You can believe whatever you want, but I know for a fact that we got the modern Captain Boomerang instead of the classic one because of Geoff Johns. I was told that by a Mattel rep at the 2011 Wonder Con.

Geoff is an action figure fan and he's had input into character selection for awhile. I would think that's obvious. Wave 17?

You don't think Johns would have pushed to get characters he actually created like Larfleeze, Atrocitus, Indigo 1, and Saint Walker into Wave 17?

He probably couldn't for whatever reason so he went with well known characters just his versions. That's how I see that one.

Sculpted. Shown at NYCC 2011.



Sculpted. Shown at SDCC 2011.

Mike
(Definitely expecting the other two as soon as Mattel's tooling budget allows. Collecting Mattel DC figures is great. If you're a Geoff Johns fan.)

Were they in Wave 17? Yeah, I didn't see them then, either.







Replace the second "he" with Mattel, and I think that's probably a little closer. There were a lot of people clamoring for the Corps leaders (at least on other boards) during blackest night, and while Johns might have had something to do with a rainbow lantern wave getting made, I have to believe that the decision to avoid characters that Johns created and fans had actually been asking for, and instead making a failed attempt to play it safe (or maybe even try to hit a home run) with Lantern versions of more well known heavy hitter characters rests squarely on the shoulders of people working for Mattel.

Look, I know Geoff's fans are going to keep racing to his rescue. Whatever.

I don't hate the guy. He's not a bad writer, but he's no John Broome or Gardner Fox.

My point is, he has influence and some say over character selection in DCUC. Or what used to be DCUC. That can't be denied. I heard it straight from the horse's mouth.

A Mattel designer told myself and a friend that at Wonder Con last year. With wave 18, Mattel thought it was time to do some more Suicide Squad figures. Deadshot was one, and Captain Boomerang was originally going to be classic. But they changed Digger to modern. We asked why, and we were told "As a favor to someone." After a little more questioning, we found out who the "someone" was.

Mike
(I doubt if we ever get a classic Captain Boomerang now. Fans of the classic Flash Rogues and the Suicide Squad are screwed, but Geoff has what he wants. Yeah, that's nice.)

LOL.

Yeah, wave 17 had nothing to do with Geoff. Because Larfleeze, Atrocitus, Indigo 1, and Saint Walker weren't in there.

Absolutely.

Gee.

Ya think?

Thank you. That was my point.

I thought your point was he directly responsible for it getting made, the line-up, and therefore its failure. I don't buy that, and I found somebody else's comments saying "We gave fans what they asked for with Wave 17, but fans are fickle and they obviously changed their minds since then" really telling of a failure on Mattel's part.
Honestly, I don't question one bit that we're getting a number of modern characters or modern representations of characters that come from his Johns' books, and I don't doubt your Captain Boomerang Story at all. I won't deny that Johns has pull at DC, which is in charge of its license and what happens to it, but you make it sound like a huge conspiracy and that he is singlehandedly responsible for tanking DCUC. Lemme ask you this: the inclusion of the arguably racist and unpopular (with a lot of fans) Superfriends characters in wave 18 and ridiulously large number of Cyclotron figures that I still see clogging pegs at my local Wal Mart and Target...who do you blame for that?

I believe that wave 17 was Geoff's idea, yeah. Mattel went along it, and it true Mattel fashion, they're blaming the fans. That's what they do.



Thanks. I believe wave 20 was Geoff's, too. Brightest Day, anyone?



Oh, no. I agree with you there. I know who exactly is responsible for turning DCUC into a "Super Powers Tribute Line". And you're right, that's not Geoff.

As far as GL writers go, I do like Geoff Johns' work, but I much prefer Kyle as GL. I wasn't hugely keen on Ron Marz's work, but it did the job - what made Kyle fantastic was Grant Morrison, Mark Waid and Joe Kelly in JLA.

Jo
I had a whole long post, but it's late and I made so many typos that I gave up

First off- the Rocket Red in the sub was not a Geoff Johns creation- he first appeared in Justice League: Generation Lost which was done by Judd Winick though released under the Brightest Day banner.

Secondly, fans did want the deputy lanterns that we saw in Wave 17 at some point, since the DC Direct Blackest Night line did VERY well and had all of those same characters, in fact I waited until DCUC did the deputies before I bought any of them (except for Wonder Woman and Mera.)

Thirdly, while Wave 20 has a "Brightest Day" theme/influence, you cannot tell me people didn't want Hawk and Dove, Reverse Flash, and Red Arrow- yes Johns wrote three out of four of those characters but those three characters have been around since before Geoff Johns ever wrote anything with them. I for one was thrilled to get a Dawn Granger Dove since she has long been a favorite of mine.

My point is that I don't believe Johns has had as much influence on the line as you think he does. Yes certain characters have had higher profiles in recent years because he has used them in his stories, but it isn't like they just appeared out of nowhere in the line- Hawk and Dove were always on Mattel's radar since they appeared on plenty of wishlists. Besides, don't you think Mera would have ended up coming out in the retail line at some point since Johns did a good job of bringing her into the forefront of "Blackest Night?" (I know she was on some wave 17 lists, but she didn't come out.) I have been a comic collector and action figure collector for many years and I do not mind ANY of the figures we have gotten thus far in the line and I know that isn't the case for everybody but I still felt I needed to speak up.

Val

Pssst.

When you get a chance, read Green Lantern number 10. It's a One Year Later story written by ... Geoff Johns.



And a lot of fans didn't, if you read any of the boards on various toy sites after that wave was announced.



A classic Hawk and Dove, Reverse Flash and Speedy would have been nice, and probably would have made more sense in a line called DC Universe CLASSICS, but whatever.



Not according to Mattel. Wonder Con 2011, remember? I talked to them myself. That's why we have a Geoff Johns Captain Boomerang instead of a classic one.

Mike
(And you may be a "comic collector for many years" but I've been reading comics since 1964. Classic Flash Rogues and Teen Titans would be nice, and again would make a lot more sense in a line called DC Universe CLASSICS, but again, whatever.)

It really amazes me that he gets a pass at every turn. I can almost hear people saying "Wh ... what? He couldn't possibly do that ... he's one of us!" Well, he hasn't been that in a long time. He's doing a job when it comes down to it. He may love doing it and he may "love" the characters but in the end he'll twist them and retcon and do whatever else to fit his storytelling needs and to earn a paycheck. Also, people want to think he's just a writer but he holds other positions at DC and people either ignore that or don't know it.

He's not a malicious guy. I just don't think he should have as much influence as he does in every aspect of DC. He was a writer who was given free reign by the worst editor in the history of the comics industry and now he's in charge. A maverick calling the shots. Everything going on in the comics and toys reflects his vision of the DC Universe and that is what he's getting paid to do ... but that vision doesn't necessarily line up with longtime fans.

I don't know, maybe DC action figures should come with a warning: "Ages 30 and under only"

I got the hawk, dove, red arrow and reverse flash I wanted.

Geoff Johns has influence. Super. I still don't know if the worst line from the DCUC to date had anything to do with him. IMO, unless you were a superfriends fan, that particular wave was terrible. And again, if I'm being honest, I got the boomerang I wanted too. Maybe the only figure from that wave that I actually cared for.

At the end of the day, what we want (to a certain extent) is irrelevant.

The only thing I'd really highlight is your complaint below about getting what you want being nice, because it's called "DC Universe Classics"

If that really is where your issue stems, then I assume you have a problem with 50-60% of the figures made?