Green Arrow #40 - A Review

Green Arrow #40 is one of the most contrived, over-the-top and outright ludicrous comics I have ever read. And I loved every page of it! This issue is a fitting capstone for a run that has tried to do as much as possible to resurrect elements of the Green Arrow mythos long dead while simultaneously turning the New 52 reality into something recognizable to fans of the Arrow television series.

It remains to be seen just how successful Andrew Kreisberg and Ben Soklowski will be in that regard in the long-term. With a new creative team set to come on post-Convergence we could well see yet another shift of the status quo on a book that has been continually unstable since the first issue!

For the moment, at least, I am content.  Whatever faults this run had - and there are many - it managed to at least be amusing and avoided being dull.  How can it be dull when you have the likes of Lex Luthor, Batman, Katana, Arsenal and an army of Green Arrow's other allies, enemies and acquaintances uniting to bring down the tyrannical billionaire John King and his Subjects.


This issue is packed with a lot of action and very few explanations. For instance, the panel above is all we get to see of the villain Cupid in this issue. Except for a quick cameo on the final page of last month's issue, Cupid has not been seen in The New 52 Green Arrow book.  No background has been given for her and there is no explanation of who she is. So if you didn't read the Green Arrow/Black Canary book almost a decade ago or see her recent appearance on Arrow... well, too bad. Perhaps it is unreasonable in the Internet age to expect these things to be included as part of the narrative when we are given enough information to look up Cupid's page on ComicVine. Call me old fashioned but I like to see these things in the book itself. That just seems like Storytelling 101.

A similar problem comes up in the final battle, where - in defiance of all logic - King elects to go after Green Arrow with a sword. He hasn't been shown to be a swordsman before now. Nothing has been said about him using a sword to kill people. And it adds nothing to the final battle (other than looking cool) as this is merely a set-up for an obvious trap.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE... billionaire playboy with a royalty-based surname in this town!
The artwork of Daniel Sampere and Jonathan Glapion lends an epic scope to this material that it doesn't truly deserve. With a lesser art team, this series might have looked as ridiculous as it seems.  As it is, it looks amazing and the fight scenes that make up the majority of this issue are all well depicted.

In the end, I'd say this run on Green Arrow was a success.  It lacked the depth of Jeff Lemire's run but it did set out what it was meant to do. And an Arrow Cave with Felicity Smoak and Mia Dearden in the house should prove to be a welcome starting point for the series to begin with in two months time.

Green Arrow #38 - A Review

As Green Lantern and Green Arrow reluctantly team forces to save a hospital full of victims from John King's men, Mia Dearden falls into her father's clutches.  Even with the aid of Katana, can the Emerald Allies save the day? Can they even stop arguing for two minutes?!


If I were to sum up my feelings about Green Arrow #38 in a word, it would be 'torn'.

There is so much about this comic that doesn't sit right with me.  I don't like that Mia Dearden's past as a drug-using teen prostitute has been brought back into play. There was just no reason for it with her new background as the daughter of sociopath billionaire John King.


Another problem I have with this comic is with its lack of explanations for any of the new characters' backgrounds.  We have no idea how long Mia has been on the streets, but the previous issues suggested that it hadn't been long - perhaps a year or two at the most. And we've been given no explanation as to who the heck Mack Morgan is and just why he is so important to John King.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this issue is John King's descent from ordinary rich jerk villainy into "cartoonish supervillainy".  Now, granting that this IS a superhero comic, the best Green Arrow comics have had some grounding in reality regarding their villains motivations. And yes, John King is a social Darwinist who would think nothing of killing an entire hospital to cover up one murder. But when we reach the point where the bad guy is ordering his minions in a hospital to stop providing care to the dying and expecting people to just go along with it with no questions asked, you have also passed the point at which one can still credibly believe John King to be an arrogant but subtle manipulator. Captain Planet villains are more subtlety evil than this!

So why am I torn on this book if the villain is so melodramatically awful?  Because the treatment of the heroes is so perfect!

The Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen of the New 52 universe are not the best of friends.  Heck, they don't even like each other that much! But the chemistry between the two characters is apparent here - the classic situation of two people not liking each other because they are so much alike. The banter between the two is hilarious and becomes doubly so when Katana is forced to put up with them.


One thing I'm not torn on, however, is the artwork of this issue.  Daniel Sampere and Jonathan Glapion provide their usual high-quality work.  The action of the issue is well blocked throughout and colorist Gabe Eltaeb depicts everything with a rich and vibrant palette.

I'll continue to read this book for now, but I hope that John King's madness is exposed soon and that there are no plans for him to be a long-running villain.  There's just no way for the character to last that long at his current pace of deterioration.

Green Arrow #37 - A Review

The mysterious Mia Dearden has been rescued and the reasons for her endangerment have been brought to light.  It seems she's the illegitimate daughter of billionaire philanthropist John King and she's gotten a hold of a list of thousands of "Kings Men" - bought officials ready to do whatever Mr. King wants. And what Mr. King wants right now is Seattle under his thumb and Green Arrow dead!


By all rights, I shouldn't like this new run on Green Arrow as much as I do.  Virtually all of the supporting cast has been jettisoned, with Felicity Smoak quickly sliding into the trusted techie role after only a single issue.  That sort of thing is normally a big no-no for me when it comes to established titles.

And yet, here it works to the book's benefit.  The honest truth is that for all the good Jeff Lemire did during his run on Green Arrow, he didn't do much to develop the supporting cast.  Most of the characters he introduced were unmemorable at best or outright annoying in the case of Ollie's half-sister Emiko.

For lack of a better way to say it, this comic just feels more like what a Green Arrow comic should feel like. Not only in terms of bringing in characters like Mia and Merlyn (he isn't identified by name in this issue but - c'mon, we all know who that archer in black is!) but in terms of setting Oliver up against an enemy who is a symbol of everything Oliver Queen should fight against - corruption and corporate power.  The final page of this issue is also a nod to the classic DC Comics of yesteryear and a relationship that has been sorely missed in The New 52 universe.

While some may quibble about the continuity of aesthetics between creative teams, I do not believe anyone can complain about the artwork on this issue.  Granted, my opinion may be biased as I'm a fan of Sampere and Glapion's previous work together on Batgirl but I do love the artwork on this book. The characters are all uniquely designed and the fights are well laid-out.  My one complaint is that colorist Gabe Eltaeb could try and offer a little more variety in the shades of yellow used to depict the many blond cast members.

Green Arrow #36 - A Review

On reflection, while Jeff Lemire's run on Green Arrow was a well-written series, I think I'm enjoying Andrew Kreisberg and Ben Sokolowski's run a little bit more.  That's a bold statement after two issues, I admit, but the new writing team brings a sense of fun to the material that Lemire didn't and that sense of fun is something that Green Arrow needs but has sorely lacked for a long time.

Don't get me wrong - I loved Lemire's run and its gripping sense of drama. But The Outsiders War, while setting up a grand mythology in the tradition of the ninja clans Frank Miller added into the canon of Daredevil. didn't really feel appropriate to Oliver Queen as a character. The storyline also turned Oliver Queen into a passive character in his own book, frequently confused and shunted from one information dump to the next as other characters explained what was going on.


On the surface, that seems to be true of Green Arrow #36 as well.  Very little of the action until the end of the issue involves Oliver Queen and our hero is in the middle of getting a huge information dump from Felicity Smoak when we first see him. And why is Felicity delivering all this information?  Because she was hired to kill Green Arrow, but had a change of heart about the job and decided she'd rather work for him doing good things instead.

Unlikely?  Yes, but John Diggle and Oliver Queen are both appropriately skeptical and cautious, even as they acknowledge that Felicity's knowledge is proving useful. Besides, they'd have no idea she was a hacker for hire unless she'd told them, so that proves she's trustworthy... right?

Another difference between two runs is that the story here makes greater use of the Green Arrow mythology.  Whereas Lemire utilized names while refining concepts, Kreisberg and Sokolowski stay truer to the classic form.  This issue finally gives us our first glimpse of homeless teen Mia Dearden and her attitude is ripped right from the pages of Kevin Smith, even if her circumstances are different. than that of the Pre-New 52 prostitute who became the second Speedy.


