Injustice 2 #3 - A Review

When Harley Quinn was captured by Amanda Waller to be part of the new Suicide Squad, she expected Batman to come to the rescue right away. She did not, however, expect him to show up guns-a-blazing and ready to kill. Who is this strange new Batman? And where is the real Batman?


I feel safe giving away the "stunning twist" of last week's issue for three reasons - a gun-totting Batman is on the cover of this issue, the synopsis on Comixology spoils the same point, and, c'mon, we all knew that wasn't really Bruce Wayne! I refuse to say anything more about the story, save that Tom Taylor has retained his capacity for dark humor and keeping readers guessing.

Taylor remains well-matched with a top-notch art team. Bruno Redondo is at the peak of his powers, creating interesting and eye-catching designs for some villains we haven't seen before. Juan Albarran provides just the right amount of shade to every scene and Rex Lokus varies the color palettes in a way that is literally stunning.

Final Analysis: 10/10.

Injustice 2 #2 - A Review

Pretty much everything I need to say about Injustice 2 can be summed up by this page.

Truly, he is the son of Oliver Queen!

In truth, I do need to say a bit more, despite that one page displaying the art team's amazing ability to match the anarchic spirit of Tom Taylor's writing while still holding true to the dramatic conventions demanded of a mainstream superhero comic. We also see Taylor's own gift for comedic timing, as Bruno Redondo's pencils, Juan Albarran's inks and Rex Lokus' colors work together in perfect unison to craft one amazing looking comic.

The action from last issue continues, with Harley Quinn in the custody of Amanda Waller and the apparent latest incarnation of The Suicide Squad. Harley has zero damns to give, however, so confident is she in an immediate rescue at Batman's hands. Meanwhile, Dr. Fate returns to the parallel Earth where he left a mostly-dead Black Canary, along with her newborn son, to give them a happy ending of sorts with an Oliver Queen who had lost his Dinah Lance at some point in the past. Hilarity ensues.

More about the story I cannot say.  Suffice it to say that if you enjoyed the previous Injustice comic series, you will enjoy this one as well.  It has the same great artwork and a story that will continually surprise you, one way or another.

The Flash #18 - A Review

Wally West had a hard enough time coping with the idea that his Uncle Daniel was a crook or that he had become new Reverse Flash. The revelation that Daniel West was his biological father was even worse. Still, the young man needs closure and The Flash (who Wally doesn't know is really his Aunt Iris' friend Barry Allen), means to help his sidekick get it... even if means breaking into Belle Reeve prison!


The Flash #18 brings a new art-team to the book and they're a definitive improvement over the erratic artwork in the previous issue. Former Superman penciler Jesus Merino sports a cinematographic style where each panel boasts an amazing amount of detail as the viewpoint continually shifts from one angle to another. Inker Andy Owens enhances the pencils without over-shading them. This, coupled with Chris Sotomayor's colors, leaves the finished art popping on the page.

I'm afraid I have nothing new to say about Joshua Williamson's writing on this series. It's as fantastic as ever and his love and knowledge of these characters and their personalities is crystal clear. Williamson also does a fantastic job of recapping the backstory for new readers without getting mired in continuity. One last note: those Captain Boomerang fans disappointed by Digger Harkness' absence from the recent Rogues reunion should know he shows up near the end of this issue.

Suicide Squad - A Spoiler Free Review and Some Spoiler-Filled Discussion

Is Suicide Squad a good movie?  Yes.

Is it a perfect movie? No.

Is it an abomination that will surely end the era of the superhero movie and/or DC Comics Cinematic Universe? To the dismay of many a snooty critic and Marvel Zombie... if I may quote Will Smith, "Oh HELL no!"

The best way I can describe the movie, for those who have read the Suicide Squad comics by John Ostrander and Kim Yale that largely inspired the movie, is to compare it to The Ataris' cover of Don Henley's Boys Of Summer. They may have changed the orchestration and the lyrics a little but the spirit and message are exactly the same. 

The performances are all good. Some changes have been made that many annoy certain purists but the choices generally work to improve the story flow. It is worth noting that Viola Davis captures Amanda Waller perfectly. And however you may feel about her costuming, Margot Robbie IS Harley Quinn in all her paradoxical glory.

So yes - I'd recommend it. And be sure to stick around for the scene mid-way through the credits.

More in-depth discussion under the image. Abandon this web page lest ye be SPOILERED!

WHAT WENT WRONG?

Let's just get this out of the way, shall we?

* Rick Flag Jr. is mishandled. The character's defining characteristic in the comics has always been that he's been a good soldier who tries to live up to his dad's legacy.  Apparently that was too complicated for a flashback, so instead we find out that Amanda Waller manipulated events so that Rick would fall for June Moon and that she used his love for her to manipulate him into being the field commander for Task Force X, despite his objections to employing criminals for military missions.

* For that matter, the romance between June and Rick isn't developed very well.  I suspect that they may get the least screen time out of all of The Squad members, which is unfortunate since the main plot of the movie is focused on Enchantress.

* Katana's presence is kind of pointless and she doesn't get nearly enough to do.

* Captain Boomerang is criminally underused. And I want to see what his perfect world would look like.  (Maybe that was one of the cuts made to get the movie down to PG-13?)  Ditto Killer Croc.

* The unicorn doll. I don't know if this was added in because of Deadpool or was shot before it came out. Either way, that little gag probably should have been cut.

* The Juggalo fashion designs for Joker and Harley just look ridiculous. And not in a funny ha-ha ridiculous way.

* The soundtrack goes a little overboard in trying to provide appropriate themes. I'm honestly we surprised we didn't get Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic for Enchantress or Down Under for Boomerang.

* Enchantress' dancing while working her spells just looks goofy as all hell.

* A lot of the action-scenes are shot way too close and are way too dark. Maybe it was just the settings in my theater, but I could barely see some parts of the final fight.


Now, with that out of the way... let's look at some of the bits I think we were most worried about.



THE JOKER/HARLEY RELATIONSHIP

I've seen some critics complain that this is ambiguous but honestly, I think that's the way to go with it. Batman: The Animated Series dithered on this point as well up until Mad Love and there''s enough textual and metatextual evidence to make a case that The Joker (or at least one of his personalities) does harbor some genuine affection for Harley AND that The Joker (or one of his personalities) just sees her as one more prop to be used in his performances.

In one flashback, The Joker offers Harley to one of his business associates and Harley plays along with it. Joker winds up offing the guy but it's unclear if it's because he's insulted the man refused his gift or that said associate was even willing to entertain making time with Joker's gal for a moment. Is it romance or possessiveness? Can't it be both?  Or was it because it was Tuesday?

And then we have Joker's line to Harley right before she freely dives into the chemical vat. The one which sounds like a lost line from 50 Shades of Grey - "Desire leads to submission. Submission leads to power." Of course in a consensual BDSM relationship, the submissive does have all the power, but how much control did Harleen Quinzel have over her transformation into Harley Quinn?  Again, it could go either way.

To that end, Margot Robbie is a perfect Harley Quinn. She is both the bad-ass moll and the romantic who dreams of settling down somewhere that's green with The Joker as needed. Which is as it should be. They may seem contradictory to some critics but Harley's whole character is contradictory. That's part of her charm!



THE FRESH PRINCE OF GOTHAM

They did change Floyd Lawton a little bit for the sake of having Will Smith play him but the changes are largely cosmetic. Lawton's famed death wish is present (we see him insulting the guards in Belle Reve and spoiling for a fight when his cell doors are open) as is his snarky attitude. And while it's somewhat rushed, there's even a hint of the odd frienemy relationship that developed between Rick Flag and Deadshot in the original comics. For that, I can tolerate Will Smith calling The Wall "gangsta" after she shoots several of her own men.

We don't learn much of Lawton's history here, but it seems to take more from the New 52 origins where Lawton was the product of a poor family rather than a rich scion and a dark mirror of Bruce Wayne. There's also a fair bit of the character as written by Christos N. Gage in the 2005 Deadshot mini-series, where it was revealed Deadshot had an illegitimate daughter and he made an honest effort to try and clean up her neighborhood and take care of her despite his realization that he had no idea how to be a good guy OR a father.

