Around last year DC was going through some pretty sizable changes regarding its books. How?
Well they were firing their cancellation gun anyway they could. And if they weren't cancelling right then and there, they were indeed announcing cancellations in the near future, to books such as Teen Titans, Suicide Squad, Justice League of America and others that apparently weren't picking up too big of a fanbase. Plus their next big event, "Forever Evil," was going to bring about major changes, killing characters and changing the face of the Justice League(s) for the foreseeable future.
Most of the series that stayed alive weren't even team comics. Sure, Justice League stayed around, as did pretty much all of the Batman books, but, you would expect that, right? The usual heroes still had their books: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman. The Justice League.
However, out of all those cancellations, and even the ones before it, it seems that one hero has managed to stay around, one hero has proven to rise above most of other books and surprisingly hold his own in what's really only his third solo run.
Green Arrow, who, in the New 52, isn't even a member of the main Justice League, or the leader of the Justice League United.
This is pretty shocking considering how, up until issue #17, Green Arrow wasn't too great of a story. The character himself was too much like the playboy Oliver Queen than the heroic one. Stories were scattered and no story really stuck. The only recurring theme of all the books were Oliver's feuds with Mr. Emerson of Queen Industries.
Along came a man named Jeff Lemire, and by George did he save the franchise. Well, him and Andrea Sorrentino of course. Jeff Lemire's creative team came in and cleaned house instantly, creating some of the most memorable Green Arrow moments and even creating a brand new, threatening villain seemingly from scratch in Komodo (who actually became my favorite Green Arrow villain).
They managed to make the story linear. Issues #17-34, and even the Villains Month issue #23.1, all had a cohesive beginning and ending. Only one plot thread was left untold, but it's definitely one that the new creative team can latch onto and use, and really it doesn't make too much of a difference in the grand scheme of his story. Everything else had a clear direction, and it was such a welcomed feeling.
The new characters brought on were far more interesting than the ones we'd gotten before, and even the ones we got were far improved. I feel that, outside of Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, the stories of Broken and The Kill Machine gave us the best look into the character and man that is Oliver Queen/ Green Arrow than ever before, and gave him a reason to be wearing the mask and using the bow (as well as, as we would later find out in a pretty cool twist-ish, be called "Green Arrow" at all).
The writers were also able to make us take Green Arrow seriously. He's a former billionaire who turned into Robin Hood, so what? Well, the story of The Kill Machine and Outsider's War gave us a reason to care. It wasn't about the hero, it was about the man. The latter story took us down to a personal level with Oliver where we explored how he would react to all the twists he faced in his life.
The best part about all of this was how well-balanced the story was. I really, really liked being able to cover most of our time with Green Arrow (obviously), but the creative team was capable to show that while a hero is gone that yes, there would be things going on in their hometown. They even kind of make fun of themselves for that as Naomi keeps calling Ollie out when he returns to Seattle. It would have been very easy to make it all about Oliver, to just show Green Arrow's journey into his past, but they brought in new mysteries with Katana and the folks in Seattle.
I'm honestly confused as to where they can go from here. The one thing I do wish that Jeff Lemire had done, since he's helping out with Futures End I believe, is that they would have brought in Roy Harper. Where and when? No idea. But I feel that, even though the last four issues were Diggle-centric regarding side-kicks, Roy could have had a place in there.
But speaking of those final four issues, I wanted to thank Jeff Lemire for not going out in such a way that he could have potentially ruined the character. That he told his story and that was it, it was almost as if it were just another thing. No, instead, he left it open. The final issue of his run was one of the best Green Arrow issues to date, opening things up with Diggle and another character (can't say who for those who haven't read, you know?). I really felt like he set the stage for more, very interesting Green Arrow stories. Rather cleverly as well, since I'm reading Futures End, he sets the stage for that story pretty properly as well. The final four issues he helped write were the perfect culmination to his story. Like I said earlier, everything but one not-very-important moment was covered by the end. The stuff with the Outsiders, the stuff in Seattle, the stuff with Oliver's family. It was all sorted out after everything looked abysmal. And, best part, few characters have closed off endings, meaning that characters can come back into the story at any time.