Some fans of Lemire have groused that Green Arrow is being turned into another Arrow comic. I personally fail to see why that would be a bad thing even if it were true. And I don't think it is. Yes, some trappings of the Arrow show are being introduced but Kreisberg and Sokolowski are also introducing a number of classic elements from the original comics that have been sorely missed.  The book may feel more like Arrow than it did before but it also feels more like Green Arrow than it did before.  And as far as this Arrowhead is concerned, that's pretty damn good.

In any case, I do not think anyone can argue against the fact that the artwork on this book is amazing.  Daniel Sampere and Jonathan Glapion deliver more of the quality work that made their recent run on Batgirl so magical.  Gabe Eltaeb makes everything appear bright and vibrant with his colors and Rob Leigh manages a neat effect with his lettering to emphasize Felicity's half-muttered sarcastic remarks.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 9 - Three Ghosts

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

 

Plot

With Ollie still recovering from his injuries at the hands of Brother Cyrus and an accidental injection of blood thickener, he might be forgiven for forgetting that it's almost Christmas.  As Roy Harper searches for answers in the mysterious murder of a local artist and Ollie continues his hunt for the people building an army of super-strong soldiers, The Arrow will be visited by three spirits - ghosts from his past with messages about his future.  Is Ollie going mad?  Or merely taking his first difficult steps out of the darkness and into a brighter future?

On the island, Oliver, Sara and Shado are at the mercy of Professor Ivo and Ollie will be forced to make a sadistic choice between both of the women he's loved.


Influences

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (the appearance of three ghosts inspire a man to change his ways at Christmas time), Green Arrow: Year One (The Island sequences), Green Arrow: Quiver (Slade's line about Oliver looking like he saw a ghost is virtually identical to a running gag line about various people seeing a back-from-the-dead Oliver Queen), Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest (Barry Allen makes Oliver Queen - and the rest of the Justice League - costumes made of compressed fabric) and The Flash: Rebirth (more references to the Geoff Johns revamp of Barry Allen's origin story).


Goofs

Barry seems to forget about his boss's threats regarding his job from last episode, staying in Starling City for at least two more days to help out around the Arrow Cave.


Performances

We've seen Stephen Amell and Caity Lotz show their acting chops playing three or four variants of the same person on this show.  Manu Bennett can now be added to the list of  actors on this show who have accomplished this feat.  This episode sees him playing the tough-guy mask Slade Wilson wears on the island, the vulnerable man who fell in love with Shado, the ghost of Oliver's memories of Slade and - finally - the modern Slade, still alive and well and holding a grudge.


Artistry

The whole of the scene with Ollie fighting Slade's ghost in the Arrowcave.  Writing .  Music.  Performances.  Cinematography.  Lighting.  Everything is perfect.

While I generally like Geoff Johns' writing, I haven't always liked how he's portrayed Oliver Queen in the comics.  And yet this episode - co-written by Johns and series writer Ben Sokolowski  - prefectly captures three essential points to Oliver's character in the lessons he is taught by his ghosts.  Shado tells Oliver that he should fight to protect the living - not to honor the fallen.  Slade tells Oliver that the real reason he fights is to atone for his own sins.  Finally, Tommy reminds Oliver that sometimes you fight because someone has to fight back.


Trivia

Barry suggests Oliver wear a mask made of compressible micro-fabric.  This is the same material in the comics that Barry eventually uses to create his costume as The Flash, folding it up inside a ring to be easily retrieved when he needs to change.

In the story Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest, it is revealed that Barry made costumes of the same compressible micro-fabric material for his teammates in The Justice League before it was pointed out that only a person with super-speed could effectively utilize such a ring.

Cyrus Gold was the name of the man who - in the Golden Age Green Lantern comics - became the zombie villain Solomon Grundy.  Though the exact details of what sort of man he was differ from retelling to retelling, most of them agree Cyrus Gold was not a nice man.  The best story refers to him as a gentleman of ill repute and the worst of them identify him as a miser and a pedophile!  Rising form the dead as a zombie with no memory of who he was, Gold was dubbed Solomon Grundy after the nursery rhyme character since the only thing he could recall of his past was being born on a Monday

The founder of STAR Labs is identified as Harrison Wells.  In the comics, the founder of STAR Labs was named Garrison Slate.

Quentin Lance's former partner is named Lucas Hilton.  This is also the name of a cop character created by Arrow Executive Producer and comics writer Andrew Kreisberg , during his run on the Green Arrow/Black Canary comic.

Slade's line about Ollie seeing a ghost is very similar to a line repeated in Green Arrow: Quiver.  In that story,  Oliver Queen comes back from the dead and says that line to people who are astonished to see him.

The Asian reporter covering the particle accelerator story in Central City is named Linda Park.  This is a reference to a reporter from The Flash comics, who eventually married Wally West - a.k.a. The original Kid Flash and Barry Allen's successor as The Flash.

In the original The Flash comic, Barry Allen gained super-speed powers after being thrown through a shelf full of chemicals while being struck by lightning.  It is unknown what role the multifunctional particle accelerator has, if any in his origin in the Arrow universe.  However, it did appear that Barry was already moving faster than his surroundings immediately before the lightning strike. 


Technobabble

Barry determines that Ollie was injected with a coagulate which causes his blood to become unnaturally thick.  He treats this by injecting Ollie with rat poison.  Most rat poisons are anti-coagulates that kill rodents by thinning their blood over an extended period.  While the same base chemicals are used in drugs to treat overly-thick blood, it should be noted that most doctors do not recommend taking rat poison as an alternative to prescribed medication.

Barry is able to recreate a fingerprint by adding a gel-based polymer to the residual oils from Brother Cyrus' skin from where he grabbed Ollie's neck and cut the skin.

Oliver says the reason he doesn't wear a mask is that it won't conform perfectly to his face and would hinder his ability to aim while on the run.

Barry suggests Oliver look into a mask made of compressible micro-fabric to hide his identity, saying that green grease-paint isn't very effective at hiding his identity.  By episode's end, he has made such a mask for Oliver. 


Dialogue Triumphs

(Looking at the arrow in Roy's leg)
Ollie: (gripping the arrow with both hands) Roy?  This is going to hurt.
Roy: My anger's dulling the pain.

(As Ollie is working out and trying to shoot a bouncing tennis ball, his arrow is caught by Slade)
Slade: What's the matter, kid?  You look like you've seen a ghost.

Slade: You're not a hero. Or a friend. Or a brother. You are nothing. 
(Ollie turns away from him)
Slade: Do not turn your back on me!  Not again!
Ollie: You're gone.
Slade: Wherever I am... it's time you joined me!

Tommy: I know I called you a murderer but you are not.  You are a hero.  You beat the island.  You beat my father.  So fight, Oliver.  Get up and fight back! 

(When explaining to Brother Blood why he does not want The Arrow killed)
Deathstroke: Death would be a release from this life and his sentence has yet to be carried out.  I'm going to tear everything he cares about away from him.  Destroy those who choose to follow him.  Corrupt those he loves. Once he has lost everyone and everything he values, I will drive an arrow through his eye.


Continuity

Shado is confirmed to be dead.

Slade is confirmed to be alive and holding a grudge against Oliver.

Felicity refers to when Moira shot Oliver and he turned to her for help (114) and when he revealed his identity to Diggle in order to save his life (103), while arguing with Oliver about her revealing his secret identity to Barry Allen.

Moira decorates the house for Christmas alone, saying she won't be throwing a big party this year, referring to the disappointing turn out for the party in 208.

Ollie hallucinates Shado twice - once while he's on the table being treated by Barry and later as he's walking down the halls of Queen Manor alone.  She asks him to give up being The Arrow before everyone around him dies.

Diggle confirms that Ollie prefers to be called The Arrow now.

Barry mentions The Arrow's battles with The Dollmaker (203), Count Vertigo (207), Dodger (115) and The Huntress (117).

Blood sends Laurel flowers and asks her to go Christmas shopping with him.

Oliver still addresses Quentin Lance as 'Detective' as The Arrow.

