So here we are with the good ol' Green Arrow again, but this time, there is a solid reason for it! The CW's Arrow premieres it's third season tonight, so reviewing a Green Arrow comic was a must. But which one?
Well, lucky for us, the stars aligned and the Blood Moon came out early this morning to give us purpose! As you may or probably don't know, Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino have concluded their run on Green Arrow and have left the door wide open for another creative team to step in. Well, who could it be?
Well, it's none other than the writers for Arrow! That's right, the same people who are writing the show are now writing the comic. And judging how good the show is, the comic promises to be just as good, if not possibly better since they have far more characters to play with. And, they can also brings characters from the show onto the already impressive roster of the comic.
One such character is fan-favorite Felicity Smoak, who does indeed make her New 52 debut in this comic. Though, not in the way that she did on the show...or that fans were probably expecting. Hey, at least she looks like Felicity.
So, with Arrow returning tonight and the Green Arrow book getting a fresh start with it's thirty-fifth issue--which is a shout out to fans: if you're interested in the comic, now is a perfect time to jump aboard--let's take a look at what's going on now that Oliver is no longer dealing with Outsiders and Dragons and bowman that are somewhat superior to him (KOMODO!!!...R.I.P. bro).
I really, really like this cover. While the covers of the Lemire run will always have a special place in my heart for how cool and innovative they were, this cover seems to do nothing, which makes it special. You've got the title, the price, the logo, the credits, all of it is in a pretty standard format. I do really enjoy the artwork, though, as it tells the reader straight up that it is departing from the Sorrentino art and is going for a more crisp and realistic feeling rather than a beautiful mesh of various colors that make you go, "That's so cool!"
Also, it puts Green Arrow front and center where he should be. You are instantly drawn to him, as the green of his suit stands out against the blue backdrop of Seattle. Though the red target mark does attract attention more, the dominant color of the cover is green, and a very cool shade of green. to ao along with that, we get Lex Luthor on the right in his green suit! Yeah, Batman and Luthor are featured on the cover, but as we find out, they don't technically make an appearance like the cover would lead us to believe. Since they're both in their suits, one would figure that they'd be fitting along the old Arrow. Also, the cover features Diggle, but also features Felicity big time in the bottom right, indicating a much larger role for her, as well as to put emphasis that she is finally in the comic.
Of course the opening line is "My name is Oliver Queen." Of course, because that's how it is in the show. How else could you start the comic?
Though, to be fair, I think the writers did that just so they could, and I don't foresee them doing that often throughout their run, otherwise it'll just be silly. From the first two pages, though, we can easily see that the new artwork is in play immediately, going for a much more crisp and realistic like I mentioned earlier. Not to knock Sorrentino's work, but everything seems a lot more detailed to me this time around, from just the wrinkles on clothing to the feathers of Oliver's arrows. Also, in what seems like every page the Green Arrow is featured, he is front and center.
Green is the dominant color of the comic, with the green of his suit standing out in almost every scene he is in. You are drawn in instantly to the main hero.
I do like, though, that they kept true to the look of the New 52 Green Arrow and didn't give him the gritty styled look of the show. While they are similar looking, the Green Arrow of the comic seems to have more armor on him, specifically on his chest and legs. However, I will give them points for integrating elements of the great action the show has into the comic, showcasing Oliver leaping down using wire from a shot arrow, using the bow as his way down.
Alright, enough about the show, time to talk continuity. For the past, well, basically 17 issues we've seen an Oliver who is shaken in his ways. He's confronted his past, fought a war, and had to accept his life as it is. He was, essentially, broken until the final battle against Richard Dragon.
This comic does an excellent job of showing Oliver back in full stride. He is confident in everything he does and you get a feel that he is in his natural element once again, as he was before he confronted Komodo and the Outsiders. His movements are precise and he just seems fluid. He's still a little arrogant but his arrogance has grown into confidence. At least, on the battlefield that is.
