His Green Lantern workplace was so well - receive that it moderate to DC naming him Chief Creative Officer back in 2010 , and now he help channelise all of DC ’s comedian , as well as writing many of its most major title , including Justice League . And while the Green Lantern film was terrible , the only cause it was ever made because Johns ’ work on the Green Lantern comedian was so fresh it catapulted the part not just in cartoon strip , but in all of pop culture .
But that ’s not to say Johns ’ oeuvre on GL has been infallible . Many critique him for basically shoving then - GL Kyle Rayner in the recession to rise Hal Jordan when he submit over the serial . Although Green Lantern ’s comics sales were slip before Johns aim the helm in 2004 , there are still many comics rooter who ca n’t understand the appeal of the foursquare - take to task , Silver Age machismo of Hal Jordan over the more nuanced , interesting Rayner . Some reader have criticized Johns for what they call “ the Skittles Lanterns , ” sound out that by adding so may Lantern Corps , each with their own color and annulus , they dilute Green Lantern ’s importance . And his massive Blackest Night story , the apogee of his Green Lantern “ trilogy , ” which began in Green Lantern : Rebirth and continue in The Sinestro Corps . War , was just kind of a pot ( peculiarly when it became Brightest Day ) .
The question is , now that Johns is leaving the comic that made him famous — and that he made illustrious in return — what will his bequest be ? I ’d posit that his GL accomplishment can be boiled down to three things , not coincidently , those note above : 1 ) Bringing back Hal Jordan ; 2 ) Creating the Yellow powered Sinestro Corps , and then total the other Lanterns of the colour / emotional spectrum , include Red , Orange , Blue , Indigo and Violet ; 3 ) The mega - event Blackest Night , which not only helped solidify Johns ’ Green Lantern universe , but had a huge consequence on the entire DC universe that persist in well past the DC New 52 reboot .
So let ’s start with # 1 , shall we ? There ’s no deny that Hal Jordan never bear out among Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman and even Aquaman , personality - wise . There was a reason DC put back him with Kyle Rayner , and that ’s because so many fan found Hal Jordan tiresome in the first place , and wanted someone more merriment and relatable . But there ’s also no deny that when Johns descend on board , Green Lantern comic sales were down . You could argue that Johns could have written his stories with Rayner instead of Hal Jordan , but the fact of the issue is Johns have it off his Silver Age characters — which is why he ’s upraise so many of them throughout his DC calling . Moreover , one thing Rayner could not have done was have Jordan ’s human relationship with his bane Sinestro , which Johns has lento turned into one of the most interesting , yet - still - mostly - adversarial relationship in superhero comics .
Whether or not you prefer Rayner ( or Guy Gardner , or John Stewart , or the novel Simon Baz ) over Hal Jordan , at the end of the day Johns ’ decision worked . Even if bringing back Hal was only essential to Johns , the determination was part of would make the next nine years of Green Lantern comics so successful .
As for the Emotional Spectrum — that is , the addition of the xanthous , fear - power Sinestro Corps , the chew up Red Lanterns , the greedy Orange Lantern ( there ’s only one , because he ’s avaricious ! ) , the promising Blue Lanterns , the compassionate Indigo Trible , and the reddish blue , love - power Star Sapphires — it ’s very perchance the upright thing to happen to Green Lantern since DC rebooted the serial in 1959 . Johns not only broaded the Green Lantern universe boundlessly , he also made it make a sort of sense . depend , any taradiddle about a humanity who has a magic ring powered by a lantern that radiate “ the green spark of self-possession ” is not a story that is too implicated with reality . But Johns ’ plus answer unspoken question like , why just green ? How does the Green Lantern ’s power in reality turn ? Why do n’t the Green Lantern rings bring on yellow ? Finally , Green Lantern was sort of logical — it ’s own special logical system , but logic nonetheless .
And Johns did n’t just expand the GL universe by add more foeman for the Green Lantern Corps . to oppose or ally with — the whole emotional coloring material spectrum and its business leader rings have now become a fundamental part of the DC universe , both before and after the New 52 , which opens up stpry - yell possibilities for other DC characters . How awe-inspiring was it when Sinestro reveal his Sinestro Corps . members to be most terrific beings in the DC existence , including the Anti - Monitor ? Very awesome . How awing was it when the various coloring closed chain found familiar DC heroes and villains during Bleckest Night , turn Lex Luthor into an Orange Lantern , Batman ’s scourge Scarecrow as a Yellow Lantern , Wonder Woman as a Star Sapphire , and more ? Very , very awesome .
In my notion , Johns ’ excited spectrum was the idea that Green Lantern was wait for . lease me put it another means : There ’s a reason the Green Lantern movie was based on Geoff Johns ’ rendering of the part ’s origin , which admit the fundamentals of the aroused spectrum ; and there ’s a reason the fresh Green Lantern animize series used the full “ Skittles Lanterns ” concept right off the chiropteran , and that ’s because it ’s so perfect for Green Lantern it ’s amazing no one view of it in the first place .
Which leaves us with Blackest Night and Brightest Day . While the emotional spectrum remains — indeed , barely any part of Johns ’ Green Lantern story were rebooted during the New 52 ( which happens where your comics trade well and you ’re the Chief Creative Officer ) . Honestly , Blackest Night is too gawky to go down among the great storey of modernistic comics ; maybe it was dividing the master storyline among so many different comics ( a standard pattern , mostly but not when it makes a single comedian seem completely unintelligible ) ; maybe it father off from Johns . peradventure it ’s just the improbably depleted - stake sequel bright 24-hour interval and its eclectic cast of less - than - thrill quality that bringing Blackest Night down .
But while Blackest Night may not be all DC hop it would be , it ’s where the Johns ’ concept of the emotional spectrum was wholly revealed , makes it important if not of necessity “ great . ” it wo n’t tarnish Johns ’ overall flow on Green Lantern , or the bequest he commit the character . And while Johns certainly has some flaws as a writer — all writers do — they did n’t keep his more than 100 number of Green Lantern from being majuscule version , or revolutionizing the fibre and his universe in a path that already an constitutional part of the Green Lantern universe of discourse . It piss too much sense , it provides too much storytelling potential for Hal and the other GL character . And no matter how many reboots DC puts its cosmos through , it is absolutely never , ever going away .
One more matter , a personal line , if you will : Before Geoff Johns came along , my perceptual experience of Green Lantern was about people who had witching ring that did n’t work on yellow and whose phallus included a talking squirrel . I actually play him , at a acquaintance ’s marriage ceremony in 2006 ; when I con he was write Green Lantern ( this was concisely before the “ Sinestro Corps . War ” began ) he very courteously tried to explain to me the appealingness of the character and the concept without , you know , telling some rube all of his forthcoming plotlines . I did n’t infer what he was tattle about then , but I do now . And man , did that guy cable know what he was talking about .
Blackest NightGreen Lantern
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