Does John owe all his fame to the JLU cartoon

[TEN_RINGS Senior Corps Member Find all posts View Profile Close TEN_RINGS]

John Stewart seems to have a cult following is it only from his appearance on the Justice League cartoons or is it something else? I have not seen that much character development with John so I cant pin point the exact reason for his popularity. So please tell us the reasons you guys all love John.

[Andrew NDB Shot Caller Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew NDB]

Probably the JL cartoons. Though he was "popular" enough for DC to give him his own ongoing series in the 90s.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

Well, my interest in John started at the beginning of Vol. 3 (is that the correct numbering? I've lost track) and then was cemented by his Mosaic series.

Reading back to his introduction, I liked the character from the beginning, but felt like he was totally screwed over by Cosmic Odyssey, when they wrote him totally out of character so they could make him take the fall for the destruction of Xanshi (which surprised me, because that bit of his backstory was already an important and interesting part of his characterization in the comics I first read with him. It was kind of a shock to discover that it came from such a horrible misuse of the character).

He was handled pretty well, character-wise, during Kyle's tenure, but wasn't given much of interest to do.

More recently, my interest in John is more out of loyalty and habit than any actual fondness for the way they are currently handling the character. He's not quite the same. Though I suppose he IS more like the JL cartoon version.

[Star-Lantern Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close Star-Lantern]

Always think it's funny when people think it's weird that John Stewart has a fanbase. I've never seen anyone react that way toward the other Green Lanterns having fans. Or heck, any characters having fans, really.

[IonFan Forum Member Find all posts View Profile Close IonFan]

oh yeah it's the JL cartoon (it was the only way i learned about him)

[Star-Lantern Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close Star-Lantern]

Interestingly, by complete coincidence, we're having a discussion about this very subject in the comments section on this site right now, so you can go there and see what John fans have to say:
http://greenlantern.co/secret-origins-9-review/

At least taken from this sample, it seems the Justice League cartoon is what got people interested in John Stewart. The people over there don't even seem to like the comics that were going on at the time of the cartoon, which was the Geoff Johns run for part of it.

EDIT:
Here's one of the posts that I thought was especially good:

Hi, Clyde! Great story! I learned about John through the Justice League cartoon. I was really happy to see such a powerful, respected everyman character who looked like me and who I wanted to be like. The mature storylines hooked me, and I knew I was watching something great.

I got into comics through Marvel's Ultimate Universe because it was new-reader-friendly and because the character designs were similar to the ones I saw in the video game X-Men Legends.

While googling the Ultimates one day, I saw an article in Wizard Magazine about "Ultimizing the DC Universe." The guys at Wizard thought John should be THE Green Lantern of a hypothetical Ultimate DCU, and I started to see a DCU that reminded me of the cartoon.

When I tried to start reading Green Lantern comics, I was bitterly disappointed to discover Johns never wrote John any real storylines and that when Johns did write John he made him Hal's bootlicker. That wasn't the John I grew up with, and that wasn't the John I wanted to see. I wanted to see the independent, confidant character who was CHOSEN over all others for the strength of his will and the quality of his character. I wanted to see the hero who made me proud because he was the epitome of cool and was made of pure wish-fulfillment. None of the other Green Lanterns appealed to me. They didn't have John's grit, maturity, or sense of humor.

I kept re-watching the cartoons for a while before tracking down Green Lantern: Mosaic. I've been pushing for John ever since. When I learned that DC editorial wanted to kill off John after not doing ANYTHING with him for so many years, I was PISSED--as were many, many others. That story really blew up the internet, and it pissed off John's creators.

When the new Green Lantern writers took over, I was incredibly happy to see Jensen give John the respect he was due in some extremely well-written stories.

I will be a John Stewart fan for life.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

I never thought of John as not being popular until the JLU animated series. For me, John became one of my favorite comic characters during Len Wein and Steve Englehart's runs during GL volume 2. His characterization has been all OVER the place in the decades since, with many writers not really knowing what to do with him. But to me, Englehart's John has always been the real one.

[Evergreen City Corps Den Mother Find all posts View Profile Close Evergreen City]

Never had much of a problem with Stewart since his first introduction. In my fan fictions he's always a strong, stable character, a great foil for Hal. The redundant nonsense with Xanshi is just that, nonsense. Strong characters put these things behind them.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

My God, I wish they would stop bringing up that dreadful Xanshi business. Why do they keep making John's entire character revolve around that terrible story?

[CeltiC5-27 Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close CeltiC5-27]

To answer your question, absolutely! If it wasn't for Bruce Timm, I guarantee you nobody would know who John Stewart is outside of the comic community.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Here's one of the posts that I thought was especially good: " I learned about John through the Justice League cartoon. I was really happy to see such a powerful, respected everyman character who looked like me and who I wanted to be like."

If that poster thought the cartoon John looked like him, he must have quite the physique --extremely broad chest and shoulders with narrow hips.

[buffalorock Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close buffalorock]

I think he does owe much of his mainstream popularity to JL/JLU. I have met people that didn't know who Hal was or thought that GL was black. They also didn't know there was more than one Green Lantern. I think he can be a great character when used well (like the cartoon). I just don't think he has enough personality(part of his charm to me) or enough stories to draw on for a solo movie.

[Sylent_Asassin Black Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close Sylent_Asassin]

John probably owes most of his notoriety to the JL/JLU series. Before the movie, most people that didn't read the books didn't know who Hal Jordan was, and before the cartoon, most couldn't pick a GL out of a line-up that had Green Arrow, Green Hornet and the Jolly Green Giant.

I think most of John's success stemmed from his relationship with Shayera. Even though he was a stoic, by-the-books character, that relationship let us see another side to the character, a vulnerable side, that made us actually care about him. JL/JLU has done more for John than any DC Comics writer in the last 20 years.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

John Stewart seems to have a cult following is it only from his appearance on the Justice League cartoons or is it something else? I have not seen that much character development with John so I cant pin point the exact reason for his popularity. So please tell us the reasons you guys all love John.

I have no problem with people who were introduced to John this way and love the 'toon. I also have no problem with people who have read John's comics and are dissatisfied with certain events of his past. I do have a problem with people who only know the JLU's simplified, kid-centric version of John and discount the comics, and the GL mythos as a whole.

As for me, I like John's no-nonsense approach to the Corps. If makes sense to me that someone who was initially portrayed as a social crusader, and later on a soldier, would be a solid fit for the ring.

[G'nortDoggie88 Major Force's Dinner Date Find all posts View Profile Close G'nortDoggie88]

To answer your question, absolutely! If it wasn't for Bruce Timm, I guarantee you nobody would know who John Stewart is outside of the comic community.

Need to give credit to Dwayne Mcduffie too. He recognized how crappily Stewart was handled in the comics (i.e Cosmic Odyssey a.k.a one of the worst New Gods stories ever) and decided to keep what worked and leave what didn't. Now you have a whole generation of fans who think GL should be a black man. I am a part of that generation and watching Stewart in JL and JLU along with seeing the GLC helped get me in Green Lantern. Reading Johns run from his constant retcons to his stannery to his obession with random blood and gore and taking power rings way too seriously turned me off the series until the current team came on. Van Jensen, Chang, and Maiolo did a lot for Stewart and the GLC and it's a shame that the book got cancelled and they're not being brought back. What gets me is Bunn isn't even a good writer and yet he got to stay. Now I'm worried all that hard work is going to go to waste yet again. SMH.