Geoff Johns describes his new role as DC's Chief Creative Officer

[GL's Light]

DC Entertainment has named its executive team, with Jim Lee and Dan DiDio as Co-Publishers of DC Comics and Geoff Johns as Chief Creative Officer. Geoff Johns has released the following note:

“WOW.”

That’s the first thing I said too when I heard about the team Diane wanted to form to guide DC Entertainment both in and out of the comic book pages and into the not-so-distant future. That not-so-distant future being today.

And in the words of my Tiny Titans collaborators, “AW YEAH, DC COMICS!”

The second thing I said to Diane was, “Um, what about writing? I love writing. I can’t stop writing!” Diane smiled and said, “...writing’s part of the job!” Right away, I knew I was in. This was a dream come true. So what am I going to be doing besides writing Green Lantern, The Flash, Batman: Earth One and Brightest Day? What’s “Chief Creative Officer” even mean? It sounds like a suit job...thankfully I’m still wearing my t-shirts. Even in the blizzards here in New York. But before I get into what new things I’ll be doing, I want to tell you why I’ve decided to jump into DC Entertainment full on, as if it wasn’t obvious already.

1) The People.

I’ve worked with Dan and Jim over the years and, honestly, there are very few people I admire more in my life, inside or outside of the comic book world. Dan’s leadership, endless energy and devotion to pushing boundaries is infectious and Jim’s pure talent, enthusiasm and dedication to exploring the outlets of the future inspiring. In the short time I’ve come to know John and Patrick, I feel a sense of progression and history forging together, both of which make DC what it is.

And now there’s Diane. Someone whose passion and understanding of the value of the creative process is undoubtedly going to lead DC Entertainment into an incredible new era for all of us fans, soon-to-be-fans and fellow creators – the writers and artists who create the lifeblood of this industry. I can’t wait for you to meet Diane. Her warmth and sincerity has made me feel like I’ve known her my entire life. Just like DC Comics. Which brings me to the second reason this totally rocks.

2) The Mythologies.

There is no place on Earth that has a more diverse and deep universe of characters and worlds. From Atrocitus to Y: The Last Man. My love for DC started when I first saw the Flash take on Captain Cold in the Challenge of the Super-Friends. I never ate my Honeycomb that fast. It when I bought my first comic books in 1985, including Crisis on Infinite Earths, alongside my Super Powers figures and only grew over the years until I broke into the industry myself.

So what does a “Chief Creative Officer” do? Well, I still wear t-shirts and write and go to conventions, but I’ll be doing a whole lot more too.

Under the leadership of Jim and Dan, I’ll continue writing and giving my creative input as I have been in comic books. But expanding onto that, Diane’s asked me to take our comic book world, embrace it (as I do) and use it to lead the creative charge on bringing it all to film, toys, television, video games, animation and beyond. The Justice Society appearing on Smallville was only the beginning.

Let’s all let this sink in a little more: Martin Campbell of Casino Royale is directing Green Lantern. And over the last few months, I’ve met with Ryan Reynolds to talk all-things Green Lantern, I’ve worked closely with Green Lantern producer Donald Deline and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg on the script (Aw yeah, Kilowog!) and I’ve realized that the Green Lantern comics and film and everything growing out of them (wait until you see what!) is only the beginning of what DC Entertainment has coming our way under Diane and Jeff Robinov’s leadership. And I have to say something about Jeff too. He’s made Warner Brothers the most successful and artist-friendly studio out there and that will carry over into DC Entertainment. He knows what we know: the potential of DC is infinite. We couldn’t be in better hands on that front. Expect the characters we love, the A-list and the ones even you and I might barely know, to be shepherded into the “outside world” with respect, care and unbridled energy. They’ll be plenty of Batman and Superman, but there are a whole lot of characters from the DC Universe, Mad, Vertigo and Wildstorm waiting to be unleashed.

They might say, “The sky is the limit!” at other places when looking at the new opportunities ahead. They think too small. We all know the sky isn’t the limit at DC. The universe isn’t even the limit. There isn’t one.

I was going to close this out with one of my favorite phrases from Blackest Night – “All Will Be Well!” – but I think another one can sum up DC Entertainment and the people and creative teams behind it.

“Beware Our Power!”

Aw.

Yeah.

Geoff

 

[Webhead2006]

was just reading it over on the mainpage of hype. I wish all of them the best of luck with their new positions within DC and i hope they will do the best things possible for branching all dc characters across the vast media plateforms.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

Except for Diane, seems like they just rearranged the deck chairs.

Congrats to them though.

 

[MadVillainy]

Probably now the DC Ent universe will be divided into different color spectrums...

Seriously though as long as he lines up some good projects I wouldnt mind

 

[Octoberist]

the best thing about this is that guys like Jim Lee and Geoff Johns can keep the movie projects in line and their can put their seal of quality.

 

[Raiden]

Kudos to WB for letting DC placing their own creative people at the helm of the DC Entertainment, and although I'm a Marvel fan first & foremost I believe that better superhero movies will only benefit the superhero genre as a whole, and both Marvel & DC will profit from it. I do think Hollywood still not wholly embrace this genre like they would for others such as sci-fi and action, but collectively Marvel & DC will be able to change the preception and make sure superhero genre is here to stay.

