Geoff Johns leaving GL with issue #20!

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=43696

Yup...seems like he listened to the Lanterncast episode #149 and decided it was time to hang it up...he said so in the article...(not really)

Wow...

So who can fill his shoes?

So are Peter Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin, Tony Bedard, and Peter Milligan. ALL of the writer, and at least one artist. This is CRAZY.

The only creator that I'm happy to see leave is Milligan!!!...but it looks like there's more to this story...

I'm gonna say this, and let the chips fall where they may.

Good.

I won't say that I haven't enjoyed a lot of this epic run on the titles, because I have. But, the thing is... I'm tired.

I'm tired of everything being the pre-cursor to some mammoth event, or being some mammoth event, or being the epilogue of some mammoth event. I'm tired of the build up. I'm tired of hearing about seeds planted five years ago for an upcoming story.

I'm tired of being trapped in titles awaiting the end of neverending stories.

I want a couple of years of Green Lanterns patrolling their sectors and going up against non-universe-ending threats. I want a couple of adventures where it'll be close, but a single Lantern (or two) can handle a bad guy.

I have enjoyed a lot of the stories over the last few years, but it is time. I'm so desensitized to these huge stories at this point that I can't even care about the current story arc.

Thanks for the ride, guys, but it is time to go.

Wow I didn't expect ALL the teams to be leaving.

It's kind of funny because I agree and disagree with EarthGBilly.

I was also tiring of the ebb and flow of events but not for the same reasons. After Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night the rest of events seem lackluster. Not that they were bad but they couldn't top the previous events...well maybe not couldn't but it would be damn hard. Every book peaks and then goes downhill.

In contrast I did enjoy Hal coming back to Earth during the relaunch and having to deal with the life he left behind. I wish we would have seen people like Cowgirl though. There are a few positives that I can't think about right now.

The only other negative I can think about is the family of titles ballooning to four books. Maybe if more than two books were great at one time it wouldn't be a complaint but some of them needed better directions. I say DC should cut New Guardians and Red Lanterns and give us a Tales of the Corps book where they can change colors every so often as needed.

I'm seeing a bunch of messages where the tone is similar to Billy's, where they start out "I'm just going to say this, and I don't care if I ruffle any feathers..." and then they proceed to say the same thing everyone else is saying! The only thing about this that seems to really take anybody is the fact that it's happening so soon. There ain't a lot of people going "NOOOOOOO!", it's like you just accept that he's done.

Now I'm going to say something, and it may ruffle some feathers, but I want to read good Green Lantern stories.

Of course. We all do. And everybody complains about event fatigue. Corwin's got the right idea though, if the events were GOOD, we wouldn't complain. But jamming a War of The Green Lanterns or Third Army event down our throats when they suck, it ain't going to go over well. But we keep buying. So much so that DC is incentivized to keep making events. At this point, and this is why they suck, it's because DC editorial is pushing for more events. So you can have Johns or replace him with Tomasi or replace them with Johnny Bobo who has no business writing anything, but he knows someone at Warner Brothers and they got him a job writing Green Lantern, unless DC editorial lays off and lets a new writer write actual good stories, then we're in store for more blah shit.

Green Lantern is like an oasis in an ocean of DC crap. Johns writes better than 90% of anybody else at DC on a bad day. If GL ain't getting Tomasi or one of the geniuses they bogged down with Before Watchmen, then who can we look forward to? JT Krul? Perhaps Milligan is getting an upgrade? Maybe a shitty writer is free from a newly cancelled book.

And Merlin's Android is right. This wasn't even planned. If it was, they would have announced it sooner and you wouldn't have a mass exodus of creators from the book. This is an editorial shake-up, brought to you from the geniuses that are giving us "Certified WTF" and cancelled Firestorm after a new creator had 3 issues to turn a book around.

So ultimately, sure, maybe Johns was done (he wasn't, he was planning something with Evil Star, a lost 2814 Blue ring, Larfleeze's parents and how many other dangling plot threads), and maybe a new writer will breath some new amazing life into Green Lantern and we'll all sing and dance in a field of flowers while unicorns poop magic rainbows, but I'm a bit more realistic based on DC's latest string of amazing decisions.

Well said guys. I knew I could come here to read some good insight. If a new writer comes in and tries to promote a new "epic event" after GL #20 I'm going to be really bummed out. I'll hit the bottle pretty hard I think.

