Geoff Johns: How To Fail At Balancing Commercial and Creative Writing
Geoff Johns is a name people equate to DC, comics and all. He certainly has a lot of time on his hands; between juggling his jobs as writer, editor-in-chief, and chief creative officer. But all of those responsibilities are a lot to handle at once so he decides to do what he does best. As a writer, he distills the messy bits of comic continuity into something compelling. But then there are things that come up later in his career. Between different points Johns seems to flip between being a creative writer and a commercial writer. He might also be a control freak to the point of sounding toxic. So where does it all come from and go? Goes without saying but be aware of this creators' moral pitfalls.
How Did Geoff Johns Get the Jobs?
Aside from Johns' obviously impressive narratives, none of that happens overnight; like everyone else he starts small. People always want to find out what they're good at and it's comics for Johns. After his education, Johns takes a chance to do work in Los Angeles in 1995. With the 90s being the time of art exemplified by the Helter Skelter event, it seems the perfect place to start. Johns was lucky enough to find work in movies.
By pure chance Johns gets an internship with Richard Donner and makes a big enough impression to be an assistant. Donner introduces Johns to crime drama through Conspiracy Theory. Given that film's nonlinear storytelling, it could very well be an influence on Johns' work. It mostly has to do with how Johns approaches character histories, no matter how convoluted. Especially if that means he gets to work with some childhood memories.
The Creative Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns' comic fandom pushes him towards quite a number of personnel from DC. Perhaps the biggest is James Robinson, who for the first years at the company serves as his mentor. He's the one to convince Johns to stay and do comics as a regular anyway. Taking inspiration from Robinson, Johns writes Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. his own big tribute to the Golden Age. The characters are legacies of the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy while immortalizing Johns' late sister Courtney.
The Legacy Days
Eventually working in JSA alongside his mentor, Robinson both in-universe and out gives Johns the means to create his own legacy. First by giving Johns the full reigns of JSA where Johns demonstrates his respect for source material to make something new. The most notable begins with Hawkman by introducing the reincarnation cycles to complement the ever-changing origins. It even leads to another collaboration with Robinson who in turn gives Johns' character Courtney Whitman the Starman mantle. If only things went better for Robinson after this...
Back In A Flash
At this point Geoff Johns puts a lot of focus into legacy characters. Johns becomes writer to his favorite superhero, The Flash. Which Flash you ask? Well two but let's focus on his first. Wally West is practically the blue-collar self-made man that Johns identifies with. He even makes Keystone City look more like his hometown of Detroit complete with heavy industry autos. It's with Wally that Johns tries to bring out his identity while staying true to the legacy of predecessors like Mark Waid.
Nowhere is that more apparent than with the villain Zoom. Zoom operates on the logic that tragedy is what pushes superheroes. That might be the case for Captain Cold who Johns presents as an anti-villain but that's never been Wally's. Which isn't to say that Johns/Wally doesn't make mistakes. When it comes to living a legacy, there are going to be some hick-ups. Like when trying to simplify things makes everybody Wally loves forget about him. But that's okay because Johns' predecessors Waid and Grant Morrison back him up on several occasions; more on that later.
Titans Together!
But why stop with one legacy? During a brief stint with Beast Boy Johns dips his toes into a new world. John's Teen Titans is where Marv Wolfman's generation provides the bridge for Peter David's Young Justice. These generations of young heroes collide to guide newcomers into roles they have to find on their own. For example, Bart Allen the former Impulse finds purpose as Kid Flash. Superboy in the meantime carves out his identity as Connor Kent, even if it means living with the fact he's now a clone of Superman and Lex Luthor. It's almost like Geoff Johns despite having accolades and backing from DC alumni, is admitting that he still has a lot to learn.
Geoff Johns: The Big Leagues
When Geoff Johns goes into bigger titles the runs are hits and misses. These early days are where Johns tries to hold onto the spirit of DC's biggest characters while trying to respect the past. Booster Gold is where that period shines brightest by redefining characters. But it becomes apparent how many of these pitches are inspirational decisions and how they're more commercial in nature.
Child At Heart Vs. Man-Child
Geoff Johns really wants to live up to the legacy of his peers by following up storylines like Crisis On Infinite Earths. For Johns this was an attempt to work with peers of his generation for a great tribute. Ultimately however, Infinite Crisis drove the comics community in half. Heroes became shells of their former selves like with Batman becoming paranoid to the point of spying and Wonder Woman killing in cold blood. Nobody embodies the outrage generated better than Superboy-Prime.
Older fans like Johns grew up on the Silver Age with him and creators like Waid, Morrison, and Greg Rucka wanting to modernize Silver Age elements. Unfortunately Superboy-Prime founded his identity on the Silver Age after the loss of his Earth and family. Without that sense of surreal oddities, Prime has nothing. Without any proper guidance and people to keep him grounded, Johns might've ended up like Superboy-Prime. Which unfortunately, isn't always a good thing as after this point that Johns becomes less creative and more commercial.
