I'm not sure where I should even start with this. It is littered with contradictions, inconsistent thought and flat out incorrect information. I will start by saying I am 100% a Hal Jordan fanboy. A fanboism that I believe is justified because he is unquestionably the greatest Lantern in the DC Universe, but I'll get into that over the course of this, for now lets touch on your points.
Here goes,
Have you read any of the volume 3 Green Lantern stuff? Or Volume 2?
I will first respond by saying yes, I have read Volume 2 and Volume 3 Lantern material and I question whether or not YOU have. Volume 3 is unquestionably the Kyle Rayner era so I dont know if i should even address that. Volume 2 was still very much the Hal Jordan era, it was the ground roots for the hero we have in Green Lantern comics today, after breaking away from Alan Scott.
Yes, its true, Volume 2 also saw the introduction of John Stewart (10 years in albeit), but at the time, comic fans were more caught up with the chemistry and entertaining relationship between Green Lantern/Green Arrow that had also begun. So Stewart wasn't just playing second fiddle, he was playing THIRD fiddle and was a very confusing character for most of this run. Stewart was a mess of a character. He was thrown in so writers could touch on the issue of racism, but they didn't want some whitey (Hal) with no experience as a minority to be the vessel for this, so, we got Stewart. That's essentially all Stewart was initially written in for, he was a horribly written character placed in the series so some white nerdy writers could touch on the issue of racism without seeming too out of touch (which they still failed btw)Over the course of Volume 2, Stewart began a downward spiral, never gaining traction with readers and never finding a consistent persona even after Hal Jordan bowed out of the series and gave John the Lead.... THIS IS A BIG REASON WHY GUY GARDINER WAS INTRODUCED IN THE SAME ERA, BECAUSE JOHN STEWART FLAT OUT DID NOT APPEAL TO READERS... and where Stewart failed, Gardiner excelled almost instantly to grab readers attention with a more fleshed out, distinct and consistent persona...
The John Stewart of the early 2000's, 90's, and 80's is a totally different beast than the Geoff John's era stoic dullard you're referring to.
So, inconsistent and inaccurate statement #1 right there. Well sort of, you're right, Stewart was a different beast in the 80's, but no more different than his introduction in the 70's. Some might argue that its pretty sad when a character needs GUY fucking Gardiner to save a series because someone like John Stewart was losing readers interest. They even had to rewrite another Hal Jordan recap(Emerald Dawn) in the late 80's because of how horribly John was doing)
To your point, I would also argue, again, John was still not a "different beast" and still needed help in the 90's, which is why we saw Kyle Rayner take over the "Ray"ns! of the franchise. Sure they TRIED to have John actually carry an arc with Mosaic, but it was an unsuccessful, short lived story that was cancelled by DC because of its lack of direction and poor sales.
So lets recap on this 80-90's Beast you claim Stewart was. In the 80's Gardner and a Hal Jordan backstory were introduced to help struggling sales, 90's its all Rayner all decade. I fail to see how beast mode Stewart was any different in those two decades. Twice DC had to introduce new characters to help Stewart out. Not existing characters, completely NEW lanterns. Characters that hadn't had time to connect with readers like John did, and yet, both Rayner and Gardner BOTH interested readers more than Stewart did. IF a character was as interesting as you say he was in the 80's,90's and 2000's why were Gardner and Rayner needed? Why couldnt he carry a few arcs on his own without DC having to throw in side stories and reminders of Hal's origin a la Emerald Dawn? The answer is, because he flat out wasn't an interesting character and unlikable by most readers, which i think many attest to the lack of consistency in his persona which translated over to how inconsistent he was also written...
Geoff John's era stoic dullard you're referring to,
Throughout these two decades Stewart began a transformation from jive talking, careless and racist hero to a more composed, calculated leader so before you blame Geoff Johns for doing this to him, you may actually want to look no further than your named dropped 80-90's writter "Gerard Jones"... characteristics that he still carries with him today...
