Green Lantern Corps writer Van Jensen has had a rather revealing interview with ComicBookResources.Com in preparation for the arrival of Green Lantern Corps: Futures End #1 this coming Wednesday, and the massive Green Lantern line crossover “Godhead,” which will begin in October. If you’ve taken a look at the preview for the Futures End issue, you probably noticed that John Stewart is a lot more grizzled and hardcore than usual. Jensen explains where that inspiration came from, and his thought process behind taking John down that road.

“I approached the “Futures End” story like something of a parable. It’s one progression of a multitude of possibilities. I looked to Walter White as inspiration, actually. He’s a character who made lots of hard choices — often not good ones — and ended up being both bad and good, hero and villain. That’s what could lie ahead for John should he make the wrong choices.”

He also confirms my suspicions that the Shadow Markets and the Shadow Empire are connected!

“The Shadow Empire was first hinted at in “Green Lantern Corps” #29. I’ve always thought that the Corps would struggle to really police the whole universe, even with 7,200 Lanterns. That’s just so much terrain to cover. And police enforcement really just pushes illicit behavior underground — prohibition being a prime example of this.

For ages, all of the illicit trade/activity of the universe hasn’t gone away, it’s just been taking place in the shadows, in what are called Shadow Markets. And the Shadow Empire has been pulling the strings. Now, with the Corps weakened, the shadow is asserting itself, seeking to overwhelm the light.

And yes, the Shadow Empire does play into the “Godhead” crossover, though it won’t be in a way that’s obvious immediately.”

What’s more, is that he more or less says that John Stewart is more suited to leadership than Hal Jordan.

“John has this great duality as a marine and an architect. He’s a builder and a destroyer. Both of those are going to be key qualities if the Corps stands any chance of surviving.

Hal, on the other hand, is just a charismatic guy. He’s at his best when he’s following his instincts, taking crazy risks. The problem is that that behavior only really works when you’re only responsible for yourself. So we’ve seen Hal grow and change over the past year in “Green Lantern,” but he has strayed from what made him so great.”

What could that mean for the future? We’ll have to stay tuned and see. Catch the full interview at the link below!
JOHN STEWART “BREAKS BAD” IN JENSEN’S “GREEN LANTERN CORPS: FUTURES END”

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ComicBookResources.Com has a preview of Green Lantern Corps: Futures End #1, and it looks incredible! I feared this may be a throw away issue, especially since these events likely won’t come to pass, but the quality of Van Jensen’s script and the artwork is undeniable. Take a look for yourself in the link below, and be sure to pick this one up on September 10th.

Green Lantern Corps Futures End #1 Preview

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You may know Dennis Haysbert as the President on the television series 24, the voice of Kilowog from Justice League, or as the All-State man, but he is also something else you may not have known; a Green Lantern John Stewart fan! ComicBookMovie.Com interviewed the acclaimed actor, and he gave his thoughts on the Emerald Crusader:

“Wow, I used to always keep up with John Stewart the black Green Lantern, love him. Would love to get into that universe. Cloak and Dagger. I used to enjoy. You know, all of them. All the DC favorites and the Marvel favorites. Loved the X-Men, loved The Avengers, You know, sheesh, you know, Superman, Batman, the classics are always great, but the ultimate super hero is Green Lantern. I love John Stewart as Green Lantern. The fact that using that power range, using your imagination, however strong your imagination is. You can make those constructs. I think the Green Lantern can beat Superman.”

Dennis Haysbert Interview

It’s always cool to see big celebrities like Dennis Haysbert and The Rock make their love of John Stewart known. And what else is cool is that he’s not just a hero that they like, but their favorite superhero! John Stewart’s showing on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited has left a huge impact on many people, even the famous.

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Several readers thanked me for bringing the Superhero Report poll that asked which Green Lantern people would like to see in the Justice League to their attention, so I thought I’d continue to report on events and concerns regarding John Stewart that I discover across the internet, which fans can actually participate in or do something about.

I believe it would be wise for John Stewart fans to get more organized so that we can increase our effectiveness at representing this character’s fanbase. As I mentioned in the “Oa, By the Way…” article concerning the Superhero Report poll, DC Comics needs to know that John Stewart has a large, passionate fanbase that is willing to stick up for the character and support products with him. Fan outcry, along with the great sacrifice of writer Joshua Hale Fialkov, kept the character from getting killed in comics. Fan outcry likely gave us the phenomenal current Green Lantern Corps comics written by Van Jensen, which star John Stewart and showcase him very respectably. As fans, we can get things done. We just have to be active about supporting John Stewart. Voting in the polls is one way to do that.

One of the main reasons I created this site is because I wasn’t satisfied with how John Stewart was represented online in the Green Lantern fanbase. The Green Lantern sites I discovered did not seem to cater to John Stewart fans. I don’t blame them for that, but there was a void that I thought could be filled. Considering all the readers to this site, and the gracious feedback I’ve gotten for it, there was an audience just waiting for something like this. There were other people like me who weren’t really satisfied with the landscape of things. I also made this site to show that there are people like me, and to give such people a platform where they can voice their thoughts and opinions about topics regarding Green Lantern John Stewart. DC Comics needs to know that we exist.

An area that’s been of concern to me is Wikipedia. Before I built this site, I recall editing Green Lantern articles on Wikipedia, because biased fans wanted to push their opinions and agenda on readers. The thought behind this is that if they can shape things the way they would like them to be via Wikipedia, they can dictate the way some other people percieve things, to a degree. I have noticed editors do this sometimes to disparage Green Lantern John Stewart, and to put their Green Lantern of preference over him (usually Hal Jordan).

This type of behavior has been brought to my attention again, and it is something John Stewart fans should not allow, and that we can actually do something about.

Though I will help out, too, unfortunately, there is only so much I can personally do. I am only one person, and maintaining this website already takes quite a bit of my time, and I’d prefer to concentrate most of my efforts in these sorts of activities to that. Therefore, I’m calling on John Stewart fans for assistance in maintaining and keeping an eye on certain key Wikipedia pages that involve him.

I’d like to point out that this isn’t about “taking over” these pages. Rather, we need a presence in places like Wikipedia, because Green Lantern fans do not necessarily equal John Stewart fans. Green Lantern fans do not necessarily have our best interests at heart, or the John Stewart character’s, and do we really want people like that controlling content about this character we love, which thousands of people seeking information about him will read?

Wikipedia is the first place many such people will go to for information about John Stewart. Do we want someone who doesn’t appreciate John Stewart, and who undermines his many great accomplishments, to be the one writing content about him?

I don’t! That’s largely why this site is here.

Pages of particular interest are below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Lantern
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stewart_(comics)

If you have the time and desire, please help in contributing content about Green Lantern John Stewart and watching over the pages to make sure that he isn’t disparaged by biased editors, or that other Green Lantern characters aren’t unduly propped up over him. Regular reader Hudson Faber does an excellent job contributing to John Stewart’s Comicvine pages. If we can get something similar going on at Wikipedia, that would be great.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please post them in the comments section below. And thanks in advance!

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