The desire to do right by his daughter is this Deadshot's main motivation and we see some of that awkwardness in Smith's portrayal. There's a sense that he knows he's a bad man and that won't stop him from at least trying to be the dad his daughter needs.  Even if this does lead to him making a geometry lesson more complicated by trying to factor bullet weights into calculating the hypotenuse of a triangle.



FINAL THOUGHTS ON WHAT WENT RIGHT

* Despite certain members of the cast being criminally underused, there isn't really a bad performance in the whole movie.

* Viola Davis is PERFECT as The Wall.

* The scenes of the characters talking to each other are great. The movie needed more moments like that and less action scenes of the team fighting Lovecraftian beasties.

* The Flash cameo was pretty much perfect.

* As much as I hate The Joker's blinged-out teeth, I genuinely liked Jared Leto's performance as The Joker. Oddly enough, he reminded me of the Caesar Romero portrayal of The Joker, with the nightclub scene seeming like a modern update of the old Batman episodes where you would see the villains openly going out in costume to enjoy a night on the town.

* Jay Hernandez pretty much steals the movie as El Diablo.

* Overdone as they were, a lot of the music-video sequences are pretty good.

* Loved the shout outs to John Ostrander. Both of them.

* The mid-credits sequence. Perfect.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 11 - A.W.O.L.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

John will need to learn to trust his brother Andy once again, when an enemy from their past - a soldier they both served with, turned agent of the criminal organization Shadowspire - arrives in Star City. Meanwhile, Oliver and Felicity begin to rebuild their life together in the wake of Felicity's paralysis. But Felicity suffers a crisis of faith in her abilities, made manifest as medication-fueled hallucinations of her black-hat hacker past self.


Influences

John Ostrander's Suicide Squad (the covert feeling of the story, dealing with clandestine government organizations and the presence of Amanda Waller), Chuck Dixon and Gail Simone's Birds of Prey (the issues Felicity is going through mirror those Barbara Gordon coped with regarding her paralysis, the code name Oracle is name dropped by Oliver) and the Deathstroke & Damage comics of Tom Joyner (The Shadowspire organization).


Goofs

It seems like removing the retinal patterns of a dead agent from your locks would be Priority One in an organization like ARGUS, with a leader as paranoid as Amanda Waller. This should be doubly true when they know that said agent's body had an eye missing when his body was found!


Performances

As usual, when given the center stage for an episode, David Ramsey proves himself more than capable of holding the show.

Scenes of a medicated character talking to their past self are a common cliche, but Emily Bett Rickards' twin performances here make the material work in spite of itself.


Artistry

The combat sequences during the Afghanistan flashbacks are effectively shot.

The special effects allowing the two Felicities to interact are of cinematic quality.


Trivia

Shadowspire is a criminal organization in the DC Comics Universe.  They first appeared in Deathstroke #53 and were created by writer Dr. Tom Joyner and artist Mike Collins. Shadowspire worked with South American drug cartels, providing them with weapons, transportation, intelligence and technology as well as trained agents with advanced armor and metahuman powers. Their technology was advanced enough that they were able to develop unique weaponized viruses.

The DCTVU version of Shadowspire is a similar criminal syndicate who like to recruit members from active military organizations. This leads ARGUS to the faulty conclusion that Shadowspire is merely a US Army Special Forces team that had turned to war profiteering.

The symbol/logo for Shadowspire used on the show - a red diamond with a smaller black diamond in the bottom corner with a red triangle within the black diamond - is taken directly from the comics.

Lieutenant Joyner - the soldier who recruits Andy Diggle into Shadowspire in the flashbacks and leads the attacks on ARGUS in the present -   is named in honor of writer Dr. Tom Joyner.

Shadowspire's leader in the comics was Baron Reiter, whom the main villain of the flashbacks on Lian Yu this year is loosely based upon.

When Oliver gives Felicity the code name Overwatch, he says he had considered the name Oracle but it was taken. This is, of course, a reference to the code name of the original paralyzed master hacker - Barbara Gordon. Whether this is meant to be an indicator that Barbara Gordon exists as Oracle in the Arrowverse or if this was just a fourth-wall breaking gag regarding how notoriously protective DC Comics is regarding Bat-family characters being used in other franchise or the accusations of Green Arrow continually ripping-off Batman is up foe debate.

Felicity's new code name - Overwatch - is also the name of an upcoming superhero game.  On the Earth 2 of the New 52 universe, Overwatch-One was the name of the personal spaceship of Terry Sloan. However, it is most likely it is a reference to the name of a novel by Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim.

Another 52 reference - both Diggle brothers were part of the 52nd Regiment and 5th Battalion of the US Army.

In the final flashback scene, Baron Reiter appears and is identified by Lieutenaut Joyner as "the boss". It is unclear, however, if he is the ultimately leader of Shadowspire or just the leader of that particular unit.


Technobabble

The body of Alan Chang - the ARGUS agent who tried to make contact with John and Lyla - is found with one eye missing. John determines the body suffered multiple lacerations to the knees, a broken arm and had three fingernails removed. This suggests that not only was Chang tortured and question but that his eye was taken to get past the retinal scanners required to enter ARGUS HQ.

Felicity is on a painkiller called Ketorolac. She says that the side-effects include swelling of the hands and feet, increased appetite, risk of infection and hallucinations.

In the real world, Ketorolac is the generic version of a drug called Toradol which is frequently used as a pain killer following surgery and does indeed include hallucinations among its many potential symptoms.

The security system at Shadowspire's base at Star City's docks includes motion sensors, laser trip wires and digital locks.

ARGUS believes Shadowspire were plotting to steal a shipment of confiscated rail guns. Rail guns are special guns that fire electromagnetic projectiles. Just one is capable of destroying a building.

The security monitors in ARGUS cell block work like TV sets, receiving broadcasts on the 700 mHz band. Diggle is able to switch the chip-set to transmitting mode, allowing him to send an image of the hostage situation in ARGUS to the Arrow Cave.



Dialogue Triumphs

Andy: How do you end up working out of a basement - or wherever we are - and fighting crime with a guy who wears a green hoodie?
John:  Well, he's a good man. And we're not fighting crime, Andy. We're taking a city that is holding itself together and we are helping.

John: How the hell could I not see this?! You were with me the entire time!
Andy: Because you saw what you wanted to see!  Look, you wanted to believe that The Army had straightened me out. Look, I'm your brother but I'm not built like you! I didn't take to the military like you did! You saw the world as something to be fixed! I only saw it as broken. So I made sure I had enough to survive in it.
John: So you pretended to be a completely different person around your brother?
Andy: It spared me the look that's on your face right now.

Goth Felicity: People wear masks for a reason. To hide who they are. Just like you have been doing for the past five years. First you decided to sign up for being the world's most over-qualified I.T. girl. And then you decide to try being a hero. And look what it got you? A ring-side seat to the rest of your life.

Waller: It's nice to have you back, Agent Michaels. Feels like old times.
Lyla: What feels like old times is you keeping secrets that get good people killed. Did it ever occur to you that Alan and the other two agents might still be alive if you hadn't tried to keep your anti-Shadowspire operations off the books?
Waller: Of course it has. But the ugly side of our business is that sometimes security has to be paid for in blood.
Lyla: Thank you. I was wondering why I'd left.

Felicity: I was at home, feeling more self-pity than I have in my entire life when it hit me. This is who I am. I wanted to come along on your awesome superhero adventure because I wanted to help people. And the old me was so angry at the world. But that anger never accomplished anything. It just created more anger. And some seriously bad personal style choices. I wanted to do some good in the world.
(Oliver just stares at her and she nudges him with her chair)
Felicity: That was a good speech. I thought you'd be a little more impressed!
Oliver: It was a good speech, but -
Felicity:  - but, how did it go again? "If I know you, and I do, you're probably thinking what happened was your fault." I'm here to tell you that it's not. And that it's not mine either. It's the fault of only one man and he has an extremely on-the-nose and alliterative name. And we're going to stop him. Not out of guilt or vengeance or regret. We are going to stop him because it's what we do. That's who we are.
Oliver: THAT was a good speech.


