Heads up, John Stewart fans. The Emerald Crusader will be appearing in the Red Lanterns title again, and it looks like he may lend Guy Gardner a much needed hand. AintItCoolNews.Com has the preview for Red Lanterns #34, which is due out this coming Wednesday.

Red Lanterns #34 Preview

If you missed John’s earlier appearance in said title, you can head over to the GreenLantern.Co review for Red Lanterns #33 to give you an idea of what’s going on.

---

I ran into an interesting tumblr post and discussion that I thought I’d share. It begins with pianogirl1498, and branches into several interesting comments that can be viewed here. Here are some quotes:

“this guy is better than ur favs let me tell u why

he is a motherfucking architect which brings an element of construction to his use of the ring that is really unique and actually interesting, as opposed to the way hal Jordan uses his ring which is just like “MAGIC DEUS EX MACHINA ALL THE TIME”

he is a former marine and he’s from Detroit and his personal background and experiences are important to his character, unlike Hal Jordan who has been through so many pointless incarnations that at this point he basically has no real personality

he takes his responsibilities as a Green Lantern seriously and has no time for bullshit and he is shown to openly struggle with the nature of his job as a Green Lantern (MAGIC SPACE POLICE ENFORCING HEGEMONIC LAWS ON INCREDIBLY DIVERSE ALIEN SPECIES), like there are stories where he seriously doubts himself and fights with himself about this, as opposed to Hal Jordan who just flies around punching dudes and BEING THE BEST and whose internal struggles are all boring and stupid

he also struggles a lot with knowing that his career as a lantern is constantly overshadowed by hal Jordan’s, because Hal Jordan is his “mentor” even though their approaches, personal histories, etc are incredibly different and hal honestly has no place telling john stewart anything let’s be real

he was a whole generation of nerds’ first exposure to Green Lantern, through the JLA cartoons, where he was the best fucking character and openly defied and re-wrote destiny because FUCK YOU FATE I’M FUCKING JOHN STEWART

Look at that sexy fucking face, he could totally get it

basically if you think Hal Jordan is better than this guy you’re wrong
the end”

“John was the first Green Lantern I knew and I LOVED him on JL. When the Green Lantern movie came out, I was like “Hey! What the fuck! Dude is supposed to be Black. Why they got Deadpool playing the Green Lantern?”

“This was one of the first times I’ve seen a black superhero. (Aside for Static but they urbanized the shit outta that program.) GL was badass, funny, and useful as opposed to his comrade on Cartoon Network’s Justice League’ (Superman when he had all the muscle and was getting his ass wooped.) So John Stewart will always be my Green Lantern. Regardless of what comic book nerds say.”

“Agreed. I remember when I saw the green lantern previews for the live action film, I was distraught. Stewart is the green lantern I grew up with and enjoyed with my family. He is the superhero I loved the most.”

I’ve had discussions with Hal Jordan fans who don’t attribute the failure of the 2011 Green Lantern film to Hal Jordan at all. They will always blame something else for it. There are many reasons why that movie failed, but that does not mean Hal Jordan is not one of them. The problem for Hal Jordan was that Warner Bros. had weened millions upon millions of people on the John Stewart version of Green Lantern not long before the movie came out. As most of you know, John Stewart is the Green Lantern on the hit cartoon shows Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. These shows were big successes, running five seasons and having a toyline that was such a triumph that it went on several years after the last new episode aired. Justice League re-runs continued to air after that, and do so today on the CW’s Vortexx block. Naturally, all of this had an effect on the public’s perception and awareness of the character and concept of Green Lantern.

When the trailers for the Green Lantern film were shown, many people were confused and upset that a White actor was portraying the lead hero. They had no idea who Hal Jordan was and they did not care. All they knew was that WAS NOT the way they wanted to see Green Lantern. Audiences were distraught before they even sat down to watch the movie.

When there is widespread confusion as to why the hero is the ethnicity he is, that constitutes a problem for the film. Comic book nerds (and DC Comics) need to understand that no matter what their precious source material says about how things are supposed to be, nobody else cares about that. All they care about is what they know and what they like. More people have seen and liked the Bruce Timm Justice League shows than have ever read a Green Lantern comic book starring Hal Jordan.

This is a tough pill to swallow for many Hal Jordan fans, but it’s the simple truth.

Follow @deshderringer

8 comments

DC has released their solicits for November 2014, and there are certainly big things on the horizon for Green Lantern John Stewart. Get a load of the cover art and solicit below for Green Lantern Corps #36:

“GODHEAD, act 2, part 2: With Hal Jordan missing, John Stewart must take control of the Green Lanterns and rally the Indigo Tribe, the Red Lanterns and even the Sinestro Corps to work together, or the lone remaining Corps, the Star Sapphires, will be wiped out of existence by the New Gods! But leading the Greens is one thing – giving orders to Sinestro is something altogether different!”

It sounds like John Stewart will be taking command of most of the various Lantern Corps, and that the events of “Godhead” may very well include some of them being wiped out. I have a strong hunch that this event will lessen the scope and impact of the Emotional Spectrum and the different Corps (sans Green, of course) within the Green Lantern titles.

