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I'm not going to write as much as Mister Six, but my take is that the best Johns Flash stories were well before Rogue War. I started reading Johns' Flash after the Cicada story arc (a new villain Johns created - he did create a bunch of new supervillains for his Flash run and most of them were not all that good, but you had to give the guy credit for creating a whole bunch of new villains - it seems that most superhero comics writers shy away from creating new villains or create 1 every 9 months or something at best).... Johns seemed to picking right up from Waid, channeling that "New Silver Age" sensibility that has been mentioned above. (one could also lump Kurt Busiek and Invincible writer/creator Robert Kirkman into this category - although Kirkman can turn in some pretty crappy stories too, for example his Captain America arc last year)
Johns wrote a highly entertaining Flash - sure, it was mainstream superhero comics but it was well-told mainstream superhero. I would say if Waid's run on Flash was a 9, Johns' was an 8 with occasional 7 issues. Johns really got the character of the Flash, bulked up the supporting cast (the supporting cast he created was much better than the villains he created IMO), and put a new spotlight on the Rogues. He fleshed out Captain Cold and all the classic Rogues, and made us (okay, maybe just me, Mister Six and Birdie) care more than we ever have about ol' Len Snart. I would say the Captain Cold Rogue Profile issue was the first issue were I said 'hmmm, this guy is onto something.'
His JSA was really terrific - had its off issues, and boring issues, certainly, but overall a very good book with characters that aren't the easiest to write. I particularly liked the idea of having Johnny Thunder die and then become part of the Thunderbolt spirit (from that point on the Thunderbolt was drawn as Johnny Thunder, suit, bowtie and all). And I defy anyone with a heart not to find his Christmas JSA issue of about 1 1/2 years back lots of fun...this is the issue where Ma Hunkle, the Red Tornado, makes her return playing Santa.
Johns did make a lot of the JSA characters and villains works back in a time where those characters were far from automatially cool or interesting to the average newer (or heck, even older) comic reader. (of course he built on the foundation laid by James Robinson who almost single-handedly made the JSA era heroes cool again during his STARMAN run, and of course Robinson co-wrote JSA for a while...I remember thinking 'aww, Robinson is co-writing with this no-name Geoff Johns dude, that's lame')
His Teen Titans run has also been very entertaining - as I think I said in earlier comments, he's certainly not reinventing the wheel in any of his work, but they're good superhero comics with solid characterization, similar to, say, Marv Wolfman's 80s New Teen Titans run Claremont's X-Men when it is was in its prime or just slightly under its prime. Of course, Wolfman and Claremont kind of made the mold and Johns just following in it, so that might not be an entirely appropo comparison.
But having Bart Allen, Impulse for a good 10 years or however long in real time, realize that he'd become a one-note joke character ("he's impulsive, he's cocky! he would always argue with Robin in Peter David's Young Justice! everyone's always telling him to slow down, stop being so rash, life isn't a video game like you were weaned on, etc.") and become the new Kid Flash to try and prove that he can grow, he can mature, he can be worthy of the Flash name and not just be a goof, was a great idea. (Now to be fair, maybe DC editorial came up with that one) The fact he overheard that other characters like Wally would occasionally think "Is this kid EVER gonna grow up?" made him have a rare introspective moment and do the cool trick of reading tons of books with super-speed to try to redefine himself and become more educated, was pretty cool, I thought.
And the new Teen Titans book, when written by Johns (Gail Simone is great but those Liefeld drawn issues just looked awful), has been solid superhero fun. Yes, I said FUN. Not Starfire getting raped, not gloom and doom. Not brilliant, not groundbreaking. It's been fun. The Changeling/Beast Boy story where his origins get explored and he turns into a green dinosaur to kick some new villain's butt - hardly Frank Miller or Alan Moore, but who said comics can't be fun? If it was a silver age or golden age story with superheroes turning into dinosaurs with decent, fun, but not deeply insightful dialogue, perhaps many here would be talking about how great such a story was.
I thought Rebirth was pretty solid, but I wasn't blown away by it. In fact, I wouldn't say I've been 'blown away' by anything Johns has written...just entertained. Like a better-than-average popcorn movie.
Oh, and the JSA/JLA graphic novel co-written by Johns and David Goyer, drawn by Carlos Pacheco, is terrific and even though it's co-written by Goyer, the Johns stamp is all over it. He's a fanboy who writes fun superhero stories and sometimes has some really nice characterization moments. That's why I think he's become successful.
Actually, Johns' output in the past half-year or so hasn't been as good as some of his earlier work, I thought. The last Teen Titans story I enjoyed was the 'dark future Titans' story (obviously a comics cliche, sure, but a. aren't most superhero comics repeating many well-known plots and devices anway, and b. it was done well). Mike McKone's terrific art sure didn't hurt either.
The end of his Flash run was pretty decent but not great, IMO. I also liked that he restored Wally's secret ID...and Johns has written a few good "Batman, stop being such a dick" scenes (one in Flash when Wally talks with Bats, and the more famous one in Rebirth). And come to think of it, the Flash issue where he teams up with Nightwing and talks about old times was really nicely done too. An issue focused on characterization, interesting scenes between two old friends with lots of comics history...and Gorilla Grodd. What's not to love?
In closing (damn, I said I wouldn't write much and look!), I see Johns as the comics equivalent of a movie I might see that's an action/adventure movie with most or all of the basic aspects of action/adventure movies, but slightly more well written than most. Entertaining, with maybe a few nice moments that surprise me or are better than average, and well executed all around. I'm not waving the "Geoff Johns is AMAZING" flag, I'm waving he "He's almost as good as Mark Waid and that's still pretty decent for superhero comics" flag. (not like I hold Waid up as the absolute gold standard, but he's creative and pretty reliable...man, Superman: Birthright was bad though)
So that's my two cents. And I certainly don't think my comments here will change anyone's mind about Geoff Johns, just thought I'd weigh in. I guess Johns is similar to Kurt Busiek's recent (well, 5 years ago or whenever it was) Avengers run - solid, entertaining, FUN superhero stories with decent writing, sometimes better than decent writing. Stories that entertain. Not quite Grant Morrison's JLA run, but still entertaining.
*whew* |
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