Dialogue Disasters

Green Arrow: Overwatch? We're on site.
Felicity: Excuse me?
Green Arrow: Well, I thought that it was time you got a code name. What do you think?
Felicity: It's perfect.
Green Arrow: Was gonna go with Oracle, but it's taken.


Continuity

Shadowspire's standard tactics are based around misdirection. They will attack targets in order to draw attention away from their true goals. The organization even masquerades as an elite military unit, hiding its true nature as an organized criminal organization.

Shadowspire's goal is the access codes to something called Rubicon.

Oliver refers to the events of 408 and Barry's traveling back in time to save them all.

Felicity's hallucination refers to the events of the flashbacks of 305 and her old boyfriend faking his death.

Amanda Waller is killed by Lt. Joyner.

Curtis Holt appoints himself as Felicity's personal driver.

Felicity officially takes on the code name Overwatch.

John and Andy Diggle were part of the 52nd Regiment and 5th Battalion of the US Army.

Felicity refers to Amanda Waller nearly destroying Star City with a drone strike during the events of 223.

Andy Diggle helps to steal confiscated heroin for Shadowspire. He is paid a generous bonus and meets "the boss" a.k.a. Baron Reiter, who tells Diggle that he traded the heroin for a map of Lian Yu.

At the episode's end, Andy Diggle moves in with Lyla and John and is introduced to his niece Sara for the first time.


Location

The flashbacks focused on John and Andy Diggle are set in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in the year 2005.


The Fridge Factor

Amanda Waller is rather unceremoniously killed by Lt. Joyner. I suspect the reasons for this involve orders from Warner Brothers to eliminate the last vestige of Suicide Squad related material from the series, so there is no branding confusion when the Suicide Squad movie comes out this summer. While I can't say I'm going to miss the Arrow version of Waller, it still seems like The Wall should have gotten a bigger send-off than being shot in the head by the villain-of-the-week.


The Bottom Line

A sedately-paced episode sold through the sheer quality of the core casts's performances. It is nice to see Felicity and John getting to share the spotlight for most of the episode after being so largely ignored during Season Three. And the separate subplots are starting to tie together nicely, with the revelation of Oliver's nemesis in the past having a connection to their current troubles as well as Andy Diggle's dark past.  Had they played Felicity's receiving a code name straight and not fridged Amanda Waller so callously (though I suspect the show runners had little choice on that front), it might have been perfect.

Black Canary #4 - A Review

With all the people chasing after Dinah Drake's band-mate Ditto, it seems ironic that she should finally be kidnapped by Maeve - the former lead-singer for Dinah's band before they became Black Canary. But Maeve has motives beyond simple jealousy!  She's cut a deal with another figure from Dinah's past to trade Ditto for a chance to be special. But as Dinah hits the road to save Ditto, little does she realize that she has an unseen ally.


The script for this issue of Black Canary is somewhat lackluster, as Dinah doesn't really do anything apart from a brief scene where she stops a carjacking while searching for a lead on Ditto. Most of the issue is focused on Maeve and much as Maeve is nowhere near as interesting as she thinks she is, so too is her subplot dull as dishwater. And the idea of turning Maeve into a super-villain with the same powers as Dinah - as the end of the issue suggests - reeks of the worst kind of hackery. The white-clad ninja woman who saves Ditto from Amanda Waller is far more interesting and one wonders if we're about to learn about Dinah's younger sister the assassin in coming issues.


Pia Guerra proves a capable substitute for regular artist Annie Wu. Guerra's work on Y: The Last Man was amazing and she's in equally fine form here. Colorist Lee Loughridge also does a stellar job.

The Flash: Season Zero #18 - A Review

The good news is that Barry Allen has stopped the so-called King Shark from killing again. The bad news is that, in the process, he allowed a terrorist to escape from The Suicide Squad. The worst news is that they all have just ten minutes to stop a bomb from going off... and Deadshot just pumped Barry full of enough tranquilizer to make sure The Flash doesn't get in the way of The Squad and their target a second time...


The script for this issue is fairly good, with dialogue that sounds like it came right from the show. Cupid is appropriate flirty, Captain Boomerang makes a number of puns involving his favorite weapon. All well and good.

The actual story, however, suffers from a few logic gaps. The big one here is that Deadshot - a character not known for his compassion  - just happens to be carrying enough tranquilizer to take down a speedster in one shot. And then there's Amanda Waller's apparent stupidity in utilizing a blood-crazed monster as an agent on a mission requiring them to capture and question a suspect.


I've said before that I didn't think Phil Hester was the right artist for this series, but his talents prove well-utilized here. With the focus of this issue largely on The Suicide Squad, Hester's gritty style and talent for drawing monsters seems a good fit. And Eric Gapstur's inks perfectly enhance Hester's pencils.

The Flash: Season Zero #17 - A Review

Trapped in the bowels of ARGUS, Barry Allen has only minutes to save the unfortunate King Shark from killing again at the behest of Amanda Waller.  Naturally The Wall doesn't care about the toll the shark-man's endless hunger is taking on his mind - only that he's an asset that Task Force X can use. A little help from his friends may get Barry loose but can even he reach Coast City in time once he's free?


This latest issue is thrilling right up until the very last page where a whopping big plot hole reveals itself as we find out King Shark's target was a terrorist who needed to be questioned about an active bomb. Of course Amanda Waller wouldn't lose sleep over a dead terrorist. But the idea that The Wall would send an untested resource - to wit, a man-eating shark-man - out to capture a target who needed to be taken alive and hope that it could be kept under control long enough for an interrogation to occur is just plain idiotic!


Phil Hester is back in the artist's chair this time around and I can't say I've missed him too much. Some of the pages in this issue look rushed and sloppy. And I really do believe Eric Gapstur's style better fits the brighter aesthetic of The Flash universe.

The Flash: Season Zero #16 - A Review

Barry Allen is still determined to rescue the so-called King Shark from the clutches of The Suicide Squad. But even with Cisco and Caitlin backing him up and blueprints of ARGUS' headquarters and security systems, can The Flash accomplish this impossible mission? Not if Amanda Waller has anything to say about it. And armed with some newly built drones designed specifically for bringing down The Fastest Man Alive, she may indeed have the last word.


This issue marks the first time Eric Gapstur has handled the art duties on this series himself and it proves a welcome change. I love Phil Hester's artwork but his blocky style seemed a little stiff for The Flash. Gapstur's style is more fluid and there's a greater sense of motion to the book as a result.


The script itself is as enjoyable as we've come to expect from this creative team. Cisco makes A-Team references nobody else gets but proves to be far more than simple comic relief as he takes charge in the field and comes up with the plans that keep Barry in once piece. And while I side with those who dislike the newer, slimmer Amanda Waller design, I cannot deny that John Ostrander's Wall is very much here in spirit, no matter her appearance.

The Flash: Season Zero #15 - A Review

King Shark has been captured by The Suicide Squad, though they nearly killed Joe West in the process. This sets Barry Allen to tracking down this dangerous new villain group and sends him to Starling City looking for answers. Answers Oliver Queen has but doesn't want to give away...


With all the secrets upon secrets and shared information that has been revealed on The Flash and Arrow, it never occurred to me until now that Barry knows nothing about ARGUS or The Suicide Squad.  As such, the central conceit of this issue - that the sudden reemergence of Captain Boomerang with a gang of other killers would send Barry running for answers - is a brilliant one that helps to tie the two series even closer together.  As one might expect, there's a high humor quotient to this issue as Barry intrudes on Ollie's 'Arrow' time and fails to notice that while he might casually hold a conversation in the costume, The Arrow does not do anything casually.


Phil Hester is on familiar ground with his artwork here, having been the artist on Green Arrow for a number of years.  Hester's work with The Flash hasn't been bad but I think he's a better fit for the aesthetic of Arrow, which offers more opportunities for the shadowy, dramatic scenes that Hester excels at.  It's a debatable point but what can't be debated is that this issue is as well illustrated as it is well written.

