I'm kinda surprised by how much seem to dislike Geoff Johns in this thread. In most of the other places I've been to online people seem to really like his stuff.
In equity, 80% of that hatred is me, and it's approximating pathological, so I need to take a break from it. I know
Young and
Dennis think he's been great ever since he was a lower-case g.
I never liked the return of Hal, but that's mostly because I just don't like dead people coming back to life without insanely good justification. It's cheap and it's stupid and it's mean. I wish Ted Kord hadn't died like he did, either, but his brains are on a floor in Switzerland. So it goes. If you want your hero back, you write period pieces, flashbacks, or time travel stories. This is basic.*
But it was still pretty good comics. I started to weary
after Sinestro Corps War, which obviously was Haltastic. That was the apex of Johns' talent, if not his career, and after that... well, what I think happened is that he became a victim of his own success. It's like he felt he was unable to pace himself, and packed ten years worth of development into two, which left no time, ironically, for any real feeling. Then again, this is a theme that developed earlier--he packs too much into too little space. Infinite Crisis has some of the greatest, potentially most sympathetic antagonists in comic book history--but what we got was "YOU'RE NOT SUPERBOY!" and an erratic Alex Luthor who one minute wants to save everybody and the next doesn't even care that his alternate-universe and adoptive mother just fucking died. Why wasn't that 12 issues?
But even then, I only really turned on him when he invented his reductive, rather nonsensical emotional categorization scheme based on a color definition system that is not only specifically human, but specifically Western, and even then somewhat archaic. This worked in Donnie Darko, because it was a
joke. Malaise of the Microwave Lanterns and the Inquisitiveness of the Infrared Clan don't work too well in a visual medium, I guess, but neither is "purple-pink" an accurate representation of violet.
And either put on some pants, Carol, or just go starkers. Let's go full-on Doc Manhattan from the other direction. In a sane world, they'd have had the courage and cleverness to make the Star Sapphires completely nude (and included at least some men), and they'd have been applauded. But of course it's TV14 to see the inside of a man's neck, but the outside of a vulva or a sack is M. But at least lose the heels. Even Black Canary doesn't
really pull that off, people just pretend she does because it's a classic design element.
Then there were the Red Lanterns, who would be an amazing element... in a Lobo book. This is textbook in taking an idea so far it becomes unintentional self-parody--Atrocitus can vomit naplam blood, that would make him unique. But they all vomit napalm blood. There's a cat who vomits napalm blood. Has anyone done a
Roy Harper vs. Dex-Starr comic yet?
And then the final straw was Blackest Night, which was just ugly comics, toyetic in the worst way, involves an unironic use of the phrase "White Power Lantern," and is narratively repetitious and obnoxious. Rejected tagline: "The dead have risen...
and they'll hurt your feelings."
Johns certainly has his backers. But most of the places I frequent are at best lukewarm on the guy, ranging from the grudging respect of Graeme McMillan to the hate-as-entertainment of Tucker Stone.
*And Superman doesn't count, although I can't really explain why. I don't even like that part of the Bible, but somehow Superman's rebirth and ensuing mullet don't bother me. It's weird, I know.
Hound of Ulster said:
It's because he is one of the The Powers That Be at DC Comics. So he is going to get a share of the blame for screwups and unpopular decisions made by DC even if he has nothing to do with them.
I don't blame Geoff Johns for anything he didn't put his name on. I don't blame him for Batman being ridiculous, I blame Morrison. I don't blame him for Green Arrow somehow being tried for murder for using deadly force on a planetary terrorist who once took down the whole JLA single-handedly, I blame Robinson and Krul. I don't blame him for cancelling Secret Six, I blame society.
I'll even give him credit for Action Luthor, since he provided the stage that Paul Cornell and Pete Woods gave their career-defining performances on. Also for JSA. Particularly Johnny Sorrow, possibly the coolest-looking villain in the DCU (even if he rips off the Red King from Doom Patrol, it was an
improvement). His invisible face makes you insane!