Also, for a while now, the theme of leadership has been strong in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. We may see some resolution where that is concerned. Will John Stewart end up leading the Green Lantern Corps? Will he wind up leading ALL the colored Corps? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

---

The Twitter account Superhero Report is currently holding a poll about which Green Lantern people would want to see in the Justice League. Show your support for John Stewart by casting your vote for him.
Superhero Report Green Lantern Poll

I think polls like this are important because they help indicate that John Stewart has a large and passionate fanbase that wants to see him and is willing to buy products that feature him. I believe DC Comics has often made the mistake of gravely underestimating John Stewart’s fanbase and popularity, which has led to things like plotting to kill him and burying him in the comic books. The more John Stewart succeeds in these polls, the more people -including those at DC and WB- will realize there is a market for him and a strong desire to see him. John Stewart is currently leading the poll, but he can always use more support. You know what that means, John Stewart fans! Click on the link above and cast your votes for your favorite Green Lantern!

Follow @deshderringer

3 comments

The first “season” of Van Jensen, Bernard Chang, and Marcelo Maiolo’s Green Lantern Corps wraps up in Green Lantern Corps #34. You are NOT going to want to miss this one, Lantern fans! Head over to the review to see my thoughts on this milestone issue.

“As a John Stewart fan, this title couldn’t make me much happier. The creative team is incredibly talented and creative, and very attentive to what makes John Stewart fans like him, and they have a firm understanding of how to create a believable and fascinating world people will be invested in. They know what was dumb about Green Lantern and needed to go, and are experts at getting the most out of a lot of characters with limited space, while still keeping the spotlight on the star.”

Read more.

Stay tuned for more content. We’re getting closer and closer to perhaps the biggest and most in-depth retrospective of the Justice League animated series there’s yet been! Don’t miss it.

---

There’s great news to report! Green Lantern John Stewart has been confirmed to appear in the upcoming video game Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. This is very exciting to me, because DC and WB have had a habit of leaving John out in the cold when it comes to being adapted to other media. More media exposure is great for our favorite Green Lantern. I’m hoping he will be voiced by Phil LaMarr.

I’ll keep you up to date with any news I hear about his role in this game.

4 comments

We’re treated to an early preview of Green Lantern Corps #34, courtesy of Mancave Daily.

“You can’t say the green arm of the law hasn’t had its ring-bearing hand full, but in the wake of the Guardians’ crimes against humanity, it’s important to make a decisive show of authority. The Corps has a reputation to restore, not only of control, but the right to control. And it’s going to be hard to do that if its most dependable member is strangling enemies in their cells.
Yeah, Stewart’s under pressure for sure…”

Read more.

It looks excellent! It’s cool to see a glimpse of the old evil Fatality. I like how Bernard Chang draws her differently than he does the Star Sapphire version.

I believe this issue is going to answer whether John Stewart and Yrra Cynril will continue their romantic relationship. As such, it may be an important turning point for John. Be sure to pick it up August 13, which is coming up.

In other news, the variant cover for the November 2014 issue of Green Lantern Corps has been revealed. This time DC is having a Lego themed month.

This is the first time I’ve seen an official Lego design for John Stewart. DC and Warner Bros. have been using the Hal Jordan Lego design in several of their products while typically leaving John Stewart -the most respected Green Lantern character from smash hit cartoon shows that has nothing to do with bombed films, flopped toy lines, and short lived cartoons- out in the cold. Hopefully we see this Lego design used in products.

---

Van Jensen has been having some interesting interviews lately. First, he and Robert Venditti did an interview with KindlePost.com, which brings up the topic of world building. I’m a sucker for the kind of development Van Jensen, Bernard Chang, and Marcelo Maiolo have been doing to the world of the Green Lantern Corps title. I talk about the weird and wonderful places they take us to in just about every review I do for a new issue of the book.

“I think so much of this stuff is so big and so cosmic and it’s almost ephemeral because it’s almost like concepts that are bigger than imagination and even constructs of light are even things that are hard to connect with and they’re so fantastical. So to really ground it in these physical and real places like a space cantina. It’s like any person out there knows what a cantina is. There was one issue I did where there was an alien planet that had a whole mining colony on it. Everyone gets that and knows what that is.”

Read more.

There is also an interview Van Jensen did with CraveOnline during Comic-Con. It brings up the subject of John Stewart being raped. I suppose from a certain point of view, John Stewart may have been raped by the Durlan posing as Fatality. He was certainly misled and taken advantage of.

“Okay, cool. Now, over in Green Lantern Corps, there’s a very shocking development that just happened to John Stewart, where his girlfriend Fatality turned out to be a Durlan who’d been in disguise for several issues, and I hate to drop the word, but that makes him a rape victim. Was that part of your thought process and will John be dealing with that trauma?”

Read more.

What are you readers’ views on what happened to John in the latest Green Lantern Corps arc? Do you think that it is good for the character? Do you feel it heaps even more unnecessary tragedy on him? If you’re a fan of the John Stewart/Yrra Cynril relationship, do you feel cheated? If John’s relationship with Fatality is over, are you going to miss it?

Sound off in the comments section below!
And speaking of comments, I apologize if you’ve had some difficulty getting comments posted here within the last week or so. There were some issues with the site, but they should be sorted out by now. So, I look forward to hearing from you!

Follow @deshderringer

6 comments