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Derek Wilczynski
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 63
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 8:05am | IP Logged | 1
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I almost posted this in the Flash thread, but couldn't figure out how to "spoiler" tag the title of the thread. Now, keep in mind that the Flash (all incarnations) has always been my favorite super hero(es) and I generally like Geoff Johns. But, really, having Barry Allen's father kill his mother as the "traumatic" event of Barry's childhood? Why?
Enough. No more characters who have to be motivated by tragedy. Johns has taken away something special about Barry (he was a normal guy) and turned him into a "modern" angst propelled super "hero." No more. Now everyone has some dark "factor" in their past. What's next - Clark Kent molested as a boy? Ray Palmer accidentally pushing a childhood friend off of a jungle gym and killing him? Hal Jordan's father dying because . . oh, wait, nevermind.
Screw Johns. I'm sick of this crap. No more. Let's just have heroes be heroes.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132239
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 8:09am | IP Logged | 2
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What the  happened to Geoff Johns? There was a time when he seemed to know what he was doing!
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3135
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 8:17am | IP Logged | 3
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I know the feeling. I've been avoiding Green Lantern since Johns took it
on. For reasons unclear to me, he's a fan favorite writer and is so because he supposedly writes 'fun' books. But, man, everything he
writes is so damn violent, endless on-camera carnage for no point other
than carnage itself. Which is fine on a book like 'The Boys,' where it's
the point, but not on an all ages title. He's doing it to the Legion now,
as well, and I'm wondering if he's just going to keep dragging down all
of my favorite titles.
I actually gave up buying DC titles for a year since I was so dispirited by
the huge violent (and poorly planned) mess that was 'Infinite Crisis,'
especially the deeply, deeply cynical FU to fans and the Siegel family of
making Superboy a dimwitted, psychopathic mass-murderer.
I know people give 'Final Crisis' and Grant Morrison a lot of (sometimes
more than justified) crap for being poorly constructed and just plain
confused, but it was a masterpiece, compared to IC.
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Rick Whiting
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004
Posts: 2188
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 8:45am | IP Logged | 4
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I have to agree with everything you guys said about Johns. Don't get me wrong, I think Johns is a good writer, but a lot of the comics he has written over the last several years have become more violent,have more cussing,and have more on camera implied sex (that issue of Avengers and that Teen Titans annual he co-wrote with Marv Wolfman where Superboy and Wonder Girl took each other's virginity are two examples of this).
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Derek Wilczynski
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 63
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 8:46am | IP Logged | 5
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What the  happened to Geoff Johns? There was a time when he seemed to know what he was doing!
It's funny. The story reads well. The dialouge is good, the pacing is good, the subplots are good. Johns seems to have two problems (massive violence and pop psychology). They're huge problems, to be sure, but what is truely maddening is just how close he is to being really good.
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Joe Zhang
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 9:08am | IP Logged | 6
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My favorite Flash stories are Geoff Johns. Though I have problems with his recent stuff, I'm still very appreciative for what he did with Wally West and the first five years of JSA.
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Jonas Vesterlund
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 January 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 241
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 9:10am | IP Logged | 7
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So now Barry Allen had a traumatic childhood. What the heck....please....
I cannot help but wonder how much is Geoff Johns and how much of this is the DC Comics higher ups? What do you guys think??
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Kevin Sharp
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 December 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 326
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 9:12am | IP Logged | 8
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The story reads well. The dialouge is good, the pacing is good, the subplots are good.
****
Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
The flashback to Barry's childhood shows his mother dead (or at least grievously wounded) and his father taken away in handcuffs. We don't see him murder her -- we don't even know if the dad is responsible! I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to see where Johns goes with it, before condemning him outright.
And though I don't bow at the GJ altar, thanks to him I've been enjoying GL for the first time since the Englehart/Staton years.
Edited by Kevin Sharp on 09 April 2009 at 9:13am
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Michael Hatton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 525
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 9:23am | IP Logged | 9
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If all of a sudden you had the power to move super fast, your ife has gotten suddenly very interesting. You do not need any angst to spice it up.
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Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14812
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 9:27am | IP Logged | 10
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Geoff Johns is one my favorite comic book writers and is one of the few current writers who seem to "get" superheroes. That being said, he does have a tendency to throw in violent scenes.
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Paul Anthony Llossas
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 August 2005
Posts: 1600
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 9:36am | IP Logged | 11
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I get the feeling that Barry's mother's murder is the catalyst for his interest in forensic investigation. I just don't understand why after all this time we need an explanation for that, unless its for the benefit of those readers who have no inkling who Barry Allen is.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132239
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| Posted: 09 April 2009 at 9:52am | IP Logged | 12
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Something I noticed when working on GENERATIONS 3 -- I jumped 100
years between each chapter, and with each issue would get comments from
readers who didn't "get" what was happening. "These two characters were
not married last issue! Now they are! What happened?!?"
Unfortunately, I think this kind of response has been "trained" into a lot of
readers by a couple of decades worth of writers who feel compelled to
unearth and analyze every single aspect of a character's life. In this case, for
instance, we might assume that Johns is not content to allow Barry to
become a police scientist because it's something that interests him, but
instead has to have a "catalyst" to push him in that direction.
One gets the impression these stories are being written for an audience that
does not understand the word "active" (or it's modern and redundant cousin
"proactive"), and can function only on a reactive level.
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Topic Closed)
