Friday, December 23, 2016

Green Arrow #13 - A Review

Let us start this review by appreciating the irony of Black Canary telling someone that yelling at people is no way to convince them you're a hero.


Thank you.

Emerald Outlaw continues with an unseen enemy killing Green Arrow's harshest critics and framing Seattle's favorite hero for the crimes. Things heat up further as a new gang called The Vice Squad - which is made up of least one corrupt cop - begin playing judge, jury and executioner in the streets of Seattle.


As I've noted before, no writer has ever truly explored the idea of Green Arrow as an honest outlaw. J.T. Krul's brief run during the Brightest Day story-line played with the concept a bit but it lacked an honest punch as Oliver Queen still had his fortune and most of his superhero friends to fall back on in a tight spot.

In the reality of Rebirth, however, the concept has weight. Here, Green Arrow is barely acknowledged by the established superhero community and can't call up Batman to get brave and bold. In this Benjamin Percy has truly turned Oliver Queen into a modern-day Robin Hood.

Forget the tree-house in the woods and his band of Merry Men! Green Arrow is as dependent on his lady fair as Robin was and he puts just as much store in disguises. This adds a mythic element of fun to the proceedings, though one wonders how a world-famous rock-star like Black Canary can possibly go undercover as a cop! Then again, it's not like most men look at her face.


While both of the artists working upon this bi-monthly series are talented, I must confess a preference for the work of Otto Schmidt. There is a gritty wildness to Schmidt's style that seems a perfect fit for the world of Green Arrow and Percy's scripts. It proves equally well-suited to depicting the shadowy urban jungle of Seattle and the deep forests around Mount Rainier.

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