Choanata has given me a lot to think about.

I wish we knew why Johns was leaving...it probably is a editorial thing but hasn't GL been selling up to or almost Batman level? I know it used to be constantly in the top ten. In a lot of ways I can see Johns wanting to keep both JL and JLA going...but would he really prefer Aqua Man over GL? It certainly feels like he would have more to say with Aqua Man.

And I do think DC would have held on to the announcement even if they knew some months back. They wouldn't want the book to be overshadowed by news of Johns leaving because honestly so many people started reading GL because of him. I can see the book taking a dive with his departure. They better bring their A game with the new writer but whoever it is I'm certainly going to give them a chance.

But Corwin, if they announced that Johns was leaving say 6 months before it happened, fans would flock to the book to see what final trick Johns pulls out in his final arc. It's something worth advertising.

Likewise, if this was a well planned thing, we also would know the new writer already. He'd be giving interviews saying how many ideas and new energy he wants to bring to the book. As it is, we have no idea who's coming next. For all we know, they don't even have anybody yet. Or maybe they just assigned somebody. Which means that person may have no plan or forethought on the book. We may get filler stories for a few months while they try and find a writer. God help us, they may try and bring in a literary writer to bring some magic, which we all know worked so well for Wonder Woman and Dial H.

choanata wrote:But Corwin, if they announced that Johns was leaving say 6 months before it happened, fans would flock to the book to see what final trick Johns pulls out in his final arc. It's something worth advertising.

Likewise, if this was a well planned thing, we also would know the new writer already. He'd be giving interviews saying how many ideas and new energy he wants to bring to the book. As it is, we have no idea who's coming next. For all we know, they don't even have anybody yet. Or maybe they just assigned somebody. Which means that person may have no plan or forethought on the book. We may get filler stories for a few months while they try and find a writer. God help us, they may try and bring in a literary writer to bring some magic, which we all know worked so well for Wonder Woman and Dial H.

You have a point but I don't think DC has done that recently with any creative team. Marvel? Yeah they do it that way, Bendis said he was leaving more than a year before his departure. Heck most times with DC we don't find out a book is being cancelled until it shows up in solicits. Again I think you have a point but to announce it six months in advance would go against how DC's been handling the New 52.

I'm probably alone here, but when I woke up and saw the news that Geoff Johns was leaving, I immediately became more excited about Green Lantern than I have been in a very long time. It isn't because I don't like Johns, I obviously do, he just doesn't bat a thousand anymore...it's because after about a decade of having the same thing, the same tone, the same creative vision, Green Lantern is about to get something new. I actually like not knowing who the new writer is yet, because it really hits home to me the potential of what we could get. It could be anything! And that's exciting. The unknown is always more exciting than the normal.

I did get a little worried when I saw the mass exodus of virtually every creator all at once, but at the same time, I'm not going to cry wolf until I see who's actually filling their spots. The cat ain't dead till we open the box and smell it. And it donned on me, knowing that this era of Green Lantern is coming to an end in four months, I'm probably going to appreciate those issues more.

choanata wrote: God help us, they may try and bring in a literary writer to bring some magic, which we all know worked so well for Wonder Woman and Dial H.

Wonder Woman's their best book, I would take Azarello on ANY Lantern book in a heartbeat.

gland wrote:Wonder Woman's their best book, I would take Azarello on ANY Lantern book in a heartbeat.

Yeah, wrong writer. Azarello is great, sometimes. His Superman arc with Jim Lee was totally convoluted. But I was referring to the last Wonder Woman series. There were 2 literary writers on that book. Plagued by lateness and suckingness.

And I would probably have a lot more hope for Green Lantern in general if DC had better writers ovverall. Or if this didn't reek of Editorial Decision, which falls in line with what's been happening there, and those decisions have not been good.

choanata wrote:

gland wrote:Wonder Woman's their best book, I would take Azarello on ANY Lantern book in a heartbeat.

Yeah, wrong writer. Azarello is great, sometimes. His Superman arc with Jim Lee was totally convoluted. But I was referring to the last Wonder Woman series. There were 2 literary writers on that book. Plagued by lateness and suckingness.

And I would probably have a lot more hope for Green Lantern in general if DC had better writers ovverall. Or if this didn't reek of Editorial Decision, which falls in line with what's been happening there, and those decisions have not been good.