Ivo kills Shado after Oliver throws himself between Ivo and Sara, after Ivo trains his gun on her.

Laurel discovers that all the blood donors at Blood's drives were required to take a psychological evaluation by the Langford Institute.

Felicity is Jewish.

Felicity and Barry go out to eat together at the Big Belly Burger - not seen since last season.

Ollie hallucinates Slade twice - once on the rooftop of SCPD headquarters while talking to Quentin Lance - the other in the Arrowcave.  Slade tells Oliver that he became The Arrow to atone for his own sins - not make up for his father's mistakes.

Oliver finally tells Diggle and Felicity about Shado.  He tells Diggle about Slade Wilson. 

Diggle admits to seeing the ghosts of soldier friends who he outlived. 

Roy discovers that Max's file photo is stamped with the word Mirakuru - the Japanese name for the Miracle/Miraclo drug. This name will be used henceforth.

Oliver kills Cyrus Gold after triggering an explosion, which sprays more Mirakuru on Gold while collapsing a ceiling on him.  The smart money is we have not seen the last of him.

Ollie hallucinates Tommy during his fight with Brother Blood and Cyrus Gold.  Tommy tells Oliver that Tommy was wrong to call him a murderer and that he is a hero.

Oliver is able to save Roy's life by performing CPR on him after he apparently dies from taking Mirakuru.  He then returns Roy to Thea's room at Queen Manor.  Roy's memory of the event is fuzzy and there's no indication he knows Ollie is The Arrow.

Blood formally announces his run for mayor.

The "friend" who gave Blood the Mirakuru sample is revealed to be Slade Wilson.

Thanks to the Mirakuru, Roy's injuries from last week have healed completely.  It remains to be seen if Roy has gained enhanced strength and reflexes from the injection as well.

Sara lies to protect Ollie when Slade discovers Shado's death.  Slade asks who killed her.  Ollie is about to say "I did" when Sara cuts him off and says "Ivo".

Barry has a bulletin board filled with materials regarding his mother's murder.

Barry Allen is struck by lightning and thrown through a rack of chemicals.

Barry makes Oliver a green mask that Felicity says makes him look like a hero.

 
The Fridge Factor

Pretty much the entire female cast is sidelined for this episode.  Shado and Sara are girl hostages, with Shado being fridged to give Ollie and Slade angst.  Thea and Sin are mostly there to fuss over Roy when he's wounded.  Moira is decorating the Queen household for Christmas in solitude.  Laurel is only there to cry over her father and to further advance Roy's mission.  You know things are bad when lab-rat Felicity proactive female character in the episode and even she spends most of the episode fawning over how awesome Barry and Ollie are.


The Winick Factor

Ollie's defending The Arrow's shooting Roy as a means of keeping him safe is lame even by Ollie's low standards for unbelievable lies.


The Bottom Line

Ignoring the shabby treatment of the female cast, it's a damn good episode, a fitting set-up for The Flash TV series and a fine way to mark the midway point of the season.

Arrow #34 (Web Comic) - A Review

One of the best things about the Arrow web comic is that it gives the writers of the show a chance to tell stories that might not work within the confines of the show.  It also gives them a chance to answer questions that nit-picky fanboys like me might ask regarding the specifics of certain questions.  Questions like how Oliver Queen was able to get a plane to jump out of, in full costume, with no questions asked, when he rescued Walter Steele.  Now, we could just assume that he found a discrete pilot, paid cash and had Felicity scramble the paper trail with the FAA after the fact... but where's the fun in that?!


'You Owe Me' tells the previously untold tale of how Ollie was able to procure said pilot's services.  More than that, it's a rousing adventure tale that offers much beyond pleasing continuity hawks like me.  Indeed, this story offers another step in Oliver's development from a mere avenger into a proper hero and champion of the oppressed.  Props to Marc Guggenheim for the story and Ben Sokolowski for the excellent script.


Victor Drijiniu and Juan Castro do an equally impressive job on this issue's artwork, which is much improved from their last outing on this book.  Ollie's appearance is much more consistent and a good caricature of Stephen Amell.  Eveyrthing is shaded in a manner that is atmospheric without deluging the page in darkness.

