Simon Baz was a limp idea from the start
1 Comments Published by Avi Green on Monday, September 16, 2013 at 12:36 AM.
On CBR's forums a few weeks ago, somebody asked if Geoff Johns' creation of Simon Baz, the Muslim adherent who's picked to become a Green Lantern while wearing a mask reminiscent of what Hamas and other jihadist cells can wear, had become useless.
The simple answer is that Baz was useless and superfluous from the beginning, because Johns rendered him that way by making Islam his official religion and signaling this was nothing more than a political statement, while throwing away a big chance to introduce an Arabic character from a Christian or other non-Muslim backgrounds. I have a hard time believing he really likes his creations if that's how he's going to structure them.
I remember when GL: Rebirth was published, Johns threw in an exclamation by Hal Jordan, "no more road trips", an attack on Denny O'Neil's 1970-73 run with political metaphors co-starring Green Arrow, and now, here, he goes along and does just what he supposedly thinks was unnecessary in the Bronze Age, proving it wasn't a belief that O'Neil was being too preachy with politics, but rather, that Johns doesn't like the better beliefs O'Neil had at the time.
Johns may be moving away from DC, as his departures from Aquaman and Justice League suggest, and while it won't guarantee better results for their storytelling, what can be said is that Johns won't be missed. He was definitely one of the worst things that could happen to them, just like Brian Bendis was one of the worst things that could happen to Marvel.
The simple answer is that Baz was useless and superfluous from the beginning, because Johns rendered him that way by making Islam his official religion and signaling this was nothing more than a political statement, while throwing away a big chance to introduce an Arabic character from a Christian or other non-Muslim backgrounds. I have a hard time believing he really likes his creations if that's how he's going to structure them.
I remember when GL: Rebirth was published, Johns threw in an exclamation by Hal Jordan, "no more road trips", an attack on Denny O'Neil's 1970-73 run with political metaphors co-starring Green Arrow, and now, here, he goes along and does just what he supposedly thinks was unnecessary in the Bronze Age, proving it wasn't a belief that O'Neil was being too preachy with politics, but rather, that Johns doesn't like the better beliefs O'Neil had at the time.
Johns may be moving away from DC, as his departures from Aquaman and Justice League suggest, and while it won't guarantee better results for their storytelling, what can be said is that Johns won't be missed. He was definitely one of the worst things that could happen to them, just like Brian Bendis was one of the worst things that could happen to Marvel.
Labels: dc comics, Green Lantern, islam and jihad, moonbat writers, politics
The early 1970's Green Lantern-Green Arrow run was self-righteous and simplistic, but it probably seemed daring and ground-breaking at the time. And Johns is worse. At least Denny O' Neil and Neal Adams did not have their own example from which to learn.