JMS is in a category all on his own...

That's true. There's no way I could be more excited than if they announced JMS on gl. But I don't know if they think gl is worthy of JMS's time. They've had him on the Before Watchmen stuff and the Superman OGNs. Is GL as big a deal as those? I think so, but I don't think DC does.

choanata wrote:That's true. There's no way I could be more excited than if they announced JMS on gl. But I don't know if they think gl is worthy of JMS's time. They've had him on the Before Watchmen stuff and the Superman OGNs. Is GL as big a deal as those? I think so, but I don't think DC does.

WHOA WHOA WHOA REVERSE REVERSE! I meant that negatively...(I swear I'm going to make millions once I create the sarcastic font...)

choanata wrote: I was referring to the last Wonder Woman series. There were 2 literary writers on that book. Plagued by lateness and suckingness.

JMS is a poisoned chalice! His stuff always starts out great but for some reason he always fizzles out or just ups and quits.

Corwin wrote:JMS is a poisoned chalice! His stuff always starts out great but for some reason he always fizzles out or just ups and quits.

Yeah, everything he does in an ongoing format just sort of...stops. I say keep him in OGN-land, where he can take his time and tell a complete story in one shot.

Maybe we'll get lucky and get some Scott Snyder action

gland wrote:Maybe we'll get lucky and get some Scott Snyder action

I could live with that....

I don't know about that. Consider his Brave and The Bold Run. Amazing one-shots. And you can't judge his Superman or Wonder Woman because he was yanked off those books before he could finish. Hell, before he could get halfway through. But Superman was amazing when he was writing it.

And for a bunch of people against events, wouldn't it be nice to enjoy the issues leading up to the end instead of just waiting for it? So what if it fizzles. It's a damn good ride getting there.

choanata wrote:I don't know about that. Consider his Brave and The Bold Run. Amazing one-shots. And you can't judge his Superman or Wonder Woman because he was yanked off those books before he could finish. Hell, before he could get halfway through. But Superman was amazing when he was writing it.

And for a bunch of people against events, wouldn't it be nice to enjoy the issues leading up to the end instead of just waiting for it? So what if it fizzles. It's a damn good ride getting there.

Let's throw in Amazing Spider-Man, Thor, The Twelve...not sure what happened with Supreme Power and Squadron Supreme...I think he finished Fantastic Four...and was he yanked from Supes and WW? I thought he quit...either way he was credited and paid more for the rest of those runs than the other writers even though he only provided the outlines.

I don't know what happened with the 12, but the end if his Spidey run was editorially driven, and I think he was yanked off Thor suddenly, or quit due to editorial issues. But before that, I know a lot of folks were enjoying that Thor run.

And yeah, he was taken off monthly comics so he could work solely on the ogn. He left the writers with his outline, there were filler issues thrown in also, and if Wonder Woman even finished her run, nobody cares because Flashpoint happened and it meant nothing anyway.

Just checked. He left Thor because it was headed towards an event, and he didn't want any part of that. He would rather just write the story of Thor than have an event happen and try and fix the book afterwards.

The biggest issue here is that it keeps happening with him. Sometime it's an editorial decision, sometimes it's his decision, but it keeps happening. I don't want to start reading a JMS Green Lantern run that I'm pretty sure will be great for a year and a half, before something happens and he abruptly leaves. Those Brave and the Bold issues were some of the greatest comics ever, but Green Lantern ain't gonna be a series of one-shots, and a bad ending can kill the ride leading up to it. Case in point, I have the hardcovers of his Thor run, and the fact that it started out SO good, only to just peter off into nothing, makes me disappointed in the whole run.

JMS was my intro to Thor and it was a good one. I enjoyed Thor immensely and dropped the book when he left.

Oh same here. I especially love the final scene of that first hardcover. But the ending still left me with a "...oh, well that's it then" sort of reaction. What all of this boils down to is, if JMS were put on a Lantern book, I'm confidant it'll be great for a while, but hopes aren't high for where it'll go a year or so in.

gland wrote:Oh same here. I especially love the final scene of that first hardcover. But the ending still left me with a "...oh, well that's it then" sort of reaction. What all of this boils down to is, if JMS were put on a Lantern book, I'm confidant it'll be great for a while, but hopes aren't high for where it'll go a year or so in.

'zactly.