Just finished the second Teen Titans trade, Family Lost, and while this series was awfully slow out of the gate, the New Brother Blood storyline flowered into something unexpectedly good, the subplots colliding in dynamic ways with many long-standing questions answered in a credible and creative fashion. I think we all wanted Brother Blood to be a vampire anyway, right? And the scene of Rose's self-mutilation.... well, I sure as hell didn't see THAT coming! That was messed up... in the best possible way.

I'm new to Geoff Johns's writing, and while I'm still not totally sold on the Titans ("my" titans seem surprisingly remote in their characterizations in these first 12 issues and the cartoony art wasn't quite to my taste) I was hoping you folks would recommend trades on any title which you consider Johns's BEST writing. And since Johns doesn't seem any better at single issue stories than the rest of the folks out there, I guess I'm asking for recommendations of more or less self-contained trades. Can you guys help me out here?

Andrew,
I've recently bought up all the JSA trades. If you're passingly familiar with the JSA/Earth 2 history, some of those might appeal to you. Geoff was the co-writer on that series until recently and he didn't start on it until the 2nd TPB, Darkness Falls. That's a pretty good one to start with.

I have all the Johns Flash trades. Those don't appeal to me as much as the JSA, but I'm finicky when it comes to the Flash. Part of my problem is I am partial to the Cary Bates stories from the 70s. Johns' Flash stories have an echo of some of the Bates ones, but they have some really dark moments.

Yeah, the JSA stuff is great. As a primer, I would also recommend JLA/JSA: Virtue & Vice. Great read and nice art by Carlos Pacheo (sp.).

Andrew, I'd also single out JSA's "Prince of Darkness" trade for a look at Johns at his best.

For me at least, there are plenty of comic book writers who're adept at building fight after fight into one big epic conflict, so every time you think, "Whoa! They're really takin' it to the wall this time!" Then after the third or fourth time you've thought that, you go, "Wait a minute, I'm being manipulated here..."

Johns does that same as all of 'em, but I think what makes him special is finding the distinct personalities within these old characters and then making sure they all interact with each other in interesting ways. He knows to stop for funny/poignant/upsetting character beats between every melee.

There's a scene between Billy Batson and Stargirl in issue 48 (contained in the "Prince" trade) that exemplifies this, as Billy tries to explain just how strange it is to be Captain Marvel sometimes. His speech, and Star's reaction, is one of my favorite character bits in recent memory.

And all these JSA stories are chockablock with that stuff. You'll have fun.

D.

JSA: Return of Hawkman - when I heard about this I thought no way can he make it work - but this is the story that sold me on Johns. Thanagar, renegade gods, Hawkman, time travel, etc....amazing storyline.

JSA: Virtue and Vice: Gorgeous art by Pacheco - 2 mystery villains pit the JLA and JSA against each other (its complicated but trust me it works). I was impressed by the fact that virtually every characters gets a moment to shine...brilliant crossover..an example of how they should be done.

JSA: Stealing Thunder: my favorite JSA storyline with beautifull art by Leonard Kirk - the Ultra Humanite takes over the Thunderbolt and recreates the world. A new JSA forms and starts a revolution. Tons of guest stars, tons of action and great character bits.

All are highly recommended.

An obvious question, perhaps, but is this Goyer guy the guy who wrote Batman Begins? In the off chance he isn't, who the hell is he?

All of them!

Andrew H - Goyer is indeed the guy who wrote Batman Begins. He also wrote the BLADE movies and is working on a bunch of comic related films and the Blade tv series.

He is buddies with James Robinson and Geoff Johns and co-wrote a few arcs of STarman with Robinson and then helped launch JSA as co-writer. He remained as co-plotter with Johns on JSA until issue 50.

Talented dude..anyone who can make Blade a box office hit gets props in my book!

Andrew -
I found Johns accidentally through picking up the first Flash trade, "Blood Will Run," primarily because of Scott Kolins art. It's pretty dark, but I was interested enough that I picked up the next trade, "Rogues." And after that I was hooked.

And like Leo, I was a big fan of the Cary Bates/Irv Novick era, but this is good stuff. Johns is reportedly doing Flash as a sneak of the Barry Allen Flash. Having not read the title since it opened with Mike Baron and Jackson Guice (aside from a few issues by Waid and Weiringo), I wasn't sure what to expect. But I would recommend all of these trades, especially for the way Johns handles the Rogues Gallery.

And because I enjoyed Flash so much, and had always been a fan of Starman, I picked up all of the JSA trades about the time that Johns took over co-writing. And then I got hooked on THAT series.

Which led into grabbing JLA/JSA. Which was a treat.

And because I enjoyed all of THOSE so much, I picked up Johns and Van Sciver's "Green Lantern Rebirth" series, primarily for Johns' writing.

And now I'm trying to track down "Stars and STRIPES" to see how his writing was at the beginning of his comics career.

So dive on in; you shouldn't be disappointed.