Daddy Diggle takes Oliver to the hospital after Oliver is grazed by a bullet and we find out that Dr. Cross knows about Oliver's secret and has been the one healing him up all this time. Also from Diggle we learn that Emiko is out training, Naomi is taking time off and Fyff split so Diggle's all that is left for now. Dr. Cross advises Oliver to get a suit change but also tells him about how some punks have been stealing from him and his medical supplies and that the Mayor is basically just sitting around eating doughnuts. Oliver gets a call from a mad girlfriend and has to split.
Zehra, the woman who also works at Queen Industries, tells him that some very important people behind the door. And there are! Lexy and old Bats are waiting beyond the door...out of costume.
Yeah, they don't ever put on their uniforms and throughout their little chat is implied that Oliver knows nothing of Bruce as Batman and Bruce knows nothing of Mr. Queen's late night shenanigans. The weird thing is that faded behind them are images of Lex in his suit and Bruce in the Bat-suit, as if implying the reader wouldn't know who they are. Well, that's kinda lame.
Oh, and the points I knock off the artwork here are for some of the silly faces they give Lex and Bruce throughout the conversation. It's silly and takes away from the serious mood.
Anyway, the two are there to help dig Queen Industries out of the dirt that it was left in since Oliver kind of split to go to Prague, seeking to make a triad of super industries, between Waynetech, Lexcorp, and Queen Industries. Obviously, Oliver thinks this is sketchy coming from the once world-renowned super-villain who claims to be a super hero, and I also don't buy Luthor as a full-fledged member of the league. He's like Starscream, he's always your worst nightmare even when he joins the Autobots. Can't trust the dude.
Oliver stands up for his failing company in the face of the two men and Luthor gets pissy and leaves. Yeah, leave you punk. Bruce also storms out, as for some reason he doesn't understand what Oliver is trying to do with his city and also doesn't get his mistrust with Lex.
The whole situation plays out weird because you know the whole time that Bruce should be siding with Oliver but instead he's clinging to Lex like he would Clark Kent. Not only is it weird because that's how it's supposed to be now but it's also written weird. Bruce comes off as more of a jerk than Oliver does, telling Zehra that if she wants to work for a "real" company to join Waynetech.
On the following page the mood is significantly darkened as a certain Mr. King holds a prisoner upside and slowly cuts at her skin, saying they will wait for her to run out of all her blood while she dies slowly. In a twist, though, he says he isn't looking for Green Arrow, but rather for Mia Dearden, who has yet to make an appearance in the New 52 and has shown no relevance to the story so far. Interesting, very interesting indeed.
Oliver goes out to dinner with Zehra as she tries to tell him to renegotiate with Lex and Bruce but Diggle texts him that the cat is fiddling (your guess is as good as mine) and Oliver splits to the scene. Apparently some hacker managed to dig out tons of cash into a memorial service, and Oliver preemptively goes in without Daddy Diggle's permission.
Now, you may be wondering, where's Felicity been this whole time? Wel...
Found her! Yeah, not the entrance I was expecting either. Ironically in the show she was hired to save Oliver, and now, she has to kill him! This also reveals she is working for Mr. King, and is thus also probably looking for Mia Dearden as well. Still, it was a great twist and a pretty cool way to throw Felicity into the mix as as hacker-assassin. Hopefully she'll have butt-kicking skills to go with it.
This comic is great and while it doesn't coincide much with the show it introduces several new elements to the comic and brings a redo to the artwork that is much appreciated. It's great set-up for what's to come and has pretty cool cameos that I'm sure will come around again, though hopefully this time without Lex so that Bruce and Oliver can talk hero-to-hero and stuff.
If you're looking to jump aboard a comic series, this is definitely one I would hop on. And also watch Arrow, it's kind of the best show on television right now.
As I mentioned earlier, next week we'll take a look at AXIS #1, Marvel's newest event comic which pits the Avengers and X-Men against Red Skull and his army of super-villains that haven't done anything in a long time in the Marvel Universe. Sounds cool.
If you want to stay up to date on when I do post, or just want random tweets or pictures from me, follow me on Twitter @seanovan13 and Instagram @seanovan10. Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment