Geoff Johns Was a Letter Writing Fanboy

Way back in April of 1996, a letter appeared in the back of Superboy #26 (vol. 3). You might recognize the name of the exuberant fan, and he might have gone on to be the prime creative force at DC Comics.

Don’t stop believin’ fanboys! Geoff Johns, superstar writer and Chief Creative Officer for DC Comics, sent in a fan letter. Seven years later, after giving some DC folks a tour of a Richard Donner movie set, Johns wrote Teen Titans #1, where on the last page, it was revealed that Lex Luthor’s DNA was part of Superboy’s makeup.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Jeff Reid for scanning his archives and repeatedly pulling out, and scanning the gems he finds.

Comments

  1. How could somoene not like this guy?

    And it turns out Geoff had pretty much the same taste for comics and characters that I did. No wonder I like his work so much!

  2. This letter is Johns’s Rosebud.

  3. Johns wrote in his letter, “Although I’m sick of the misunderstood meeting between super-heroes (big slugfest)…”.

    Irony anyone? Can you say Justice League #1 and the cover of Justice League #2?

  4. This cover is awesome. I want to read this issue quite badly at the moment.

  5. Don’t like the direction the writers are taking your favorite character in? Just bide your time and take over the book.

    As advice goes, a little ambitious, but you can’t argue with results.

  6. I can’t believe they didn’t think having Lex Luthor as part of Superboy’s clone DNA was a good idea. Little did they know that the fan writing in would be their boss in a matter of years.

    • I think it may have been an editorial thing since Lex hardly if ever appeared at all in Superboy’s book. Heck, barely any of the major super villains in the Superman books ever turned up ‘cept for maybe parasite (not counting his appearances in the following volume of SB)

  7. I’m still looking for that Jeff Reid tag. The man is a machine (possibly literally).

  8. so rad…truly a fan first.

    i had a letter published in an issue of Chew a few months back, so basically look out KIRKMAN here i come! =)

  9. Most people woulda just shrugged and said “Well, guess I was wrong about the Lex Luthor thing.” Not Geoff Johns. Geoff Johns *made* it happen.

  10. Totally awesome, Jeff!

    Jeff, you are most certainly the (un)official iFanboy Librarian!

    • Can it be made official? IFanboy Librarian/Cub Reporter! We should take donations to get Jeff a name plate.

    • I’ve procured an old utility closet next to the boiler in the basement of the iFanboy Brownstone. On the door, I’ve managed to put up a piece of masking tape with my name written in red crayon. It’s not much, but I like it.

  11. holy shit i think i actually have this issue!

  12. He actually wrote in twice to Superboy–and talked about the same idea twice. Ironically, while I love GJ’s work this is probably my least favorite idea of his. This WAS a fun issue, for those curious. Dealt with Superboy and Knockout’s whole relationship.

  13. I got my letter published this very week in Cloak & Dagger #2. Made my whole day/week/month/year.

    George RR Martin had a letter published in a super early issue of Fantastic Four, like issue #20 or something. Need to look into that…..

  14. Johns has had a few letters published in DC over the years. I have this issue of Superboy sitting on my shelf. I’ve been meaning to read through the Superboy run, but I’ve got a few holes. Hoping NYCC plugs them up for me.

  15. Wow. he was just a fan like you and me. This seemed totally hopeful

  16. Always cool to see someone “make it” when they have such passion for the medium. One of the nicest creators I’ve ever met in person too.

  17. Love it and he’s a Michigan boy like me, surprised I didn’t know that, anyone know what college/university he went to and if he studied writing or just fell into it, oh wait wikipedia exists, I don’t have to ask anyone.

  18. Comic Book Resources did this one a while back but it’s still a pretty interesting piece of history. Johns also wrote another letter suggesting that Professor Zoom return from the dead, and we know how that turned out. Anyone interested in pieces of comic book history should check out Brian Cronin’s excellent comic book legends revealed pages at CBR!

  19. If you enjoyed reading this letter from Geoff Johns from when he was a comics fan, before he became a comics creator, I have a whole mini website devoted to similar such letters. It includes letters from then-fanboys like Kurt Busiek, Todd McFarlane, and Christopher Priest, and many others.

    You can check out the later-to-be-famous names and their letters here: http://www.joshcomix.com/and/fanboypros/

    Enjoy.