This then brings on the 2000's, which you claim he was written well and again, you are incorrect. Some argue to this day that Stewart was used in the animated series because of his popularity, while completely overlooking the clear quote from writer Bruce Timm who said most fans wanted Hal Jordan, Rayner or Gardner as Green Lantern. Stewart was the last choice on people's minds, and Timm himself admitted, the MAIN reason they went with Stewart was for DIVERSITY. So in the early 2000's Stewart was still not being written well, if he had been , then he would have been a clear choice for the animated series, instead he was chosen because they wanted a token black guy to add some diversity to an all white cast.
Now, while i was never a fan of the series personally (too old at the time), I think many agree that this was probably the best adaptation of John Stewart and we saw yet another Stewart (slight) transformation in the comic series to better reflect his Animated series counterpart. This is getting long so I wont touch on this any further.
This brings us to the Geoff Johns era, which is without a doubt the era that put Green Lantern on the map and was by far its most successful run, and who did this brilliant writer decide would be the best fit for this run? Hal Jordan! Comics fan's personal favorite Lantern, a character with decades worth of history in the DC universe and one of the most entertaining personalities.
Oh man, how is Hal going to handle is personal life? By being stoic and freezing out everyone he cares about. Oh, we need some personal turmoil, let's show the one time he has ever displayed any feeling whatsoever and flashback to his father's death. What's that, this threat is something that can't be overpowered? We'll just have Hal buck up, dig deep, and WILLPOWER THROUGH IT, FUCK YEAH GREEN BOXING GLOVES.
I dont even now where to start here. If there is one common theme you will find among most DC heroes and writing, is that MOST of these heroes are human, or face real world human problems. If Hal dealing with real life issues from time to time because he is trying to find the balance between being human and being a god damn superhero bores you, than I'm not sure why you even read comics. This down to earth, very human approach to heroes is what has made DC so popular to adult readers. Their heroes are somewhat relatable and at times deal with issues their own readers deal with. This is the kind of stuff that helps connect readers with their favorite superheroes. Every issue doesn't have to be PEW PEW, BANG BANG, CAUGHT THE BAD GUY to be interesting. If you don't have the patience for that, or you find Hal boring because he deals with real world issues, than go read Marvel.
With this Vendetti run, when every issue has essentially been Hal planet hopping and constant battling in space, its refreshing to see him finally get back to his roots and have some earthly, human interactions again with Barry and Guy. If constant and entertaining action is more your thing, I don't see how you could even compare Hal and John. Hal and his history in the DC universe is unmatched by any Lantern in the DC Universe, the battles he's won, the relationships he's formed, the villains he's bested, the amazing relationship between him and Sinestro, the overall value he has added to not just the Justice League but the DC universe in general, but based on how knowledgeable you claim to have, you should already know all this so I'm not sure how you could even remotely claim that Hal and John on are similar levels. Hal is far and above anything John Stewart has every attempted to be, even at his worst, Hal has still been a more entertaining read.
Im not sure how to end this, but I think your knowledge of the history of John Stewart and Green Lantern series is a bit out of touch or incorrect. You may want to brush up on some of it before making the claims you have. To call Geoff Johns a brilliant writer but then blame him for ruining Stewart is so damn incorrect and ignorant I refused to touch on it, but I will say that Stewart's issues stems much further back than Johns and he has been a consistent inconsistent mess of a character since his inception. Lanterns younger than Stewart in the DC universe have thrived and gained larger fanbases over a shorter amount of time simply because Stewart is unlikeable, unrelatable and a mess of a character. Lanterns like Gardner and Rayner were needed to save the series because Stewart when left on his own was simply incapable of carrying a series. Even today, DC has to force people to buy Green Lantern Corps issues by writing crossover stories in Green Lantern and Green Lantern New Guardians. Flat out, Stewart is an uninteresting character, and this isn't just my personal opinion, this is largely seen by slumping comic sales and poor merchandise starring Stewart. If he cant manage to sell a few thousand comics, how the hell is he going to carry a multi-million dollar movie, the answer is...he wont. Not unless he has a strong supporting cast, or is completely re-written....again. In which case, why even bother casting him at all if he needs those things, why not just use someone who is capable of carrying a movie on their own?
TL:DR - It irritates me when uninformed Stewart fans argue with me....