Is John Stewart Boring compared to other Gls?

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Tex_The_Slayer

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Sorry to all the John fans but of the core Human Green Lanterns ( Hal, John, Guy, and Kyle) am I the only one that finds John boring? He's has some decent and Good stories and such but compared to the other Humans he's just not as interesting? I mean a lot of fans hate Guy but that's his niche in a way. He's the absolute asshole no one likes which in a way makes him likeable. ( Course New 52 Red Lantern Guy is a mystery to me because I haven't seen much of him). Kyle was kind of forced in his introduction but began to get some love because a few factors...one being his awesome imaginative constructs. Then there's Hal the one who either hate or love and in different versions is either serious and strict or Cocky and fun.

I just find John as a really Boring character. A lot of his fans come from his part in the JL Cartoon which is was cool in. I like John it's just that I don't think he's as good as character as Hal or Kyle. To change my mind could anyone give me some books to pick up from either pre 52 or New 52? I kind of believe as far as Green Lanterns go he's the most overrated simply because of the cartoon he was in. I feel like if he wasn't African American then there goes some fanbase right there. It'd would be cool to see him in a movie and apart of the MOS universe as a replacement for Hal but not as the definitive GL. Thoughts?

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EyeDCyou

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I wouldn't say he's boring... But I prefer the other 4 main Lanterns to him.

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Fallschirmjager

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Yes.

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SmashBrawler

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You don't even have to compare him to the other Lanterns to find him boring.

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WeAreMany

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No. In the New 52 he's written as the most complex IMO. Hal mainly lead the Corps. Guy has been dealing with the Reds. Kyle has been on a space tour. John, meanwhile, has dealt with a plethora of emotional issues. His new 52 story has been more dramatic and emotional than the rest.

He's murdered another GL for the better of the Corps, he's fallen in love to have it turn out to be an alien in disguise the entire time. He had sex with that shape shifting alien. Oh and said alien is possibly a male. It doesnt even remember if its male or female. Gross. Johns been through alot these last 34 issues.

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legacy6364

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That's subjective.

But I would love to see John and Wally in the MOS universe.

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youknowwhattodo

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I've always thought that John Stewart was one of the most overrated characters in the DCU, the majority of his popularity stems from him just happening to be the Green Lantern in the Justice League animated series, not because he is an interesting character.

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GreatCaesarsGhost

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I've always thought that John Stewart was one of the most overrated characters in the DCU, the majority of his popularity stems from him just happening to be the Green Lantern in the Justice League animated series, not because he is an interesting character.

Pretty much this.

I don't mind John, but nothing special.

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RetconCrisis

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That's true. He's pretty plain TBH.

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Gjgp27

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His biggest point of interest was basically being a "you big bad white man!!!" Character , and pulling an Urkel esque "did I do that ?" To Xanshi?

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the_stegman

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#13 the_stegman  Moderator

Yes. His two emotions are either "stoic" or "guilty" that's it. He's not funny like Hal, likable like Kyle, or hell, even annoying like Guy..he's just...there.

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Avenging-X-Bolt

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#14  Edited By Avenging-X-Bolt

It's subjective. When written well a lot of people find him to be a complex, admirable and engaging character. To answer your question though, mno you are not the only one to feel that way.

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Gizmorino

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I don't find him boring nor do i find him interesting...... Just like a reality guy or whatever i can use to define him.

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GreatCaesarsGhost

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Pre Crisis John was okay. He had at least some personality back then.

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Juke

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@eyedcyou said:

I wouldn't say he's boring... But I prefer the other 4 main Lanterns to him.

Perfectly said!

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JohnnyGat

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Depends on the writer. Stoic characters are hard to write when you look at it, yes you have exceptions but more often than not when you write someone that holds back emotion in the manner that guys like John Stewart and Scott Summers have it goes to the point where many would find it hard to relate to. It also doesn't help that some writers try to counter this by going the extreme route and make it so the foil to their stoicism is an over expression of guilt to the point that they seemed like whining. I'd argue that the GL:Corps Future's End tie in was a good example of balancing the extremes of stoicism and guilt in a complex way.

But that's just my opinion, I can see for the most part why people feel the way they feel about Stewart.

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Spidey_Jackson

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No. I never liked Kyle much TBH.

Beata

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Transformers1024

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He's a good character, but the hype for him is a bit much.

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mysoulz

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John Stewart hasn't had good development since Green Lantern Mosaic days and Van Jensen started writing him, so he's getting better development. Geoff Johns ignored the character for years, so to avoid focusing on Stewart, he's been put aside to assign a different task that's not relevant to the current story (Peter Tomasi has done the same), so therefore he's been missing face panels often while Hal and other guest appearances are the most relevant to the story arc, despite John sharing the book with Hal Jordan. Geoff Johns even writes Sinestro as an important character in Hal's book, which John has missed that opportunity. John is characterized as a stoic character under Johns run, just like how Cyborg was portrayed (interesting how Hal fans loves Cyborg and dislike John and yet they share similar personalities and often faced tragedies, no disrespect to Hal fans). So when a writer allows a character to keep moping about the past, put on a separate mission that's irrelevant, which results in missing panels, that means a writer isn't interested in that character, so therefore that character becomes boring.