Arrow: Season 2.5 #6 - A Review

The main portion of Arrow: Season 2.5 #6 is high on action and short on plot.  The focus lies upon Ollie and John, fighting to escape the clutches of The Church Of Blood.  At the same time, The Church of Blood begin the process to convert one of their own into a Mirakuru-enhanced soldier.


The script by Marc Guggenheim and Keto Shimizu is up to their usual standard, up until the last page. It is then that we are hit with something that honestly surprised me and things go above and beyond the usual high standard. I won't say what but suffice it to say it will inspire talk regarding a number of fan theories about the story-line of Season Three.

Sadly, the Suicide Squad page this week is a little lackluster, serving no purpose other than to let us know that Amanda Waller is more concerned about punishing the wicked than saving the innocent.  This is not exactly a newsflash to any fan of the show or the comics who has been paying attention. It's unclear why this scene is necessary beyond showing Lyla Michaels' growing discomfort with her job.


Still, the artwork is as wonderful as ever.  Joe Bennet is a wonderful fight choreographer and the action scenes in the main portion of the comic are well laid out.  And Szymon Kudranski adds his usual shadowy aura to the Suicide Squad back-up.

Arrow: Season 2.5 #4 - A Review

Arrow: Season 2.5 #4 is primarily concerned with the back-story of the new Brother Blood and how one of Sebastian Blood's underlings came to acquire his boss' mask and formed a doomsday cult in Starling City. The writers do a good job of delivering this information without it seeming like an exposition dump.  Nevertheless, this issue does feel somewhat repetitive as much of it repeats scenes from the show verbatim before building on the established material.  Nice as it is to see the "Bitch With Wi-Fi" scene again, it would have been better to see more new material.


The artwork by Joe Bennett and Craig Yeung is largely excellent, save that it loses fine detail in the middle and far distances.  A larger problem is that Bennett draws nearly every page as if he were emulating a camera that was in the process of falling to one side when it took its shot. I can understand wanting to vary up perspective but there's a number of pages where one wonders if they need to tilt their head to view the artwork properly or if someone changed the alignment of their monitor.


Personally, I found the all-too-brief back-up story involving the Suicide Squad far more interesting, if only for the revelation that Barack Obama is the president in the DC Television universe.  That's not to say the plot - based on current events involving religious extremists in Africa - isn't gripping stuff.  It is and I wish this comic devoted more than a page every two weeks to it.  I'd also like to see more of the photo-realistic artwork of Szymon Kudranski, whose previous work on Green Lantern I enjoyed.

aaa

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 1 - The Calm

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Five months have passed since Oliver Queen saved his city from Deathstroke and things have only gotten better since that night. Crime is down across the board. The public at large love their city's superhero. Roy Harper is now a full partner in Ollie's nightly activities as The Arrow. John Diggle has a baby on the way with his ex-wife Lyla. And a newly promoted Captain Lance has disbanded the SCPD's Anti-Vigilante Task Force. Throw in the fact that Oliver and Laurel have come up with a plan to bring Queen Consolidated under Oliver's control and everything's coming up roses... until a new scientist/businessman comes to town with his own designs on Ollie's old company.

Still, things have calmed down to the point where Oliver feels that he can balance a relationship with the other aspects of his life. And that leads to him asking Felicity out on a date. But the past few months have just been the calm before the storm. A new Count Vertigo is in town and he has designs on bringing down The Arrow. And another tragic death will soon shake the lives of everyone in Team Arrow.


Influences

The New 52 Justice League of America (The Ollie Queen/Amanda Waller relationship) and the Mike Grell run on Green Arrow (the theme of Oliver Queen being his own worst enemy)


Goofs

Felicity seems to recover quickly from her injuries after the restaurant explosion given how much blood she seemed to have lost. (She had a scalp wound, which always look worse than they truly are)


Performances

As always, the show's ensemble cast is so good that it is difficult to single any one actor out for the quality of their performance.  But it must be noted that I think Stephen Amell smiles more in the first half hour of this episode than he did in all 46 hours of the first two seasons of Arrow.  That as much as anything else shows how much Oliver Queen has changed in five months.

Brandon Routh does a marvelous job of establishing Ray Palmer's character.  In contrast to Grant Gustin's Barry Allen, who is more of a shy, awkward geek, Ray Palmer seems to be the other extreme - a brilliant man who doesn't know when to shut up.  Despite this, Routh manages to play Palmer with just enough charm that his admission of tracking Felicity down by hacking her phone's GPS doesn't come off as creepy.  The chemistry between Routh and Emily Bett Rickards is immediately apparent and promises to be fun to watch in coming episodes.


Artistry

It's been said that the theme for this season will be Identity and that certainly is the dominant theme of this episode's script.  Oliver's worries about having a life outside his role as The Arrow, John's discomfort with being pushed out of the role of a soldier now that he's becoming a father and Quentin struggling with not being a beat cop anymore take up much of the episode but these are far from the only examples. Roy seems to have thrown himself into the role of Oliver's partner and has shown visible improvement in his combat skills since the last time we saw him.  Felicity's discomfort throughout the episode seems to be born, in part, because her identity has become so tied up in serving Oliver's mission that being forced out of that role is painful.  And then there's the ending, which will apparently be kicking off Laurel's transformation into someone else.... or something else.

The fight between Ollie and himself is handled incredibly well and the editing does a lot to mask that The Hood 's back is to the camera whenever wee see Ollie's face.


Trivia

In the comics, Roy Harper adopted the identity of Red Arrow and wore a color-swapped version of Oliver Queen's classic Green Arrow costume.

The new Count Vertigo - Werner Zytle - shares a name with The New 52 version of Count Vertigo from the comics but that is all they have in common apart from apparently both being from Eastern Europe.  The new Count Vertigo on the show maintains the same MO as the first Arrow version of The Count, being a drug dealer who uses a heightened version of the Vertigo drug to cause his enemies to visualize their worst fears.

In the comics, Ray Palmer is the secret identity of the size-shifting superhero The Atom.  While Ray Palmer in the comics was an academic with little interest in business, the basic personality of a talkative, wise-cracking geek presented here is true to the original character.

Ollie orders a Scotch-neat while he's at dinner with Felicity.  This was his preferred drink in the comics, as well.

The tune Count Vertigo whistles while launching a rocket and wiring a bomb is In The Hall Of The Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.  This may, in itself, be a reference to the 1931 film M, which involved a gang of criminals working to stop a killer after the police turn a blind eye to the activities of said killer since it gives them an excuse to go after lesser criminals with greater force, not unlike what the SCPD seems to be doing in regard to The Arrow.

The joke Ray Palmer makes about validating his parking when he rode in a helicopter is similar to an exchange between Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne in Green Arrow #35 - the first Green Arrow comic written by Arrow Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg and Producer Ben Sokolowski.  This comic came out one week before this episode originally aired.

The idea that Oliver Queen is his own worst enemy was a recurring theme in the Green Arrow books written by Mike Grell.

Ray Palmer's proposal is named Star City - a reference to the original name of Oliver Queen's home town in the comics.

According to the jackets worn by one of the ring teams at the boxing match, one of the fighters is Ted "The Wildcat" Grant.  In the comics, Wildcat was a boxer turned superhero who had a hand in training Dinah Lance to become The Black Canary.

There is a Ferris Air banner visible at ringside.  Ferris Air is the employer of Hal Jordan aka The Green Lantern in the comics.

The agent in Amanda Waller's employ who informs Oliver that his family will be killed if Oliver successfully escapes is named Masseo Yamashiro.  His wife, Tatsu, is well known to comic fans as the super heroine Katana.


Technobabble

Oliver has a new toy - a collapsible bow that expands outward from the grip.

