Most issues like this would just be something of a one-shot, which is confusing as this is still presented as a progression of the story. And, in fact, it is. At one point in the story there is a small preview of what is to come regarding the Outsider's War, which started in the following issue, #26. It also gives us insight into what the heck Diggle was doing in the business with Oliver in the first place, and, of course, Green Arrow-Batman banter.
Who doesn't love that?
The cover is fairly standard, with the focus on the Emerald Archer, as he is set against the red and grey background. Also, bats and stuff. Because you never would have guessed Batman by the symbol in the top right, correct? The cover does give us a sneak peak into what Oliver looks like. In his adventures to follow, Oliver is clean shaven with short hair, whereas here we get more of a "stranded on an island" look, since his clothing is still tattered and he's got the typical Green Arrow beard.
I should also point out that it is, in fact, written by Jeff Lemire and drawn Andrea Sorrentino, not the Batman team. This is significant because instead of having Green Arrow just appear in "Zero Year," they were able to intricately weave the Zero Year tale into their continuity. As we see on the first page, we are greeted by familiar New 52 Green Arrow character Emerson, who would eventually help run Q-Core with Oliver. Already we're aware that we are in regular continuity. Plus it has the familiar Andrea Sorrentino art style, so you know you're in good hands.
We open with Emerson watching the news, mostly to serve as exposition as any readers unfamiliar with the "Zero Year" storyline are brought up to date: six years ago, Batman surfaced in Gotham, just in time for a city-wide blackout (that would last, you guessed it, a year) and now his fight against the criminals in the dark has begun. However, Oliver Queen has yet to be found...
Until the next page, yay! Oliver tells Emerson where he's been the last few years before finding out his mother is trapped in the Narrows of Gotham (not the best of places, just so you know), and immediately heads out to find her, despite Emerson pleading for him to stay, since the best men he could find are on the job protecting her. Oliver says nay and heads out.
In Gotham we see Moira with two security guards, one of them being Diggle, as she tells them that they will not leave Gotham, as the whole point of them going was to help out. Before she can be convinced, they are attacked by an unknown assailant, only to be revealed on a single page spread as:
Killer Moth!!....eh...
Yeah, I was kind of hoping for someone bigger, too. Considering what we're going to be seeing a couple of pages, a much bigger villain than one that gets thrown in with some other C-list super-villains to fight Green Arrow seven issues later would have been better. And he doesn't even look that cool, he's just a dude with a gas mask, a funny gun, and a gas tank strapped to his back.
Oliver makes it to the city limits of Gotham, realizing that this fight is just like the island, only this time he's fighting for the survival of his mother, and prepares his Green Arrow gear.
Back at the shelter, Diggle stands up to Killer Moth but finds himself on the losing end of the battle. Killer Moth, comedically unsure of a name (calling himself "The Moth" and "Mothman" instead), says that he is after Moira because of her rich bank account. As he goes to take her away, an arrow pierces his hand. Is it the Green Arrow? No, the panel is blue. Instead, it's...nanananana....
BATMAN. With a crossbow no less! In "Zero Year" Batman was still working out the utility belt thing, so he's more like the Daryl Dixon-Batman for now.
As one would expect, Batman gets to moping the floor with Killer Moth, until Moth has him at gunpoint, saying that Batman was his inspiration. Just like every other villain...
Killer Moth is lame.
Anyway, Green Arrow shows up after a one liner to kick some butt, since this is his comic after all!
Wouldn't you trust the man in the green jacket?
Oliver misses his first shot but Batman helps him out, telling Green Arrow to get out of there. In a six panel page, varying between the green for Oliver and blue for Bruce we get a pretty funny exchange as the two repeatedly punch Killer Moth in the face, tossing him back and forth.
This is particularly funny as the two are very identical in nature (billionaire playboys returning home to save their city and protect loved ones...and inherit family company), and that they will, eventually, become allies. Though they don't exchange blows, they seem to be figuratively doing so through hitting Killer Moth.
When I said I wished for a bigger villain for them to toss around, this was what I was talking about. But I guess that if it's a little villain it's almost as if they're just toying with him while they talk, almost as if he were a pet to them. Still, it's the page of the book, by far.
On the ensuing page, Batman picks up Killer Moth and leaves the issue to go to other crossovers and then do his own thing. Yay Batman!
Moira puts two and two together, like any mother would, and figures out that it's Oliver under the mask. I guess that voice changer really does come in handy, as well as the mask. When she asks what happened to Oliver on the island, we get our first little glimpse into what we'll be seeing through flashbacks in "Outsider's War" as Oliver gets kicked off a ledge by an unknown figure and you must read "Outsider's War!"
Anyway, a year later in Seattle, Diggle is calmly reading the papers while he also explains to reader that Zero Year was the beginning of all the capes and costumes, and that's when fate crashed through the window, as Oliver begs him for help as he's bleeding out. We get yet another continuity boost as Oliver explains that he was tailing some of Billy Tockman's men. Bill Tockman, the Clock King, is a major player in Diggle's life in the later issues, as we find out.
Oliver tells Diggle that he needs help defending the city, that the two of them, despite having no powers like Superman or Green Lantern, can change the city, can fight the war against villainy, since that's what they live for now, they live for justice. And heroism and stuff. And hey, fun fact, Diggle's history in the New 52 is pretty much the same as it is on Arrow.
And so, Team Arrow is formed, with Diggle and Green Arrow as the beginning two!
Best friends forever!
And so, as we learn, for a year the two battle against the evil of Seattle until that fateful day that Oliver brought in a young man named Roy Harper to complete the first draft of Team Arrow. And thus our comic ends with Diggle saying that the arrival of Roy was the beginning of the end for them...and a little note telling us that in the current time, Diggle is going to hatch a plan to save Seattle during the events of "Outsider's War." Bum-bum-buh!
This issue was a ton of fun to read. It served as a good break between all of the fast-paced action that Lemire and Sorrentino were giving us while also reminding us that coming up we were going to be getting even more of that, as well as learning more on what the heck happened to Oliver to make him the Green Arrow. It had the same great writing and the same great art that the team had been bringing thus far and didn't feel out of place for a second.
Plus, Green Arrow-Batman banter, who doesn't love that?
So, we've seen the origins of one super-hero, but how about a team? Next week, we take a look at X-Men: First Class #1, a comic that came with toys!
Images via Google Images.
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