So long as they are put on the page correctly, which may be a little difficult. See, because these stories were "wow"ing readers so much after the average Green Arrow stories that were already out, it might be difficult to duplicate that. These characters that were brought in, many of them previous Arrow characters but not introduced in the New 52, now have history and moments within the retconned universe, and as such it must be followed. Perhaps that's why Jeff Lemire brought them on, he tapped into his resources, and did it very well. Iconic Green Arrow characters Shado and Count Vertigo made their debuts in The Kill Machine story and were established there as well (well, Vertigo more than Shado, who would get more development in the following arc), but it was still great to see them. Billy Tockman, aka the Clock King, has also become established in the New 52 as one of those characters with an open ending. And we've yet to see Merlyn (though I believe that to be coming up)!
My big hope is that nobody overlooks these last two volumes of Green Arrow history, as they are some of the best. Some of the best in the New 52, actually. Not Death of the Family, but, probably Green Arrow's equivalent (by the by, definitely go check out Death of the Family, it's the best Joker story ever and you'll probably be scarred for life...just saying).
To get into specifics, I feel that Komodo is a better foil than even Merlyn, who is commonly seen as Green Arrow's exact counter. Given Komodo's backstory, it is a fairly decent reflection for Oliver and the way he is carried out is excellent. Shado was great too, just as interesting as her incarnation before the New 52 reboot. I'll admit that Emiko was a bit of an annoyance at first but she came to grow on me. In fact, I felt that some of the time there were more character moments for Emiko than Oliver. Given how their run ends and what is probably going to happen in the Future's End story line, I'm glad they did this.
This all probably sounds like a review and if it does, then, shucks, I don't mean for it to be one. I just wanted to point out a few things about the Lemire run for Green Arrow is all...but I probably started analyzing. Really the heart of what I'm saying is that Jeff Lemire's creative team single-handedly saved Green Arrow from possibly extinction. He's a little known character who has very little conflict on his own without supporting characters with their own issues such as Black Canary and Roy Harper. Their ability to make one of the best Green Arrow stories to date without them and with pretty much all new characters (easily adding in John Diggle for fans of the TV show also, mind you) is astounding. Imagine a Batman story without Robin or the Joker. Imagine a Spider-Man story without Mary-Jane/ Gwen Stacy or heck, even J.J.J. But that's what what this one felt like.
Look, you can hate on the New 52 all you want. I'll be one of the first to admit that yes, I do think that the New 52 isn't entirely necessary and that it was probably DC's way of making character's younger to add in more stories (that they could have told in their old universe but hey, I'm not a DC executive). Still, I have to admit that they have done a lot of things correctly. Creating an entire Batman mini-series based on his origin? Great! Death of the Family? Great! Bringing in Batman Beyond in Future's End? Great! Giving Aquaman credibility and making him a core member of the JL? Great!
The run that Jeff Lemire's team had is definitely among the great things that have come out of the New 52, where before they joined on it seemed we would have yet another cancelled book to add to the already growing list. Sure, there are some anticlimactic elements to it and you can say that it was a little rushed at points to get to all the plot points, but overall I'd say that the team created a very smooth, well-paced story that took us down a journey with a typically called B-list super-hero and show that there is more to the man than the trick arrows or attitude. Oliver Queen is still a warrior and a hero even when he has nothing. Even if something happens and the New 52 gets retconned (a topic I'll get to soon enough), I'll still remember this run as one of the best comic book runs for a single hero I've come to read yet.
I can't wait to say when I'm older that I was around to see Jeff Lemire write the Green Arrow stories he did. Just like those who talk about Frank Miller's Batman and Geoff Johns' Green Lantern, Jeff Lemire's Green Arrow is a treasure, and I thank him and his creative team for all he's done for Green Arrow.
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