We see Oliver make use of an explosive arrow, a zip-line arrow and an arrow that creates a trip wire.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: Last girlfriend? She's in the League of Assassins. My girlfriend before that? She shot my girlfriend before that. It's - I'm not exactly a catch at the moment
John: Maybe Felicity will change it  all around?
Oliver: It's not the right time.
John: Things are as good now as they're they ever will be, Oliver.  I mean, you love her.  You even told her so.
Oliver: I was trying to fool Slade.
John: Yes.  Except now the only person you're fooling is yourself.

(In the office of Lyla's OB-GYN)
Lyla: I feel like an M1A1.
(Her Doctor looks confused)
John: It's a tank!  Think a big, big tank!

Oliver: The entire time that I was gone I could never... completely trust someone. And when that goes on for so long you stop ...seeing people for people. You see.. threats. Or targets. And when I decided to come home, I... I just didn't know how to turn that part of me off. Then I walked into your office. You were the first person I could see as a... person.  There was just something about you.
Felicity: I was chewing on a pen.
Oliver: It was red.

Ollie: People need to realize I don't speak Chinese.
Tatsu: Japanese.
Ollie: You speak English!
Tatsu: Better than you speak Chinese.

Ray: Science. Numbers. I like numbers. These numbers show QC's performance under Mister Queen's management. I'm using that term extremely loosely, BTW....

John: Oliver, I gave the last three years of my life to your crusade,  Now, I don't know what that's supposed to earn me but it earns me at least the right to make my own choices.
Oliver: No, it doesn't.
John: Dammit, Oliver you would be dead ten-times-over if it wasn't for me!
Oliver: You're right. But this is my crusade. Which makes this my decision.

And the whole exchange between Felicity and Ray in the hospital.  But especially...

Ray: Seems somebody hacked my cel phone. And my laptop. And my desktop.
Felicity: (sarcastically) Gee.  That's too bad.
Ray: All my data's been replaced by audio files of porcupine flatulence. So I was hoping that maybe whoever did it might be willing to undo it if I apologized for misleading them in any way.
Felicity: That would probably work. Oh! Unless you, of course, you did all that to steal that person's friend's company, in which case, I would suggest getting used to the sound of spiky rodents farting!

Masseo: One man cannot live by two names.
Oliver: What does that mean?
Masseo: In your case, I believe it means not having any choice.

Continuity

The show's opening "Previously on Arrow" montage shows Roy being recruited into Team Arrow and being given a mask, Sara Lance rejoining the League of Assassins, Quentin Lance having collapsing, Moira Queen's death, Oliver's fake-out of Slade where he claimed Felicity was the woman he loved instead of Laurel and Oliver telling John Diggle that he didn't spend all five of his years in exile on The Island.

Roy's archery has improved visibly since that last time we saw him use a bow in A223.  He now wears a costume like Ollie's, but in dark red rather than green.

Oliver is still living in the Arrow Cave.

Thea is apparently texting Oliver.  Little is made of this beyond it upsetting Roy, who announces his intent to go on patrol and clear his head.

Oliver makes John's daughter an arrowhead necklace.

Oliver makes reference to the events of A217 and The Huntress shooting Laurel.

Quentin Lance is promoted to Captain. As a result of his injuries in A223, he now walks with a cane.

Felicity is now working in sales/tech support at Tech Villa - a big box-style electronic shop that seems to be partly inspired by Best Buy.

Ray Palmer's company apparently makes smart watches and he's rich enough to own his own helicopter.

Oliver is able to overcome the effects of Vertigo through sheer force of will.

Felicity says "Mazel Tov" upon the birth of John's daughter - a reminder of Felicity's Jewish heritage, which was first revealed back in A209.

Oliver receives a phone call from Barry Allen, which sets up his appearance in The Flash pilot.

Sara Lance returns to Starling City for reasons she doesn't want her father to be made aware of.  She meets with Laurel on a rooftop before being shot three times in the stomach with arrows by someone she recognized who was using a voice modulator and knew her secret identity.

According to Amanda Waller, Ollie tried to escape from custody nine times over five months. During the ninth attempt, he pick-pocketed a cellular phone and attempted to use a computer in an Internet cafe to e-mail his mother.

As of the third year of his exile, Oliver could not speak Chinese or Japanese.


Location

Hong Kong, where Oliver was apparently taken by Amanda Waller during the third year of his exile.


The Fridge Factor

Sara Lance is shot multiple times by an unseen archer.  The show creators have already confessed this is intended to drive much of the plot of the third season and to cause more grief for Oliver and Laurel, as the later is pushed to become the new Black Canary.


The Bottom Line

A powerful start for the third season and a wonderful episode... right up until the last minute, which will leave you wailing and gnashing your teeth.  Only my confidence in the creative team - and the fact that Lazarus Pits might exist in this reality - are keeping me from rage quitting this series in spite of everything else being so good.  It will take a hell of a lot for them to start turning Laurel Lance into any kind of character worth of the legacy of Black Canary but I am willing to give them that chance.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 16 - Suicide Squad

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

As Ollie prepares for the coming battle with Slade Wilson, Sara tries to back him up only to be pushed away.  Meanwhile, John Diggle is called away by Amanda Waller to assist with some ARGUS business.  An Afghan warlord who Diggle once saved is believed to have stolen a lethal chemical weapon and it's felt that Diggle may be their easiest connection to getting close to him.  Naturally Diggle is all too eager to help... until he is introduced to the rest of his team.

Enter Task Force X - a program that offers time-off to criminals in exchange for service in off-the-books operations.  Everyone on the team is a criminal The Arrow helped to bring down... including Diggle's own sworn enemy, Deadshot!  With the lives of millions at risk, can Diggle afford to hold on to his black and white morality in a world full of greys?


Influences

The 1980s Suicide Squad by John Ostrander, the 2001 Suicide Squad by Keith Giffen, Gail Simone's Secret Six and the 2005 Deadshot mini-series by Christos N. Gage.


Goofs

Why is a civilian like John Diggle allowed to walk into the cell-block housing Deadshot and the other Task Force X members?  Particularly after he told-off Amanda Waller and said he wasn't working for her anymore?


Performances

After spending the better part of Season Two on the sidelines, Diggle is finally given an episode in the spotlight and David Ramsey rises to the occasion.  Ramsey can steal a scene with one good line and the whole episode does a fine job of highlighting his talents.

This episode marks Michael Rowe's longest appearance playing Deadshot so far and it is the first episode where it feels like we really get a glimpse at the complex character that is Floyd Lawton.  Rowe captures both Lawton's death-wish and his dark sense of humor.  He said in an interview that the most interesting thing about Deadshot - and the main reason he loved playing him - was that there is something oddly likeable about Floyd and yet Floyd doesn't like himself at all.  To my mind, that sums the character up perfectly.

Though their parts this week are relatively small, Stephen Amell and Caity Lotz both capture Oliver Queen and Black Canary perfectly in this episode.  Pushing people away when he needs their help the most is vintage Ollie as is his desire to protect the woman he loves, even when she's perfectly capable of protecting herself and probably more capable than he is in a straight-up fight!  Lotz perfectly captures the comics' Canary's loving nature and desire to comfort her man, in spite of her frustration over what an ass he's acting like.


Trivia

Lyla texts Diggle and asks  her to meet him at Room 1141 at the Ostrander Hotel.  This is named in honor of John Ostrander - writer of the 1980's Suicide Squad comic and the co-creator (along with Len Wein and John Byrne) of Amanda Waller.

The nation of Kahndaq is mentioned during Diggle's briefing at ARGUS.  In the comics, Kahndaq is a fictional nation and home to the supervillain Black Adam.  It is in the Middle East, located between Israel and Egypt on the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula

Part of the episode takes place in Markovia.  In the comics, Markovia is located in Western Europe between France, Belgium and Luxembourg.  It is home to the hero Geo-Force.

The blonde woman with the squeaky voice on the Task Force X cell-block is credited as "Deranged Squad Female".  Given that she is played by Tara Strong, and that the woman claims to be a licensed therapist,  it seems clear the woman is meant to be Harley Quinn - a member of the Suicide Squad in the New 52 Suicide Squad series.

The robbery that Ollie goes to stop only to find the robbers already killed by Slade Wilson is located at 5th and Giffen.  This is in honor of Keith Giffen, who wrote the 2001 Suicide Squad comic.

Diggle's call-sign with The Squad is Freelancer. 

As in Gail Simone's Secret Six, Waller's call-sign is Mockingbird

As in Ostrander's Suicide Squad, explosives are used to keep the criminal members of Task Force X under control. 

The idea of Deadshot having a young daughter, whom he provides for using his earnings as an assassin was first introduced in the 2005 Deadshot mini-series by Christos N. Gage.  This series centered upon Floyd Lawton discovering he had a four-year-old daughter in Star City and - lacking anything better to do - deciding to turn his skills against the corrupt cops and dangerous gangs threatening the neighborhood she was being raised in.  His activities gained the attention of Green Arrow, who - finding out the reasons for Lawton's rampage - agreed to patrol the area more often in exchange for Deadshot agreeing to leave town.

Gail Simone would later pick up on this thread in her Secret Six book, where Floyd actually visited Zoe and made an honest attempt at being a father.  He would later decide it was better he not expose her to the dangers of his life and he told her mother as much over the phone.

Deadshot is depicted as having a death-wish and not really caring about whether he lives or dies.  This is consistent with his characterization in the comics, where the kindest thing to say would be that Floyd has issues.  Serious issues.

The detonation code for Deadshot's implant is BATB-25.  This is likely a reference to Brave And The Bold #25 - the first comic to feature the original 1959 Suicide Squad. 


Dialogue Triumphs

Amanda Waller: They're designated Task Force X.
Deadshot: Give me a break!  This ain't no task force.  Let's call it like it is.  Welcome to the Suicide Squad.

(To an arguing Diggle and Lyla)
Harley Quinn: Do you two cuties need some counseling?  I'm a trained therapist!

Diggle: A girl needs a father.
Deadshot: Nah.  Not this father.  Best thing I can do for her life?  Not be in it.

Ollie: I can't...I don't know how to stop him.
Sara: You start by letting people help you.
Ollie: But he's going to come after you!  You're alive... because Shado isn't.
Sara: And when he does do you think it will make a difference whether or not we're together?  Let him come.  I'm not the girl he knew on The Island.  I'm not that easy to kill.  Together?
Ollie: Together.

Lyla: What about us, Johnny?
Diggle: Last night the man who killed my brother showed more character than the woman charged with protecting the world.  Good and Bad, it's not so clear to me.  One thing I do know for sure- Black and White - is that I can't ever lose you again.


Continuity

Ollie and Sara are seen sleeping in the Arrow Cave at the start of the episode, indicating Moira's threat to kick Ollie out of her house in 215 was not an idle one.

Oliver makes contact with Alexi Leonov - his contact with the Russian Mafia in Starling City, last scene in 112.  By episode's end, Ollie with have cut all ties with the Russian Mafia and Alexi is dead by Slade Wilson's hand.

Waller's Suicide Squad is made up of villains Arrow was responsible for catching.  They include Bronze Tiger (last seen in 212 ), Shrapnel (last seen in 210 ) and Deadshot (last seen in 206).  We also see Amanda Waller for the first time since 212.  Shrapnel is killed after he attempts to escape.

We see John Diggle's current girlfriend/former wife Lyla Michaels for the first time since 206.

Ted Gaynor, whose death we witnessed in 111,  is seen in the flashback scenes.

The mask Slade leaves at the robbery scene is identical (if not the same mask) that we saw on The Island in the pilot episode.

By episode's end, Waller says they'll implant the kill-chips for the Squad members in their spines.

Ollie and Thea both hated swimming as children.

In the episode's final moments, it is revealed that Oliver Queen and Amanda Waller have some manner of prior relationship and that Oliver is aware Amanda knows his secret identity.  He also has some reason to hate Amanda but notes that she is much lower down on his list these days.

Waller reveals that Slade Wilson's assassin alter ego has been dubbed Deathstroke by ARGUS.


Location

The flashbacks for the episode - six years earlier - are set in RC South, Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The majority of the episode takes place in Markovburg, Markovia.


The Bottom Line

For once, the interplay between Ollie and Sara isn't the focus of an episode nor is it the best part.  Forget a Flash TV series next season - I want more Suicide Squad!  With Harley Quinn as a series regular!  And Clock King as a part of the Squad!  And blackjack!  And hookers!

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 12 - Tremors

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

As Laurel Lance continues to sink deeper into an alcohol-fueled downward spiral and Moira Queen considers a run for office as Mayor against Sebastian Blood, Oliver Queen busies himself with the training of Roy Harper.  But Roy is itching for a chance to prove himself in the field and he is quickly given his chance as Bronze Tiger is sprung from jail to retrieve a dangerous device - the prototype of the machine that Malcolm Merlyn used to destroy The Glades!  With the city endangered once again, can Roy finally learn the focus and control needed to harness his super strength?  And how far will Ollie go to gain Roy's trust?

In the island flashbacks, Ollie and Sara race against time to stop Slade from using Eddie Fyers' last missile launcher to destroy Professor Ivo's ship.


Influences

Green Arrow: Year One (The Island sequences), Green Arrow:Quiver (Roy's flashback regarding how Oliver trained him to be patient) and John Ostrander's Suicide Squad.


Goofs

How the heck does Roy track down where Bronze Tiger and Armitage are meeting? 


Artistry

The fights between Arrow and Bronze Tiger are well choreographed.


Trivia

The arms dealer who hires Bronze Tiger  to steal the prototype earthquake generator is named Milo Armitage.  This is also the name of a villainous arms-dealer from the original Green Arrow comics - one who was the step-father of the second Green Arrow, Connor Hawke.

Milo Armitage warns Bronze Tiger to stay out of Markovia in the immediate future.  Markovia is a fictional European country in the DC Universe.  It is primarily known as the home nation of the earth-manipulating superhero Geo-Force.  Curiously, the Earthquake machine was officially referred to in Episode 121 as "The Markov Device."

The "squad" Amanda Waller offers Bronze Tiger a chance to join is a reference to The Suicide Squad.  The Suicide Squad was a comic series built around the idea of the federal government offering time off the sentences of super-criminals who agreed to work dangerous missions on their behalf..

The population of Starling City is approximately 600,000.


Dialogue Triumphs

Ollie: (disbelievingly) You hacked into a prison system network?
Felicity: Is that judgement I'm hearing?
Ollie: Pride!

(After being told her name-being well known could help her become Mayor)
Moira: Charles Manson is rather well known and no one is going to vote for him.

Arrow: You cannot bring Thea into this.
Roy:  But how am I supposed to lie to her and protect her at the same time?  How do you do it?  How do you keep secrets from the people in your life?
Arrow: By remembering it's the only way to keep them safe.
Roy: No. Keeping them safe is what keeps them safe.

Thea: (To Moira) Can I make a suggestion?  Instead of punishing yourself because you think you destroyed the city, how about you start by saving it? 

Roy: (looking at the unmasked Ollie)  You're...
Ollie: .... yeah.  Yeah.
Roy: Last year you saved my life.  I don't mean from the guy who kidnapped me, I mean you... you saved me.  You gave me a purpose.
(Roy offers Ollie his hand.  Ollie shakes it.)
Ollie: We're just getting started.

Amanda Waller: I have an offer for you.  A way to work off your sentence.  As it turns out, I have need of someone with your... singular qualifications.
Bronze Tiger: For what?
Amanda Waller: For a unit I'm putting together.
Bronze Tiger: What type of... unit?
Amanda Waller: Actually... it's more of a squad.

Roy: Is this the part where you kill me because I know your secret?
Ollie: You actually think that I'd kill my sister's boyfriend?!
Roy: Well, you DID shoot me in the leg.

Roy: So does this group have a name?  Team Arrow or something?
Ollie: We don't call ourselves that.
Felicity: I do.  Occasionally.
Ollie: Stop.
Diggle: Whatever.


Continuity

Bronze Tiger was first seen in episode 202 and has apparently been in prison since then.

Ollie has Roy slap water to learn control, just as Shado had him slap water in 119.

