Sunday, July 27, 2008

Excelsior??

Amidst the all the San Diego announcements that made DC sound like they were on a bad 90's acid flashback (Archie heroes?!? Milestone?!?), a thought occurred to me.

Geoff Johns is currently the Stan Lee of DC.

Whoa, whoa, back down, people. Let me clarify.

I'm not talking about in terms of creating a whole universe. And I'm not at all discussing in terms of talent. That's not what this post is about.

But just look at what we've got, in terms on impact on DC's output.

He's writing half the Superman Universe, and working closely in tandem with James Robinson on the other. He's writing Green Lantern, and directing all things Oan. He's writing the Justice Society, the cornerstone intergenerational legacy series of the DC Universe. He's writing the upcoming Legion of 3 Worlds, which is all about "building the Legion back up" and defining "who the Legion of Super-heroes are, and what the next step is for the Legion." (You'd think that would be a job for the man actually writing the main Legion title, which has led to plenty of speculation that Johns might be replacing Jim Shooter as the permanent author on Legion)

And now it's been announced that he is writing Flash: Rebirth, bringing back Barry Allen. And if you go by both the example of Green Lantern: Rebirth AND all of the plans Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver discussed, it seems most likely that Johns will be taking over Flash, whatever form that mag takes.

Now, I'll emphasize again, I'm not here to discuss the pro or cons of Johns' plots, or writing style. But just look at how much DC he "controls" right now. He's in charge of Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, the JSA, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. In the modern comics' age, that's pretty darn unprecedented, isn't it? About the only thing missing from that portfolio is a Bat title. So many major properties, all in the creative hands of one man? And when you throw in the fact that DC seems unable to keep a creative on most of their other books for longer than 6 months at a time, well, it just looks more impressive by comparison.

I'm sure someone will correct me, but I think you have to go back to the late 60's, when Stan was writing or editing every Marvel title, to find the last time 1 creator had that much influence over the entire line of one of the Big Two.

Again, I'm neither approving nor disapproving. Hell, since DC editors don't seem capable, maybe having the same writer on so many titles will restore some sense of continuity to the DC Universe. I just find it curious that DC is putting so many of their eggs into one basket, as it were.

DC is Geoff Johns' world, and we're just living in it.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Does thjis mean that will start seeing Geoff Johns camios in upcoming DC movies?

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't that be, "D-Celsior?"

Anonymous said...

I've sorta been thinking of Geoff Johns as DC's Brian Michael Bendis, just without the egotism and loathing of readers...

Anonymous said...

Good observation, Snell. Yeah, DC seems like Geoff Johns' playground...which I couldn't be happier about. The guy's got more enthusiasm and passion for the characters than 20 other writers combined. I also like how he's brought back an unabashed "fanboy attitude" to comics, as opposed to the snobby cool-cattery that was infesting so many DC comics at the turn of the century (Superman titles, I'm looking at YOU!). Johns gets it: This stuff isn't supposed to be deep...it's supposed to be FUN.*

*Okay, I don't like Johns' penchant for the occasional gruesome death, either....but everything else? Can't get enough of it.

snell said...

Are you sure, Mark? Over the weekend Johns said he loved The Trial of The Flash, which you said he hated...

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute. All Comic-Con week MTV2 had these interviews with the big names in comics (Ok, Stan Lee and bunch of wannabes), and one of them was Dan Didio. We got the hear Dan saying that writing for DC was the "goal" to shoot for, but what they really needed was artists. Then why is one guy doing so much work?

Anonymous said...

I bitched about Johns recently on another blog, mostly about his use of inappropriate violence in mainline superhero books...

But then I remembered how flat-out excellent his Booster Gold and (lately) Justice Society books have been; and neither book has the unnecessary violence I complained about.

Anonymous said...

"Are you sure, Mark? Over the weekend Johns said he loved The Trial of The Flash, which you said he hated.."

No, *I* hate the Trial of the Flash...I had no idea whether or not Johns hated it as well. I don't recall even wondering if Johns hated that particular story, so you must have me confused with some other Trial of the Flash hater.

Which would be easy to do, considering there's so many of us.

snell said...

Mark-I meant to say "you" instead of "he." That will teach me to try and sneak on at work to type responses...

Maybe Johns will pick up with Trial of the Flash II, since the first was marred by jury tampering from the future...

Stephen said...

u forgot about buiding up bosster golds stock as a character and prepping him for a bigger role

Stephen said...

u forgot about buiding up bosster golds stock as a character and prepping him for a bigger role