I have a confession to make.
I’m not afraid to borrow ideas from other writers. Since we’re talking
about comics, we’ll just call it an homage. Like this one. Earlier
this fall there was debate over at Comic Book Resources between the Comics Should Be Good blog and the When Worlds Collide blog over
Geoff Johns’ and Warren Ellis’ best books. Those columns
were the inspiration for my articles of the last couple of weeks,
counting down the best books of Kurt Busiek and Mark Waid. However,
the Johns column also inspired me to write one of my own. It seemed to
me that the writer of that column wasn’t that familiar with Johns’
work. It was basically made up of his work of the past 3 years and
Avengers. It struck me that the article was written by a Marvel fan
who only really became aware of Johns after he wrote Infinite Crisis.
So I decided to rise up to the challenge and write a ten best list that
reflects Johns’ entire career. I have a second confession to make.
I’m doing this as a fan of his work.
10. Booster Gold
Geoff
Johns did the incredible on Booster Gold. He took a character who had
been reduced to a punch-line and restored him to prominence. And he
did it while preserving Booster Gold’s punch-line status within the
fictional universe and keeping up a fair dose of comedy. He turned
Booster Gold into the preserver of the time stream and used his series
to ask questions about the grief, heroism and the immutability of
time. Plus, he brought in great guest stars like the Barbara Gordon
Batgirl and the Elongated Man.
9. Stars and Stripe
Stars and Stripe was one of Johns’ first ongoing series as a writer, back in 1999. He based the star character on his younger sister Courtney, who
had died several years earlier. That source of inspiration shone
through. Courtney was one of the truest examples of a teenager
anywhere in comics. She was cute, bubbly and full of spunk. But she
was also occasionally annoying. Not in an off-putting way. Just in a
way that made her real. Her adventures were a lot of fun. Her life
situation, trying to find her place in a mixed family, spoke to many
who had grown up in similar circumstances. The series dealt equally
with super-villains and braces. And Courtney went on to star in years
of JSA comics after her own series was canceled.
8. Flash
When
Geoff Johns was named the regular writer of Flash, he was taking over a
title that had been written by Mark Waid and Grant Morrison. Yet he
made the title his own and became as associated with the character as
those superstars who had preceded him. He did it by focusing on the
Flash’s Rogue Gallery. The Flash fought the Weather Wizard, Gorilla
Grodd, Captain Cold and a new Trickster. Many of the villains had
their powers amplified, making them more dangerous, though staying true
to their Silver Age roots. If it’s true that a hero is only as great
as his villains, Johns raised the Flash’s profile by restoring his cast
of rogues.
7. Hawkman
This
is the series that definitively established Johns’ reputation for being
able to restore broken characters. He had been one of the writers to
resurrect Hawkman in JSA and he followed it up with this excellent solo
series. Drawing inspiration from James’ Robinson’s Starman, Johns
weaved a wonderful tapestry of history for the Hawk heroes. Johns
focused on the concept of reincarnation, affirming all of the earlier
versions of Hawkman as past lives and even co-opting a few older comic
characters as former incarnations. But Hawkman wasn’t stuck in the
past. He also created an emotional present situation as the new
Hawkgirl, Kendra, refused to fall in love with Hawkman and attempted to
run away from a destiny she didn’t want. The series raised questions
about fate and love and free will. And it asked those questions while
its main characters smashed the villains’ faces with a big ol’ mace.
That’s an action philosopher.
6. Action Comics
Geoff
Johns’ run on Action Comics was up and down. But when it was up, it
was way up. The opening story arc “Up, Up and Away,” co-written with
Kurt Busiek, was one of the best stories of the year. His central
story, “Last Son,” co-written with movie maker Richard Donner, was a
Superman story for the ages, with General Zod as an unrelenting
villain. And his last two epics built new foundations for the Legion
of Super-Heroes and Brainiac. The scene in which Brainiac steals the
city of Kandor from the planet of Krypton is incredibly powerful.