Ollie confirms that he put an arrow into Slade's eye and that Slade eventually learned the truth of how Ollie was indirectly responsible for Shado's death from someone besides Ollie.

Joanna De La Vega - Laurel's co-worker from CNRI - appears for the first time since 123.  She has apparently helped start a new law firm since that time but lacks the pull to get Laurel a job there.

Laurel is informed that disbarment procedures have officially begun regarding her conduct.

Roy is now strong enough he can break a gun with his foot.

We see a mysterious man slipping something into Laurel's drink at Verdant as Thea calls her a cab.

Roy refers to the events of 118.

Walter Steele is aware that Thea is Malcolm Merlyn's biological daughter.  Apart from him, the only one who knows besides Moira and Malcolm is Moira's ob/gyn.

Amanda Waller, last seen in 206, approaches Ben Turner about joining her Suicide Squad.

Sara Lance comes back to Starling City to check up on Laurel after Ollie calls her. 


The Fridge Factor

More of Laurel playing the victim who needs to be saved from herself.  Ho-hum.


The Bottom Line

This is a very busy episode but its largely an enjoyable one.  The focus on Roy pushes his story arc into a whole new place but all of the supporting cast get some time to shine, from Moira's new role as aspiring Mayor to Quentin's quiet desperation to get his daughter some professional help.  As usual, the bits dealing with Laurel's addiction issues are the weakest but at least it seems they are finally bringing said arc to an end.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 6 - Keep Your Enemies Closer

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Pulled off the street during a routine night of watching The Arrow's back, John Diggle finds himself in the custody of ARGUS and under the supervision of Amanda Waller herself.  It seems Lyla Michaels - John's contact with the organization - disappeared in Russia while following the trail of the assassin Deadshot.  Waller's superiors think an extraction is too risky, leaving Waller to blackmail Diggle with the knowledge that she knows Oliver Queen is The Arrow in order to "persuade" him to take action.

Even without the knowledge that his night-life is at risk (a fact Diggle keeps from Ollie and Felicity), Ollie is all too eager to help Diggle in rescuing his old friend.  Oliver's contacts in the Russian mob can get Digg into the Russian gulag called 'Nightmare' but Diggle may have to turn to the man he hates more than anyone else in the world to get out.  More, they have to carry out the whole operation under the nose of Ollie's business partner Isabel Rochev, who insists on accompanying them on their sudden trip to inspect Queen Consolidated's Russian holdings. Meanwhile, Thea is told that her relationship with ex-felon Roy could endanger her mother's case when she goes to trial.

In the flashback, Oliver learns why Doctor Ivo is so interested in the island of Purgatory and the Japanese graves there.  He also learns how Sara came to survive the wreck of The Queen's Gambit.


Influences

The general style is reminiscent of several Mike Grell stories based around espionage and various Cold-War thrillers involving Americans needing to be rescued from Russian prisons. 


Performances

David Ramsey hasn't been given much to do this season as John Diggle, apart from making dry comments.  Granting that he usually gets the best lines in each episode, there's been very little of Diggle as the man of action in Season 2.  This episode rectifies that oversight, giving us a glimpse of Diggle the Lover as well as Diggle, Man of Action.


Trivia

First appearing in Legends #1, Amanda Waller has been the leader of many clandestine organizations in the original DC Comics Universe.  Having lost a husband, son and daughter to violent crime, Waller dedicated herself to public service and earned a Doctorate in Political Science.  She used the knowledge gained in her position as a Congressional aide to reactivate The Suicide Squad - a government program which offered super-villains time off of their sentences in exchange for working various suicide missions on behalf of the U.S. government.  Waller also served, at various times, as a regional department head for the Department of Extranormal Operations, The Secretary of Metahuman Affairs and as The White Queen and Black King of the spy organization Checkmate.

In the New 52 DC Comics Universe, Waller still serves as the head of The Suicide Squad and is currently the head of ARGUS.  Little is known of Waller's background in the new universe, save that she has a background as a spy and was part of the covert-ops group Team 7 along with Dinah Drake, Slade Wilson, Steve Trevor and Cole Cash among others.

Walller was original depicted as a short, heavy-set woman of middle years.  Her New 52 incarnation is younger, taller and thinner by comparison, as is her Arrow incarnation.

ARGUS (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans) is a national security group in The New 52 DC Universe officially charged with acting as a liason between the US government and organized superhero groups such as The Justice League.  Unofficially, ARGUS is meant to study superhumans and look for ways to neutralize them should they become a liability rather than a benefit to society.  The ARGUS in Arrow stands for Advanced Research Group United Support.

The ARGUS squad that abducts Diggle uses the call-sign Strike Force X.  In the original DC Comics universe, Task Force X was a government organization started by Harry Truman in 1951 to fill the void left by the retired Justice Society of America.  The Domestic Branch of Task Force X was called Argent and the International Branch was the first group to be known as The Suicide Squad.

Amanda Waller's call-sign with ARGUS is Mockingbird.  Mockingbird was also the alias used by the leader of each incarnation of the government spy team called The Secret Six.  A group of mercenary villains - including Deadshot - later appropriated the Secret Six name, receiving jobs from two separate figures who used the Mockingbird name.  The second of these figures was Amanda Waller.

Dr. Ivo seeks a lost Japanese super-drug called "Miracle".  This may be a reference to Miraclo - the drug created by chemist Rex Tyler which gave him super-strength, speed, stamina and durability for one hour at a time, allowing him to fight crime as the Golden Age superhero Hourman.  The abilities attributed to Miracle are almost identical to the powers granted by Miraclo.

It is worth noting that there were rumors The CW was looking into a series based on Hourman.  Perhaps this "Miracle" drug is planting the seeds for that storyline as the references to a particle accelerator in Central City seems to be setting the stage for The Flash.

Moira's lawyer is identified as Jean Loring.  In the comics, Jean Loring was also the name of the love-interest of the Silver Age Atom, Ray Palmer.  She was also also a lawyer.  The two were married and later divorced.

This is not the first time Ollie and Diggle have taken a trip to Russia together.  The two also journeyed to Russia to track down a person on Oliver's list in Issue #6 of the on-line Arrow comic.  Coincidentally, this comic came out nearly one year to the day before this episode's original air date.

Isabel Rochev, like her comics counterpart, is revealed to have been born in Russia.  Unlike her comics counterpart, the Arrow version of Rochev was adopted by an American family at the age of nine.  The comics version of Rochev grew to young adulthood as a slave in a Siberian diamond mine.

Deadshot is revealed to have a twisted work ethic similar to his comic book counterpart.  He takes pride in how he "never misses" and follows his contracts to the letter, only killing those mentioned in his contract - no bodyguards or innocent bystanders.  He only kills for money, resents people like Diggle who take what he sees as business matters personally and tries to avoid killing in self-defense whenever possible.

Deadshot tells Diggle that the only reason he killed Diggle's brother Andy was because he was paid to do so by a group called H.I.V.E.  In the classic DC Comics universe, H.I.V.E. (Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination) was a criminal organization who focused on mercenary acts of terrorism and high-profile assassinations.


Technobabble


The super-drug Miracle was based on Japanese research into "stem cell genetic therapy" decades ahead of the other major nations during World War II.  It is said to increase strength and cause rapid cellular regeneration.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Regarding the gulag Koshmar)
Anatoly Knyazev: It's full of violent psychopaths and killers.  And that's just the guards.

(After long exchange in Russian with guns being brandished threateningly, Oliver whispering something and then being handed the keys to a Russian armored police vehicle)
Felicity: What did you say?
Oliver: Please. (winks at Felicity)

Isabel: Why do you try so hard to make me think you're a lazy idiot?  I know you're not.  Underneath that swagger, I see you pretty clearly.
Oliver: Really?  And what do you see?
Isabel: You're intelligent.  Driven.  And lonely.
Oliver: How do you see that?
Isbael: Because it's what I see when I look in the mirror.

(After leading Diggle to the cell block where Lyla is being kept)
Deadshot: You bust in, she's in there - what's keeping you from shooting me?
Diggle: Honor.