Bottom Line?  Buy this book!

Arrow #32 (Web Comic) - A Review

From the Darkness promises us "the secret origin of The Dark Archer".  While we do get the details of how Malcolm Merlyn became trained as a world-class warrior after his wife's death, there's not much that is "secret" about it.  The only new piece of information is the revelation that Malcolm patrolled the streets as a vigilante hero during Tommy's formative years, in the same way Oliver Queen does today.



The script by Wendy Mericle and Ben Sokolwski proves engaging but it leaves us with more questions than answers.  One wonders why, if Malcolm Merlyn was striking down drug-dealers and pimps in The Glades on a regular basis several years ago, we've heard nothing about this on the show before.  You'd think Detective Lance would remember there being a similar vigilante sometime earlier unless gang-members turning up dead with arrows in their back is a common occurrence in Starling City.  Or did every single murder The Dark Archer committed in the name of cleaning up the city go unreported?  Granting that the criminal underclass of The Glades aren't exactly likely to call the cops, you'd think someone would have reported a dead body with an arrow in it at some point.


The artwork by Allan Jefferson is unbalanced.  Jefferson does a fair enough job of capturing John Barrowman and Colin Donnell's likenesses but - as in previous outings on this series - his mid-range and background characters lack definition.  Jonas Trindade's inking does help matters somewhat but there's only so much a good inker can do. 

Arrow #22 (Web Comic) - A Review

The Arrow episode Dead to Rights left fans with many questions heading into the show's brief break.  One of these questions involved the assassin Deadshot and how he survived his apparently lethal injuries from the show's third episode.  Back From The Deadshot answers this question, depicting the events that occurred between The Hood leaving Deadshot for dead and his recruitment by China White to assassinate Malcolm Merlyn.

 

The script by Wendy Mericle and Ben Sokolowski is packed full of action.  Deadshot is established as a deadly combatant apart from his skill as as a sniper.  This marks him as something different and more dangerous than his DC Comics counterpart, who was a pure gun bunny.  Yet there's plenty of nods to the original Floyd Lawton, as we see signs of this Deadshot having a death wish and a fondness for good cigars and booze. 


Sergio Sandoval and Pol Gas continue to impress with their atmospheric artwork  Gas expertly shades each panel, creating something that looks shadowy and mysterious without being saturated in black.  Sandoval's figures are crisp and clear and the action flows smoothly from panel to panel.

This story isn't absolutely essential but it's a good read and well worth downloading..  The artwork is fantastic and the story well-paced.   I'd recommend it for all fans of Deadshot as well as all the Arrowheads who like to know what the villains are up to off-panel.  

Arrow #19 (Web Comic) - A Review

Arrow #19 tells a tale that was hinted at in last week's episode but has yet to be expanded upon.  The story focuses upon ASIS agent Slade Wilson and his partner Billy.  Sent to Lian Yu (a.k.a. The Island) to retrieve Yao Fei, the two are shot down and captured by Eddie Fyers and his men.  Tortured for the better part of a year, Slade is finally able to escape the camp with Yao Fei after Billy turns traitor and signs on with Fyers.


The script by series writers Lana Cho and Ben Sokolowski is fast-paced and informative, though we still know nothing of Slade's motivations in seeking out Yao Fei in the first place.  The only real new information we glean from this story is the name of Slade's partner - Billy Wintergreen.  This is an interesting nod to the original comics, where William Wintergreen is Slade Wilson's most loyal companion.
 

Sadly, the artwork by Allan Jefferson and Le Beau Underwood doesn't match the script in quality.  Jefferson's pencils are uneven, with characters losing detail in the middle and far distance.  Underwood's inking is similarly eratic, with some panels featuring objects that are barely outlined, with no detail on the interiors.  Despite that, this issue should be of interest to Deathstroke fans interested in learning more about an alternate-universe take on the character.