I only liked Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner (when Peter Tomasi was writing him) before the new 52 universe, while John and Hal were uninteresting. But Hal Jordan was only interesting to me when Gerard Jones was writing him, the same for John. In the New 52 Hal is suffering bad characterization under Johns and he's currently worse under Robert Venditti. John is a much better character currently since a writer is invested in him.

To change my mind could anyone give me some books to pick up from either pre 52 or New 52? I kind of believe as far as Green Lanterns go he's the most overrated simply because of the cartoon he was in. I feel like if he wasn't African American then there goes some fanbase right there. It'd would be cool to see him in a movie and apart of the MOS universe as a replacement for Hal but not as the definitive GL. Thoughts?

Well writer Van Jensen admitted that John has been often overlooked in an interview so he missed proper treatment throughout the years, which I can see why some people don't care for him.

There's few books that John Stewart that's written well. You can try to read GL Mosaic, which is an outstanding book, but it tackles a different concept than other GL books. John became the main GL temporarily after Hal Jordan quite the Corps when Steve Englehart was writing him during the SA. John is currently the main GL in GLC under Van Jensen, who's the primary writer for Green Lantern/New Gods: Godhead, so you can start reading there. His character is currently similar to his JL/JLU cartoon appearances and he is no longer has a stoic personality. I don't know if you like him in the cartoon series or not.

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johnny_blaze

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You obviously don't read Green Lantern Corps. If any lantern is flat as a character, it's Rayner. And no John should not be a replacement for anyone.

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entropy_aegis

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He's better than Jordan,though that's not saying much.

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mysoulz

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@entropy_aegis said:

He's better than Jordan,though that's not saying much.

I agree. There's Hal fans out there that dislike the way he's currently being written under Robert Venditti since he's portrayed more as an incompetent (among other things) character, which is a contradictory to what Geoff Johns done with Hal Jordan for all of these years.

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entropy_aegis

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@mysoulz said:

@entropy_aegis said:

He's better than Jordan,though that's not saying much.

I agree. There's Hal fans out there that dislike the way he's currently being written under Robert Venditti since he's portrayed more as an incompetent (among other things) character, which is a contradictory to what Geoff Johns done with Hal Jordan for all of these years.

Even Johns never did anything noteworthy with Hal other than reminding us constantly of his greatness,actual development went to other characters,Johns was just writing Hal out of fanboyism.

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ScouterV

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Honestly, I have similar feelings to Kyle. He's not bad, but he's not that cool either.

Guy is a bit more interesting than Hal and Kyle, to me.

I don't argue I am a fan of John because of his inclusion on the Team, but unless it was Guy or John, it would have been a waste of a character anyway. I would have just used Aquaman in that case.

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Darryl

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You'll probably like him better if he had white skin

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The_Scourge

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I wouldn't say straight up boring. He has his good moments that make you think he's probably the most bad@ss of the bunch but overall I would say that the rest are just more interesting.

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Jack Donaghy

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#30  Edited By Jack Donaghy

@darryl said:

You'll probably like him better if he had white skin

Nah, speaking for myself I'm black and don't find him very interesting race has nothing to do with it. I don't think he's boring but he's just kind of there for me. At least with someone like Guy even though he can be very obnoxious he stands out.

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LarryAshlynn

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He's just...there.

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SilverPool

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You don't even have to compare him to the other Lanterns to find him boring.

Oooo kill em

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SilverPool

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#33  Edited By SilverPool
@darryl said:

You'll probably like him better if he had white skin

No Caption Provided

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dernman

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#34  Edited By dernman

Yeah He's the most boring out of the main human lanterns.

Though if I was writing the GL universe I would still keep him and erase Baz, Jessica Cruz, Rankorr, and all other human lanterns.

Hal, Guy, John and Kyle should be the only ones. Only exception I would make for another human lantern is if they were a villain.

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BlackWind

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No. Among wisecrackers, a smart ass, and the relatable gek, its easy to call the serious character boring.

The problem is not many writers understand John. They cut off at overly serious marine guy and think that's all there is to him.

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MakkyD

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@dernman: That's actually a good point. John and Kyle are slowly getting more and more forgotten, yet they still keep adding new human lanterns like Baz, Rankorr and co... At least Guy has become relevant again due to Red Lanterns.

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SmashBrawler

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@darryl said:

You'll probably like him better if he had white skin

Nah, if John were white he'd somehow be even more boring.

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WeAreMany

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No. In the New 52 he's written as the most complex IMO. Hal mainly lead the Corps. Guy has been dealing with the Reds. Kyle has been on a space tour. John, meanwhile, has dealt with a plethora of emotional issues. His new 52 story has been more dramatic and emotional than the rest.

He's murdered another GL for the better of the Corps, he's fallen in love to have it turn out to be an alien in disguise the entire time. He had sex with that shape shifting alien. Oh and said alien is possibly a male. It doesnt even remember if its male or female. Gross. Johns been through alot these last 34 issues.

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Guru_Crack

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I really liked John Stewart in the cartoon, but since reading comics he is boring. Still prefer him to Guy though. Kilowog is more interesting.

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stormshadow_x

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#40 stormshadow_x  Online

Bump?

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nickthedevil

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@the_tree said:

@smashbrawler said:

You don't even have to compare him to the other Lanterns to find him boring.

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Kazuma_Bushi

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#42  Edited By Kazuma_Bushi

Kyle>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>