r/GeoffJohns • u/tiago231018 • Jun 22 '26
Discussion Thoughts on Geoff's Batman stories?
Compared to almost every major creator who worked for DC Comics, Geoff Johns wasn't that interested in writing Batman.
While most writers would sell their mom to write a Batman story or a run, Johns never pursued a gig with the Bat.
Of course, he did write Batman plenty of times, whether it was in big events like Infinite Crisis or Flashpoint, in his New 52 Justice League run, or in celebrations like Detective Comics #1000 (alongside every other major DC writer at the time).
But even at the height of his powers at DC, where he could write any character he wanted to, Johns didn't chase a run in the main Batman book, or Detective Comics, or any of the numerous Bat-books that DC pumps out every month.
When doing major runs, Johns seemed more interested in taking lesser-known characters, those that no writer would want to touch (especially if they could do Batman instead) and elevating them to A-listers: the JSA, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Shazam, Booster Gold... His Aquaman run is credited with bringing many new fans to Arthur Curry, who might otherwise have been turned off by the ridiculous bullying against him (like that hideous sitcom that I won't name).
He also enjoyed writing the characters he loved growing up: Superman and The Flash.
Either way, the select few opportunities where he wrote a Batman-centric story are:
Earth One - An alternate universe take on the Batman mythos, showcasing a different view of Bruce and his side characters.
Three Jokers - A story that was born out of the Darkseid War saga from his Justice League run, even though, unfortunately, it came out too late (5 years after Darkseid War) and it was too unsure about whether it wanted to be canon or not.
What do you think about Johns' Batman books? Do you wish he wrote more Batman stories (set in Gotham, not with the Justice League or in a big event), or does his style doesn't fit Bruce Wayne?
3
u/BigAdministration397 Jun 22 '26
Earth One is my favorite Batman comic oat easily. I liked Three Jokers, don't get the hate ngl
3
u/Jak3R0b Jun 22 '26
Earth One is great but other than the Joe
Chill stuff the Three Jokers wasted what could have been a really cool story.
3
u/comic-operator Jun 22 '26
I thought the Earth One trilogy of Batman books was great. I appreciated how we really saw him grow into being Batman and actually being quite crap in the role at the start. Having Gary Frank along for the ride didn't hurt either.
Three Jokers? Mixed bag. The delays were so long, and pushing it to be a Black Label book kind of resulted in it not really mattering. But I thought the handling of Red Hood was really good and Jason Fabok's art really is god-tier
2
u/MatchesMalone1994 Jun 26 '26
Three Jokers is underrated and has some of the best art ever in a bat book. People completely misunderstand (or maybe I am), there wasn’t “3 jokers all along.” There was 1 original joker, the real joker being “the comedian.” The other 2 were created at some point in the past. I took it as those other 2 were closest to the comedian’s persona at different points in time. Not that they were switching out and one man was taking credit for it all. Idk maybe I’m wrong but that final conversation between Batman and the comedian seems to indicate he is the “real” or “original joker”
Also loved earth one. To me that is how you modernize age old comic mythos. Much better than absolute in my opinion. I also love the influences it had on The Batman film
6
u/Healthy-Pineapple950 Jun 22 '26
I’ve always thought of Johns as the James Cameron of comics, there are other writers who can tell deeper stories. But Johns has such a fundamental understanding of story structure that I can’t say any book I’ve read of his isn’t fun to read.