5. 52
No,
Johns didn’t write 52 by himself. Yet, partnered with Grant Morrison,
Greg Rucka and Mark Waid, Johns turned in one of comics’ modern epics.
The year-long story focused on secondary characters like Elongated Man,
the Question and Steel. It looked at odd corners of the superhero
universe. It told stories of loss and redemption. It included heroic
journeys and quests of adventure. It featured many memorable moments.
And it was a testament to the talents of everyone involved. After it
was finished, we found out in bits and pieces who was primarily
responsible for which storylines. Johns was apparently the lead writer
on the Elongated Man story, with its emotional core, many twists and
surprise ending.
4. Infinite Crisis
It
seems like every star writer is given his chance to write an epic
crossover for one of the big two companies. That crossover can cement
a reputation or unravel it. For Johns, Infinite Crisis made his star
shine brighter. He went from the restorer of misused characters to the
teller of epic stories. Infinite Crisis brought the heroes low as it
threw multiple challenges at them at the same time. It introduced new
heroes, like a second Blue Beetle, and brought back old olds, like the
lost characters from Crisis on Infinite Earths. It juggled a huge
cast. And it depicted momentous and memorable fights, like the classic
battle between three Supermen.
3. Teen Titans
I
think that a lot of people have started to forget how good Geoff John’s
Teen Titans was, as it’s been overshadowed by his more recent work on
Infinite Crisis and Green Lantern. Many fans were ready to hate it
because Peter David’s excellent Young Justice had been canceled in
order to make way for it. Yet this fan couldn’t hate it. It was just
too good. Johns crafted compelling friendships that are once again
being echoed in his new Adventure Comics. He took misfit characters on
heroic journeys in believable ways so that we could, for example,
accept that Impulse would grow up to become the new Kid Flash. And
he balanced the expectations of several generations of fans, including
classic characters from the Wolfman and Perez Titans, while telling new
stories to win over a current audience.
2. JSA
Fifteen
years ago, no one would have mentioned the Justice Society as one of
the greatest teams in comics. Well, except for Roy Thomas. Sure, the
Justice Society had been the first but they had been surpassed by so
many others. Geoff Johns took the first team and made them the best.
The team started out with David Goyer and James Robinson but eventually
Geoff Johns took over as co-writer and then sole writer. And for a
long time, JSA was the best team book in comics. They fought Mordru
and Eclipso. They fought Black Adam, recruited him, turned him into a
hero, watched him fall and fought him again. They bridged the
generations, with original heroes like Green Lantern and Flash and new
heroes like Stargirl and Cyclone. They gave equal footing to newer
heroes like Mr. Terrific and the new Dr. Mid-Nite. The title and the
team did everything right. And so did Geoff Johns.
1. Green Lantern
I never thought I would be a Hal Jordan fan. I never thought Green Lantern would be one of my favorite comics. I was wrong on both counts. Geoff Johns made Hal Jordan
one of the greatest characters in comics (again, for some older fans)
and Green Lantern the comic book that everyone was talking about.
Starting with the Rebirth mini-series, Johns’ re-established Jordan’s
reputation as the greatest Green Lantern of them all while also
honoring other Lanterns like Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner and John
Stewart. Johns was equally adept at writing villain back-stories, big
fight scenes and quiet family moments like having Hal talk with his
brother about what it’s like to be back from the dead. The excellent
writing continued through the major Sinestro Corps War story and into
the present with the current Blackest Night epic. Every comic should
be this good.
And
that’s my list. I left Adventure Comics out since it’s only three
issues old and it’s a little early to have a fully formed opinion on
it. And I kind of included Blackest Night in the Green Lantern entry.
It’s a bit of a cheat, but it meant that I didn’t have to leave Booster
Gold out (as I had to leave Power Company off of the Busiek list). I
hope you enjoyed it. And I don’t mind if you disagree. That’s part of
the fun. And that’s what inspired this list in the first place.