(As Diggle holds a gun on him, clearly contemplating shooting him before finally lowering it)
Deadshot: That's the thing about honor, John.  You can't turn it on and off.


Continuity

In the Previous On Arrow sequence, The Russian from 204 is confirmed to be Anatoly Knyazev - the Russian Mafia member whose life Oliver was said to have saved back in 103. 

We see him later in the episode where he is a nightclub owner who agrees to help Oliver and Diggle with their plan to break Lyla Michaels out of prison. 

Diggle knows who Amanda Waller is when she introduces herself. 

Waller knows that Oliver Queen is The Arrow. 

Oliver gives the name "Tommy" after Sara shakes her head when Ivo asks him his name. 

Knyazev and Oliver toast with the word "prochnost" - Strength in Russian - in reference to 204. 

Lyla is being held in a prison called Koshmar - the Russian word for nightmare. 

Lyla is revealed to be Diggle's ex-wife. 

Roy's arrest by Quentin Lance marks the second time he's been arrested in less than a month, the first time being in 202. 

Roy knows about how Quentin lost his Detective's badge because of The Arrow and there is a suggestion that the two realize that one another also works with The Arrow. 

Slade is revealed to have survived the attack in 203 but the right side of his body is badly burned.  His right eye is still intact. 

Oliver is tricked into revealing Shado and Slade are still alive by Sara, but she uses her influence on Ivo to save Ollie's life after the fact. 

Deadshot is capable of killing a man by throwing an icicle into his back. 

Thea dumps Roy until Moira gives the two her blessing after learning that her lawyer asked Thea to dump Roy for Moira's sake. 

Oliver has a quickie with Isabel Rochev. 

Yet another reference is made on the news to the STAR Labs particle accelerator in Central City.       


Location

Moscow, Russia.


The Bottom Line

A damn fine episode that plays more like one of Mike Grell's scripts for Jon Sable: Freelance rather than his work on Green Arrow.  Would be perfect if it weren't for the subplot with Roy and Thea seeming totally tacked on.  Still, it could have been worse - we could have been treated to more scenes of Laurel popping pills and acting erratically. 

Arrow - Season Two - New Trailer And The Casting of Amanda Waller

SOURCE: The CW’s Arrow Casts Spartacus Actress As Our New Amanda Waller (The Mary Sue) 

 
Rumors abounded that Amanda "The Wall" Waller would become a part of the cast of Arrow when it was revealed that Deadshot would be returning and that Michael Jai White would be playing the part of Bronze Tiger - both characters having been a part of Waller's Suicide Squad.  While we cannot confirm or deny that a Suicide Squad style team will be a part of Arrow's storyline, we can confirm that Spartacus actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson has been cast as Amanda Waller.

I'm withholding any judgement until we see her on the show.  While the odds probably weren't good that The CW would ever cast CCH Pounder or Angela Bassett in the part (even ignoring the younger, sexier Amanda Waller in all the New 52 comics), I take it as a good sign that they cast an actress better known for playing tough female characters than the model-types that usually grace The CW's shows.

Also, we now have a new trailer for Season 2 of Arrow.



Comments?

Justice League of America #1 - A Review

Expectations were high going into this book, written as it was by veteran writer Geoff Johns with art by popular artist David Finch.  Thankfully, those expectations were met.  And then they were exceeded. 

Johns' script does a grand job of explaining the status quo of the DCU at the moment and giving the reader a rundown of all the players, for those of you who might not have been reading Justice League or any of the other titles whose characters this issue involves.  No previous experience with Stormfront, Hawkman, Catwoman, Green Arrow or Birds of Prey is needed.  It may help you appreciate some of the past events that are referred to but you don't have to have been reading six or seven different books to understand this one.


Here's the story so far.  Iit's been five years since the Justice League was formed.  In the wake of several disasters, The United States government has grown nervous about the League's independence and what might happen should they begin to actively work against the USA's interests.  To that end, they've fired Steve Trevor from his position as the government's liaison to the Justice League, having decided that maybe having Wonder Woman's ex-boyfriend acting as their go-between might be diplomatically questionable. 

In his place is Suicide Squad director Amanda Waller, who is tasked with putting together a team that can match the Justice League 1 to 1 should it be necessary.  Her first recruit?  Steve Trevor, who has proven himself a capable field commander and the one man who knows the Justice League better than anyone.    The rest of her picks are selected based purely on their potential to match the other team in terms of power - a motley assortment of mysterious vigilantes, wanted criminals and promising newcomers.


It is the newcomers - Vibe and Stargirl - who Johns spends the most time developing. There's no surprise there as, being new characters, they require the most development.  There's also the little matter of Johns being the writer on Vibe's new solo-title and Stargirl being Johns' original creation, dating back to the classic Stars and STRIPE series.  Yet this version of Courtey Whitmore is greatly changed from Johns' original concept, apparently suffering from night terrors regarding the death of the hero who wielded her Cosmic Staff before.  And Johns' take on Vibe, in just two pages, receives far more respect and development than the original character ever did. 


I've found that you either hate David Finch's art or you love it.  Personally?  I love it.  His famous eye for detail is as strong as ever but I think he's lightened up his usual shadowy inks somewhat.  There's still a hint of darkness in every corner, fitting considering the conspiracy-minded tone of the book so far.  Yet all of the high-action superhero moments are big and bright, with the inks enhancing the pencils rather than obscuring them.

Rejoice, comics fans!  This is the Justice League book we've been waiting for.

Team 7 #0 - A Review

I never read any of the original Team 7 comics. Come to think of it, I've read precious little of the original Wildstorm Comics period. I know enough of the base concept of the original book - an elite US government team formed in response to the appearance of the first superhumans. Eventually, they were experimented upon themselves with several members of the team going insane and/or committing suicide.

Team 7 #0 starts out with this same base concept, as team leader John Lynch speaks to an unseen audience. Lynch speaks of the alien menace that nearly stole a part of Metropolis (as seen in the opening arc of Action Comics) and the failure of the government's Steel Soldier project to deal with the menace. Lynch then describes his dream of an elite team of agents that will be capable of meeting the challenges posed by the apperance of these new super-beings. The rest of the issue shows Lynch's two best agents - infiltration expert Dinah Drake and operations expert Kurt Lance - as they go about recruiting the rest of Lynch's wish list.

The team roster reads like the Who's Who of Covert Ops in the DCU. Tactician Slade Wilson. Weapons Expert Alex Fairchild. NSA Analyst Amanda Waller. Special Forces/Conman Cole Cash. Thrown into this all-star lineup are three newcomers - Jack-Of-All-Trades James Bronson, Master-Pilot Summer Ramos and Military Intellligence Expert Dean Higgins.

I have to approve of the concept of this book on general principle. One of the biggest problems many readers had with The New 52 universe was the sheer number of covert US government organizations. A book like this exploring how things got to that point was sorely needed and writer Justin Jordan seems prepared to explore not only how the government and military changed in the face of the metahuman threat but also how several key players evolved in the face of that challenge.

Don't think for a second that means this is going to be a dull treatise on how various branches interact! Jordan's script is focused firmly on the action and the set-up for more action. He gets the basic facts of each character's background presented but doesn't spend much time developing their personalities. Granting that's usually not the purpose of a Zero issue and that most of these characters are well-established in the minds of most comic readers, it is somewhat bothersome that we know little about Summer Ramos apart from she's a good pilot and she's apparently crazy. Hopefully there will be deeper development in later issues.



The art by Superman penciler Jesus Merino, with inks by Rob Hunter and Norm Rapmund is well executed throughout. The story is told well, flowing naturally from panel to panel And each character has a clear design, so there is little trouble telling who is who even in the far-shot action scenes.

I'm not sure this is a book I'll be picking up in the future. The general dark tone of people seeing superheroes as something to be afraid of rather than something to be inspired by also doesn't do a lot for me. Still, fans of the original Team 7 book as well as books like the oriiginal Suicide Squad will likely find a lot to enjoy here. This is a solid-looking title, even if it isn't my cup of tea.