Arrow #10 (Web Comic) - A Review

'Caged' marks a first for the Arrow comic, as this story is told entirely from the perspective of John Diggle.  Our story focuses upon Ollie as he enters into a secret biannual cage fight.  One of the people on The List, who fights under the unlikely nickname of Deathride, lives in total seclusion and only comes out twice a year to defend his champion title.  The only shot Ollie has at getting close to the man is to fight in the tournament himself - a move which Diggle recognizes as patently idiotic until he realizes that Ollie's desire to fight is not entirely due to his father's dying wish.


Sadly, the plot of this issue is strictly by-the-numbers.  If you've seen any movie based around an important martial arts tournament, you've seen this one.  Ben Sokolowski and Moira Kirland just make the story readable by showing us the action from Diggle's point of view, but only just.  We can only assume that this story takes place sometime before Muse of Fire because Diggle's astonishment that Ollie would rather fight it out in the arena rather than pay off Deathride's manager for his address seems somewhat naive of the man who saw through Ollie's motivations in wanting to "save" Helena Bertinelli.  


Thankfully, the artwork by Eric Nguyen makes up for the lackluster plot.  Smooth and stylized, Nguyen captures the essence of the characters from the show and does a fine job of depicting the martial arts action.  Indeed, many panels look as if they might have been stills taken from a modern fighting Anime.

Bottom Line: You can skip this issue of Arrow if you're not into martial arts. But if you can stomach a lackluster story for some good artwork or are enough of a Digg fan to want to see a story told from his POV, give this one a shot.

Arrow #6 (Web Comic) - A Review

Arrow #6 takes us on our first journey outside of Starling City.  Continuing down the list given to him by his father, Oliver sets his sights on Justin Whicker - a businessman immigrated to Russia who is using his connections inside the Moscow Ballet to lure aspiring dancers into prostitution in America.  With Diggle in tow, Ollie goes on a good-will mission to Moscow to shut Whicker's business down.


The script by Ben Sokolwoski and Lana Cho is serviceable enough, though the exotic setting isn't as well utilized as it might have been.  Thematically speaking fighting slavers fits Ollie's Modern-Day Robin Hood schtick to a T and it is nice to see that even though Ollie is still working off his list, he is moving more toward being a true hero rather than an agent of justice.  The only really failing the story has is that Diggle has no role in the action and disappears from the comic completely after attending the ballet with Ollie.  It makes sense that he'd have to travel with Ollie to maintain Ollie's cover but it would have been nice to see him helping Ollie more directly, as in last week's episode.


What really sells this issue is the artwork by Mike Grell.  I'm an unapologetic Grell fanboy, so my opinion is inherently biased.  That being said, Grell's wotk with the character of Oliver Queen has helped define not only the look of Arrow as a show but defined the character of Green Arrow more than any single creator since Dennis O'Neil.  Grell's sense of pacing and anatomy remains undiminished and I don't think any artist can ink their own work so effectively when it comes to invoking a sense of mystery and melancholy. 

Arrow #2 (Web Comic) - A Review

Subtitled 'Prey', Arrow #2 presents us with a rare mook's-eye view of superheroes in action.  Our point-of-view character is Scott Morgan - a corrupt civil servant who The Arrow gives six hours to confess his crimes to the police.  Naturally, he tries to go for a last-minute cover-up instead and hilarity (i.e. massive ass-kicking) ensues.



With a story by show creators Andrew Kreisberg & Marc Guggenheim, this story fits the tone of the show and the Grellian aesthetic well.  This Oliver Queen is more myth than man, striking terror into the hearts of evil-doers through sheer presence.  While comparisons to Batman are inevitable, Ben Sokolowski's script does an excellent job of conveying our villain's terror as he is faced down by an agent of justice his money cannot buy off and his hired goons cannot overpower.


The artwork by Sergio Sandoval lacks the fine detail of the Mike Grell artwork in last week's issue.  Nevertheless, it is effectively somber and moody, fitting the noir aspects of the story.  If anything, the artwork on this issue reminded me of Tony Harris' work on the early issues of Starman.

At 99 cents a download, Arrow is one of the best values for your dollar you'll find on-line.  If you're a fan of the show who is new to comics and you're looking for a good place to start reading, give this issue and last week's issue a look-see.