52 Pick Up
With Geoff Johns working with friends like Waid, Morrison, and Rucka, he gets wider exposure to the DC Universe in 52. Which unfortunately their boss Dan DiDio hated it since they practically did it all without his oversight. While the others don't mind this, the less ingrained Johns feels pressure to stay in DiDio's good graces. Johns is able to avoid some of DiDio's vanity projects like Countdown, but it's only because Johns knows how to be a businessman. Through his knowledge of continuity, he's able to convince DiDio and DC executives to do his own thing. In order to continue being a writer, Johns tries to balance his creative side with the business side. At first his first non-legacy series with Booster Gold shows the benefits Johns has.
Booster is trying everything to be a better hero in the eyes of audiences and the rest of the DC Universe. He even tries to fix the more controversial aspects that DC forwarded like Barbara Gordon's paralysis. But neither Johns or Booster want to overwrite the efforts of others like Batgirl becoming Oracle. Some are even harder to swallow like with Booster failing to save his friend Blue Beetle. Continuity in this case seems more like a burden and Johns is practically enslaved by it at this point. Fortunately there is wiggle room like Booster Gold cementing himself in DC and Johns getting Superman.
Superman: A New Ending
In the initial phase, Johns writes his depiction of Superman by showing off the humanity that everyone loves. It's what makes him a good person and aspirational figure while separating him from his alien heritage. The reunion he has with Supergirl is both a family reunion and reintegrating himself with Kryptonian culture. That's not even including bringing back the classic villain of Brainiac as a legitimate threat.
But then things start to get bad, Johns tries to keep the momentum rolling by recreating 52 through the New Krypton saga. It was supposed to be an event he got permission to do by making a big historical event. The problem was, this lacked the collaborative power of 52. With Geoff Johns becoming such a reliable name and getting the chance to work on more titles, he left the project on a whim. As a result, people lost interest in New Krypton because John's wouldn't commit to it.
Geoff Johns: Legacies Reset
What was so important for Johns' to leave Superman behind anyway? His favorite superheroes and a new friend actually. With a controversial artist I can't name and DiDio's consent, Geoff Johns brings in old favorites. The Flash: Rebirth reintroduces Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash. Barry represents a legacy of optimism that continues throughout time, even when he gets a tragic origin. Unfortunately, these actions undo a lot of character developments. DiDio is an anti-fan of Wally West, a character a majority of fans including Johns love. So bringing Barry back can feel like Johns falling out of the creative side of his work ethic. The worst of this phase comes from what this resurrection leads to.
I Thought The Point Was Not to be Pessimistic
Flashpoint takes the Booster Gold storyline of trying to fix past controversies up to eleven. So why the hypocritical change in direction? Johns at this point becomes a public executive and comes up with ideas for DC to drive sales upwards. In short, everything that happens is because Johns fully embraced his business side. Remember that stuff about Johns' devotion to continuity? Well check out this video to see how much that changed:
Artistically speaking, this is Johns having the power to break out of continuity while simultaneously selling out. Because what better way to show your new job as Editor-In-Chief besides giving into corporate overlords? One where Johns' recycling idea becomes WB's excuse to reboot DC for a modern audience. The only problem was much like New Krypton, Johns didn't fully embrace the concept of the New 52 because his Green Lantern run took up his time.
Geoff Johns Paints The Colors of the Rings
Green Lantern was Johns' biggest achievement in DC, highlighting the return of Hal Jordan. Now unlike the Flash these developments aren't at the drop of a hat. It's a buildup starting with Hal becoming the Spectre. This allows for a redemption story to get back into the public reader's good graces. That is until the redemption angle changes into revealing that Hal's evil phase from the past is the result of possession of an entity of fear. Which to be frank doesn't make as much sense if you think hard about it; hopelessness isn't fear it's emptiness. Thankfully, unlike with the Flash, there are some positive developments that move the story forward.
To make something new of what came before, Geoff introduces the Emotional Spectrum. This retroactive perspective pays tribute to what comes before and allows what didn't work to iron out. The Green Lantern's weakness to the color yellow is because yellow is the color of fear an enemy to willpower. This makes Sinestro's return with the yellow ring a greater development with his own Sinestro Corps. Sinestro Corps War is a big turning point in Green Lantern where the Green Lantern mythos opens a new chapter.
Get Angry, Get Hopeful, Just Live
The other pieces of this rainbow of emotions reveal depths that make DC's cosmos more lively. But more importantly it gives Johns the chance to work with friends he makes along the way. All of which culminates in the dual event Blackest Night and Brightest Day. This zombie apocalypse is actually Johns' way of getting back old characters for a new chance. Please note that this is before Flashpoint.
