Guest Interviewer Sidra Roberts An Interview With Geoff Johns

Geoff Johns is a big guy in the comicbook industry at the moment. He’s working on four different comicbook titles currently: Hawkman, JSA, Flash, and the Avengers. I first met Geoff Johns through e-mail when I complained about characterization and plot points in Stars and STRIPE, the book he was writing at the time. He e-mailed me back and told me to keep on reading because he was working on fixing things like I listed. I was very impressed. It always surprises me when authors or artists read my reviews. It impresses me even more when they take the time to actually e-mail me about them. I caught up with Geoff Johns at Dallas Comic and Toy Fest 4, and he graciously let me interview him. Geoff’s a very nice guy and the interview was very interesting. Sidra: So how did you get into the comicbook business? Geoff Johns: It’s a long, long story. I was working on a film in New York and I met some guys at DC. We got to talking about comics and they asked "You really like comics?" And I said "Yeah, I do." Then they said " Why don’t you pitch us something?" and over the next year and a half I worked up a proposal for Stars and STRIPE and pitched it. Then two years from when I pitched it I got a greenlight, and that’s what started the ball going. Sidra: Was it hard to go from screen writing to comicbook writing? Geoff Johns: I was actually an assistant for a director named Richard Donner and I did a lot of script development and everything. So it wasn’t that hard, but it was different and it was a lot of fun. Comics are a visual medium like film is. They were still stories, and I still use the three act structure, so it was relatively simple. Sidra: What’s the best part about doing comicbook writing? Geoff Johns: Not having to deal with a budget, so I can blow up the planet and it doesn’t cost anything. Sidra: You’re working on several different projects right now. Is it sometimes hard to keep them all straight? Geoff Johns: No, because I don’t go back and forth. I tend to submerse myself in one subject. If I’m doing an issue of Hawkman, I jump into the world of Hawkman for a week, and I just live in Hawkman. It’s the same with The Flash and JSA, trying to get into that world and stay in it awhile. Sidra: What’s the most difficult part of writing comicbooks for you? Geoff Johns: Sometimes continuity is a little tough, especially with the characters I write about. Most of the characters I work with have been around for thirty or forty years. Sometimes playing in a character’s universe is hard, but it’s fun. Sidra: I hear you’re going to start writing the Avengers also. How did you get that job? Geoff Johns: Tom Brevoort called me up and said "You want to write the Avengers?" I said, "Okay", and that’s it. Sidra: A few years ago I wrote a relatively lukewarm review of Stars and STRIPE, and you wrote me back and told me to keep on reading and what I sited would be fixed. Do you normally pay that much attention to the fans and critics? Geoff Johns: When I first started I did, because I had more time. I don’t mind if someone doesn’t like a story, but I always ask them to read the story before they pass judgment on it. You know finish the story out. Like with the new Hourman, I heard a lot of people complain "It’s Rick Tyler? Oh no, not Rick Tyler, not Rick Tyler!" . . . and since the stories have come out I don’t think I’ve heard one complaint. It’s try it out, because he’s a cool character. Rick made him cool. You know give him a chance before you rip him apart. Sidra: With working all the different projects right now is there any book you like working on more than others? Geoff Johns: I have a very soft spot for the Flash. He’s been my favorite character since I was a kid. Sidra: What do you think of all the comicbook movies coming out a the moment? Geoff Johns: They’re all Marvel movies, which is great for Marvel. I think for the most part, they’re going to be fantastic because the guys at Marvel get it. Spider-man was really, really good. I think Daredevil is going to be good. I think The Hulk is going to be amazing. I think X-men is going to be amazing. I know we have Fantastic Four, Namor, Spider-Man 2, X-men 3. We have all these huge movies for Marvel coming out, and it’s great for the industry. It’s great in that it makes comicbooks cool again. It’s great for the characters. I just wish DC or more specifically Warner Brothers would... Sidra: Do more than just TV shows like Smallville? Geoff Johns: Well they have a great TV market. They have Justice League, Smallville, Birds of Prey, and they have the TV market covered, but I would like to see some of their features. They’ve got great characters. Why Green Lantern is not in pre-production is a minor miracle, I think. Sidra: What are you going to be working on next? Geoff Johns: Right now all this stuff, and that’s it. Hawkman, JSA, Avengers, and the Flash, and for now that’s it. Sidra: That’s a lot. Geoff Johns: That’s four books a month.

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