 

[cerealkiller182]

Even though I enjoy most of his work in general, I also dont like Johns' Quesada-esque attempt at making the publisher look more like it did when he was a kid. I hope not too much of that boils over to the movie universe.

 

[Webhead2006]

well sure its well stated he loves silver age stuff since that is the period of comics he grew up with. But since he is the head of creative affairs or what ever i am sure he will look at what is best for all characters in the comics and other mediums and make the best calls for each character.

 

[Breogan]

Johns would have "grown up" reading the Bronze Age of comics that's early 1970s to the mid- to late 80s and the arrival of the Dark Knight and Watchmen.
Despite some bitter 90s fans accusing him of wanting a return to his childhood Silverage. They are wrong.
They (not talking about youi webhead) just think anything that came before them must be Silver Age.

 

[cerealkiller182]

Johns would have "grown up" reading the Bronze Age of comics that's early 1970s to the mid- to late 80s and the arrival of the Dark Knight and Watchmen.
Despite some bitter 90s fans accusing him of wanting a return to his childhood Silverage. They are wrong.
They (not talking about youi webhead) just think anything that came before them must be Silver Age.

I dont know specifics about ages I admit, but whatever the case may be it is still a whole slew of regression that Johns has been working on, and I hate regression, especially with the DC publisher, a publisher that has put so much stock in legacy characters, but never use them.

And I dont consider it coincidence that Barry Allen's return came just in the nick of time for Blackest Night where Johns is rumored to "stabilize" death in the DCU

 

[Webhead2006]

speaking of all the comic ages, what are the names of the ages and the years that each ran from?

 

[cerealkiller182]

speaking of all the comic ages, what are the names of the ages and the years that each ran from?

I know its Gold, Silver, and Bronze and then Modern I guess (I think Marvel is calling it Iron Age or something), but the time frames completely escape me.

 

[GL's Light]

You'll get some disagreement about the exact dates of the ages, but in general terms the Golden Age ran from the late 1930s to the late 1940s, the Silver Age ran from 1956 to the early 1970s, the Bronze Age ran from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, and the Modern Age runs from the mid-1980s to the present.

 

[Webhead2006]

ok thanks alot guys. I knew of the names a bit, but years i wasnt to sure on and then also thought silver rage was where bronze age was in placement. For me i am more of a modern age reader(mostly marvel stuff is what i read i have picked up a few dc stuff over the years) but also read some bronze age stuff too.

 

[Steve Holt]

does this mean that if he wants to have Bruce/Batman and Diana/Wonder Woman on smallville it can happen?

 

[Webhead2006]

would be nice steve but i doubt they will ever appear on SV.

 

[GL's Light]

does this mean that if he wants to have Bruce/Batman and Diana/Wonder Woman on smallville it can happen?

Wonder Woman can't make guest appearances in shows as a matter of legal contractual agreement. She can only be a star in a show or movie of her own or a co-star in an ensemble (like a Justice League show). Johns might be able to have some influence on getting Bruce Wayne onto Smallville, but other execs and producers might still be against it - and Johns can't just overrule everyone else and do whatever he wants.

 

[solidsnake86]

Considering how touchy they are with batman being in other media I highly doubt they would bring him to smallville. Really its not even needed seeing as the character already has mass appeal and a successful movie franchise. Wonder woman on the other hand I could see but I doubt it. Smallville has yet to be renewed and if it is, it will most likely be in the last season. You don't need those characters to be brought in.

 

[Webhead2006]

oh totally i am sure its going to be picked up it has been doing well, and alot of the higher up execs love the show and it makes alot of money still for WB. I agree batman has a very little shot of happening ever but come on you would think doing ww on the show would be a smart move. So you can broaded the appeal of the character and all that.

 

[TheVileOne]

I'd be happier if Johns said one thing about these movies not having to be forced to be self-contained and just sort of hints of stuff outside worlds in even Batman and Superman movies.

 

[Webhead2006]

well hopefully they will. But they probably dont want to do that to they have things set in motion.

 

[TheVileOne]

???

Also, all they are really doing is copying a model that Marvel already kickstarted years ago.

 

[GL's Light]

Also, all they are really doing is copying a model that Marvel already kickstarted years ago.

Marvel tried for years, without success, to get their properties made into successful films after Superman and Batman films had blazed a trail. Then Marvel took the lead in the 2000s, bringing a lot of their properties to the screen and eventually forming a self-financed line of films. Warners has in turn made moves to better capitalize on the IP they own in DC. That's how it is with companies - they seek to learn from each others successes and failures.

 

[batdude]

Wonder Woman can't make guest appearances in shows as a matter of legal contractual agreement. She can only be a star in a show or movie of her own or a co-star in an ensemble (like a Justice League show). Johns might be able to have some influence on getting Bruce Wayne onto Smallville, but other execs and producers might still be against it - and Johns can't just overrule everyone else and do whatever he wants.

I thought Joss Whedon or Joel Silver stopped the WW on Smallville thing. Bruce Wayne? I don't know if Geoff Johns gets along with Nolanor not.

 

[Webhead2006]

well with the news with goyer on script i wonder if johns will be making a comment on that soon.