When Flashpoint does happen Johns chooses not to change his Green Lantern run in reaction. He brings Hal Jordan back to the front while exploring the spectrum with more depth. Instead of just reusing older concepts (because that's never enough) Johns makes use of his own mythology. One that he shares with numerous creatives he bounces ideas off of like with Tony Bedard.
Change for the Better
For what its worth Green Lantern is a passion project that Geoff Johns devotes his time and energy into. Between that and Aquaman, Johns seems to enjoy the challenge of tapping into potential. Aquaman is probably the most famous series in the New 52 for tearing apart the public misrepresentation of being a joke character. He's a truly interesting character when it comes to understanding his struggle to accept his role as king of Atlantis. People that came before like Steve Skeates and Peter David unfortunately didn't have the advertising to back it up. It really goes to show how Johns position and fame makes all the difference for a character; John's run practically serves as inspiration for the Aquaman movie.
The Subtle Creativity
The most public Johns piece is his Justice League series, where Johns humanizes these god-like beings with both humor and grit. With how shaky the New 52 is in reputation, Geoff Johns had the ability to make it look good. Throughout this era, Johns would plan and prepare a big event with time while doing stories. Not only that Johns uses what resources he has to sneak creative ways of publishing titles with Shazam.
Johns' ability as both a creative and commercial writer is a rare trait that gets him high into DC's upper echelon. But maybe that's why he doesn't know when to stop and a take a breather. In just the New 52, he does a few runs until he passes it along to someone else based on notoriety like Jeff Parker.
Geoff Johns: Carrying the Weight of Prime Earth
Pretty soon the EIC becomes company president with Johns getting more deeply involved in other parts of DC media. It's around this era of his career that Geoff Johns displays the burdens of corporate power. Sure he gets complete creative control of his vision and works as a producer including the CW's The Flash. I mean it is what allows him to build up his Stargirl TV show. The problem is Geoff Johns puts too much on his shoulders. In addition to his time at WB, he also owns a comic retailer, and tries to incorporate business friendly comics as big developments.
With Geoff Johns' hands so full, people wonder if Doomsday Clock and Three Jokers would actually publish on time. It wouldn't be an exaggeration that most of Johns' actual efforts went into TV. Being the showrunner of his creation Stargirl would certainly suggest this. Everything else like some of the movie productions or his comic projects might look secondary to him. Which can lead to a number of dismissals that can seem outright toxic... if debatable.
A Delaying Countdown
Everything Geoff Johns does before and after New 52 happens yet again with Johns schedule and passions getting in the way. Due to these delays and a general lack of communication/management, Doomsday Clock and its effects fumble about. Wally West in particular suffers the most out of it in filler mini-series Heroes in Crisis by Tom King... and DiDio. Johns tries to express himself in the pages of Doomsday Clock through parallels to his own history that he was set up to fail. But whether that's a fact or an excuse is up to the reader.
Then there's Johns' other project Batman: Three Jokers; a spiritual successor to The Killing Joke. As a YouTube critic suggests, Three Jokers as well as Doomsday Clock suggests that Johns wanted to be taken as seriously as comic legend Alan Moore. Unfortunately the ending of these series feel more corporate than creative. To biased opinions, they spit in the face of Moore with how it removes their ambiguity. He also doesn't plan on stopping with a sequel to Three Jokers in the works. But at this point I wonder if DC is even willing to keep putting up with Johns. John Ridley and Tom King continue to be better cash cows.
The Kryptonite of Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns' critical flaw comes from the difficult balance of enthusiasm and commercialism. When it comes to works of passions like Stargirl, JSA, or Green Lantern Johns thrives in his creativity. In contrast are purely for work projects Johns attempts to capture the spirit of characters/series only to stumble when outside forces act on him. Now look at where those sides collide with his Batman: Earth One project; it's an amazing character study of the Dark Knight while showing his rise to heroism. So what happens when the Earth One line practically dries up without Johns' involvement? Apparently only when things are convenient for DC to give it a go.
All of this in mind, Geoff Johns might want to consider therapy with all of the stress he has to deal with. Or maybe that's what his creator-owned comic Geiger is supposed to be. Stepping away and going back to the basics has always been Johns' thing.
No Need For Resets
Geoff Johns is a good writer that people can aspire to; but he's not some pinnacle of greatness. He's a human being that realizes after such a long time sometimes it's better to ask for help and/or take a break. Because while times change and reflect the world around people, you can still find the optimistic times to be something to strive for. Respecting the older days is great and all, just make sure you leave enough room to make affordable mistakes.
Thanks for coming and as always remember to look between the panels.