10 Best Geoff Johns Stories in Comic Book History, Ranked

Geoff Johns has been one of the biggest, if not the most controversial, contemporary writers at DC Comics. He’s been highly acclaimed for revitalizing iconic characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, and the Justice Society. He’s also responsible for introducing many fan-favorite characters like Star Girl, Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, and all the additional Lantern Corps. He’s even been a producer and a co-writer for many of DC Comics’ biggest films during the DCEU era. Johns is a writer who brilliantly mixes in-depth character studies with conflicts of intergalactic and even multiversal proportions that forever change the landscape of the DC Universe.

Geoff Johns has been responsible for some of the best 21st-century DC Comics stories, even serving as a bright spot in highly controversial eras like the New 52.

10) “Princes of Darkness”

Despite the Justice Society being the first superhero team in comic book history, they felt like the B-List version of the Justice League for decades. However, Geoff John’s brilliant JSA run revitalized and modernized the team for a new generation. The magnum opus of John’s JSA run is “Princes of Darkness,” in which the mystical villains Mordru, Eclipso, and Obsidian join forces to plunge the world into darkness and civil war. The Justice Society must assemble every hero they can and enter the depths of the Shadowlands to battle this terrifying trio. “Princes of Darkness” is the story that cemented the Justice Society as one of the greatest heroic teams in all of DC Comics, and among the Earth’s premier defenders.

9) “The Trench”

The New 52 offered many darker reinterpretations of classic heroes, and John’s reinvention of Aquaman was one of the era’s greatest successes. In “The Trench,” Aquaman desires to live on land and renounce his royal obligations to Atlantis. However, something from the deepest parts of the ocean begins to emerge causing havoc. The titular Trench is a lost tribe of Atlantis who, after spending centuries at the bottom of the ocean, evolved into feral beasts. “The Trench” immediately washed away all complaints people had about Aquaman being a joke of a hero, while also showing the character’s inner conflict as a man who acts as a link between the land and the sea.

8) “Darkseid War”

The climactic finale of Geoff Johns’ Justice League run has DC’s premier heroes caught in a war between the universes’ two biggest villains: Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor. In “Darkseid War,” enemies become allies as the Justice League joins forces with Lex Luthor and the Crime Syndicate to defeat the pair of multiversal conquerors. It’s soon revealed that the mastermind behind this conflict was Darkseid’s half-Amazonian daughter Grail, who seeks to have her father killed. Over the course of this epic tale, numerous members of the Justice League undergo drastic transformations that practically turn them into gods. This epic war is both a perfect conclusion and a teaser for the next phase of DC Comics.

7) “Blitz”

In the heart-pounding and tragic Flash storyline “Blitz,” Wally West finally gets his own Reverse-Flash. When Wally refuses to change the timeline to undo the paralysis of his friend Hunter Zolomon, Hunter undergoes a transformation that turns him into the psychopathic supervillain Zoom. Believing that Wally must suffer immense losses so that he’ll know true pain and become a better hero, Zoom targets his former friend’s loved ones. Wally is pushed like never before as he must figure out a way to keep pace with a villain who can run circles around him and is attacking his friends and family. “Blitz” is one of the darkest Flash storylines, introducing one of his greatest villains.

6) Green Lantern: Rebirth

Geoff Johns resurrected the Green Lantern brand both figuratively and literally by having Hal Jordan come back to life in Rebirth. In this story, Hal tries to pick up the pieces of his life after massacring the Green Lantern Corps as Parallax, dying, and becoming the host of the Spectre. Rebirth also heavily focuses on the other human Green Lanterns; Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner who all play important roles and have character arcs. Together, they must face Parallax, the personification of fear that corrupted Hal years ago. The title Rebirth accurately summarizes this tale, as it tells the story of the return of Hal and the Green Lantern Corps to their former glory as protectors of the DC Universe.

5) Infinite Crisis

Twenty years after the monumental Crisis on Infinite Earths event, Johns created another incredible Crisis story that lives up to its predecessor. Infinite Crisis begins with the DC Universe in shambles: the Justice League broken up, wars waging across the galaxy, magic itself broken, the Trinity hating each other, and killer robots called Omacs hunting superheroes. Things go from bad to worse when Alexander Luthor Jr. from Earth-3 and Superboy-Prime team up to destroy and recreate the universe. The story also includes the return of the infinite multiverse and Golden Age Superman. Johns tells an epic, immersive story that criticizes how the superhero genre has become less hopeful.

4) Superman: Last Son

Johns delivers the quintessential Superman vs. General Zod storyline with Superman: Last Son. However, Johns isn’t alone, as he co-wrote the story with none other than Richard Donner, the director of the critically acclaimed Superman: The Movie and Superman II. And, it’s safe to say that this story has all the nuance and action as those movies, if not more. When a Kryptonian boy named Christopher Kent crash-lands on Earth, Superman must protect him from the likes of Lex Luthor, the Superman Revenge Squad, and General Zod and his Phantom Zone cronies. Superman: Last Son is an intense and emotional story that has the Man of Tomorrow trying to be a father figure for a child who has secrets of his own.

3) Blackest Night

The culmination of everything Johns worked on during his Green Lantern run, Blackest Night sees the emergence of one of DC Comics’ most powerful and dreaded villains: the Black Lantern Corps. Fueled by death and millions strong, the Black Lanterns are assembled by Nekron, the Lord of the Unliving, and his second-in-command, Black Hand. Together, they raise countless deceased heroes and villains in a war against all life in the universe. To survive, the numerous other Lantern Corps must put aside their differences and work together to shine a light bright enough to dispel the darkness. The story also includes the resurrection of many beloved deceased heroes. Blackest Knight was an event years in the making that truly paid off.

2) “Sinestro Corps War”

As the greatest Green Lantern story of all time, “Sinestro Corps War” expands the lore of the DC Universe to new heights while also introducing the ultimate rivals to the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro sets his sights on harnessing the power of fear not just for himself, but for an entirely new Lantern Corps. The Sinestro Corps is made up of the most bloodthirsty and monstrous beings in the universe, and together they wage war on the Green Lantern Corps. The Green Lanterns are pushed beyond their limits as they fight a bloody war across the cosmos. “Sinestro Corps War” also opens the door to the entirety of the Emotional Spectrum and numerous other Lantern Corps. No other story culminated and elevated Green Lantern lore like this war-torn epic.

1) Doomsday Clock

What stands as one of DC Comics’ most controversial stories is Geoff John’s masterpiece. Doomsday Clock is a sequel to Alan Moore’s Watchmen graphic novel. In Doomsday Clock, Doctor Manhattan travels to and meddles with the DC Universe. Ozymandias, along with Rorschach II, Marionette, and Mime, pursues Doctor Manhattan so that he may save their world from nuclear annihilation. This story culminates in an epic confrontation between Superman and Doctor Manhattan. Doomsday Clock is a brilliant meta-textual narrative that explores and builds on the themes of Watchmen and compares them to the themes, values and characters of the DC Universe. More importantly, it shows why Superman, and the superhero genre as a whole, has persisted for over a century and continues to inspire people as beacons of hope.

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