It's going to sound like an Echo in here but...

Any of the JSA TPB's are perfect. One of my favorite storylines, Black Reign which was the crossover between JSA & Hawkman (which Geoff also wrote) was the latest edition.

Why DC hasn't capitalized on Johns fame by making a TPB of Stars & STRIPE (Before they were Stars... Legends in the Making...something like that...) is beyond me. Great series, and my very first piece of original art came from that series!

Sadly, his Avengers work wasn't quite as good as anything he's done for DC, so you can steer clear of that.


Ladd

By the way, Andrew, where do you shop here in town?

I once again highly recommend Zanadu, either downtown or U District.
(And this goes for anyone in earshot who is in the greater Seattle area.)

Well run, helpful staff, run by a businessman who happens to like comics, and not only works at keeping a good stock on hand, but buys a lot of independents and such. They had Bone before anyone else was carrying it, because they are in to the independents. The manager recommended it because he knew what I bought; they often recommend things by what we buy, not by what will get inventory out the door.

I happen to live in the U District (don't laugh, I'm trying to get out of here after 5 years of living in this neighborhood) so I shop at Zanadu, Comics Dungeon, and The Dreaming on University and 52nd. I sometimes shop at Dreamstrands in Greenwood and The Comic Stop in Lynnwood, which is a great store in terms of selection and cleanliness. The one I go to most regularly is The Dreaming, where the owner has a box subscription service free of charge. I was just out of commission for a few months due to surgery on my ankle, so my comics budget, like my household budget, is something less than stellar at the present. And naturally some maniac just totaled my car and I'm having to adjust to public transportation for the first time in my life (see the Manhunter thread for details). So while I'm reading a great deal of stuff, only some of it is current. Most things I'm reading I'm checking out from the library, and remarkably enough, I can find almost all the trades I'd like to read between the three library systems I'm eligible for. Interlibrary loans are a wondrous thing. I think I only buy about 5 or 6 regular titles right now. My living quarters don't permit me to have acres of Bendis like the rest of you folks, I guess, and for a guy that abandoned comics at the tail end of the Eighties and didn't come back till around 1999, I'm having a lot of fun catching up on the years I missed. Mostly I'm trying to acquaint myself with as many new writers and artists as possible, and I tend to read a fair amount of Wildstorm and Vertigo stuff because they generally don't have the endless crossovers which I detest so much. I agree that Zanadu is a good shop with a very good selection, and I think it's a very good time to be a comic book reader. What books do you read most often?

The latest Geoff Johns trade, coming out next week:

JSA Presents: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.
By Geoff Johns



>> Collecting issues #1-8 of the STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E. series that kicked off Geoff Johns' DC career and introduced Courtney Whitmore, the Star Spangled Kid! When Courtney discovers her stepfather was the sidekick of the Star-Spangled Kid, she begins acting as the all-new Star-Spangled Kid! He retaliates by donning an 8-foot suit of armor to keep her out of trouble, and adventure ensues! <<

http://astore.amazon.com/imwan-20/detail/1401213901

For more info, also see the IMWAN Readers' Choice poll which Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. won:

http://www.imwan.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14232

As others said, JLA/JSA: Virtue & Vice.

I was a few years early in my prognostication...but...HOORAY!

This Johns trade is about to be published:

THE FLASH: WONDERLAND
Written by Geoff Johns; Art by Angel Unzueta and Doug Hazlewood ; Cover by Brian Bolland



>> Collecting the debut story arc by superstar comics writer Geoff Johns from THE FLASH #164-169! Wally West finds himself without his super speed in a darker, mirror version of Keystone City. Can a powerless Flash defeat Captain Cold and Mirror Master to save the city he loves? <<

List Price: $12.99
Amazon Price: $10.39 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
You Save: $2.60 (20%)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401214894/?tag=imwan-20

I need to get those TPB's.


Geoff's the man!

JSA Stealing Thunder

Awesome awesomeness to the awesometh degree.

I've read a variety of Johns' work due to hype and haven't found any of it to my liking. JSA, Flash, etc. just haven't been what I'm looking for in superhero fiction-- which isn't to say he's bad, but I'd be cautious before investing too much money in work you might not enjoy as much. If you didn't like Titans, I'd be suprised to find you like somehting else he's done. If you don't like Jim Lee's art on Batman, I doubt you'd like it on Superman, y'know?

All of the Geoff Johns Flash is awesome, especially the early Scott Kolins run. Pick up the "Blood Will Run" TPB. You won't regret it.

Infinite Crisis- I loved it, though it's a controversial opinion.
Green Lantern: Rebirth- Turned Green Lantern into one of DC's biggest properties.
Flash: Blitz- The best of his Flash run.
JSA: Return of Hawkman- The one that made him DC's biggest writer.
The first volume of Teen Titans (also a good deal at ten bucks for seven issues.)

Stealth link editing! Sneaky.