Arrow #31 (Web Comic) - A Review

Titled "No Way Out", Arrow #31 goes to the streets of Starling City for its' story.  Our focus this week is on Tony - an out-of-work family man, who has taken a job as muscle for a local loan shark   The money is good but not quite good enough to make ends meet and Tony's conscience starts bothering him even before his boss promises him the money to settle his bills in exchange for his work on one big collection.. 


This isn't the first time Emilio Aldrich has told a story which was more about The Hood's influence on Starling City than on Ollie's activities as a vigilante and that's a perfectly legitimate way to tell a story about a character.  The problem is that The Starling City Vigilante doesn't loom over the story as strongly as he should.  Oliver doesn't really affect the emotional action of the story at all.  Heck, he doesn't even show up until the end of the issue once Tony has already made his choice and is only mentioned once in the story before that point!


The artwork by Omar Francia is appropriately atmospheric.  Drenched in inks, Francia's work here is reminiscent of Tony Harris though far more stylized.  I think I can also detect a slight hint of Sean Phillips influencing the style here.  It fits the story perfectly, since Aldrich seems to be channeling Ed Brubaker.

Is this a riveting crime comic in the spirit of Criminal?  Yes.  Is it an Arrow story?  Not really.  At least, it doesn't feel like one.  You can safely skip this comic without feeling like you're missing anything as an Arrow fan but lovers of crime comics will want to check this out.

Arrow #27 (Web Comic) - A Review

It's become something of a joke among Arrow fans that the Starling City Police Department doesn't have any other detectives in it besides Quentin Lance, his partner (whose name I don't recall ever being mentioned on the show) and - until recently - McKenna Hall.  Arrow #27 rectifies this somewhat by introducing us to Detective Rivera - no first name given.  Rivera is a Starling City native who grew up in The Glades and seems to hate The Hood nearly as much as Detective Lance.  This leads to him suggesting a new strategy for capturing the vigilante - going undercover with the gang that seems to be The Hood's current target.


This issue reminded me of the series Criminal (by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips) in several respects.  Emilio Aldrich's script focuses upon the realities of the shady side of Starling City, barely featuring The Starling City Vigilante until the very end of the issue!  The artwork by Eric Nguyen is gritty and uncompromising, reminiscent in several spots of Jock's work on Green Arrow: Year One.  


Your enjoyment of Arrow #27 may best be determined by your enjoyment of police procedural stories.  There's very little of our hero in this issue and none of the character-based drama one usually sees on the show.  Still, this issue is enjoyable for what it is - a good cop story - and well worth the $1.00 download.

Arrow #23 (Web Comic) - A Review

Arrow #23 wasn't written or drawn by Mike Grell.  Despite this, it seems to possess some of the same spirit that inspired much of the late '80s/early '90s run of Green Arrow.  Subtitled Hunters, the story focuses upon Ollie's battle with a mountain lion after Ollie's attempts to stop a drug-deal in the wilderness lead him into the wild cat's territory.  


The script by Emilio Aldrich invokes the Men's Adventure magazines of yesteryear.  This is fitting considering Ollie's own origins among the pulp heroes of that time and the adventurers having to contest with dangerous men and even more dangerous animals.  The action is well-paced and Ollie's thoughts on survival, inter-cut with quotes from The Art of War further evokes the feeling of Mike Grell's warrior poet take on Green Arrow.


I've dismissed Omar Francia's art in the past as being too heavily inked.  While this may have been true of past stories set among the bright lights of Starling City, Francia's dark style is very fitting here in the forests of the night.  You really feel Ollie's terror in every panel, as he evades a predator who has him outclassed and outmaneuvered.

Bottom Line: This is a good issue of Arrow and a must-read for anyone who likes Mike Grell style Green Arrow stories, Jack London style tales of survival or any comic with dark, atmospheric artwork.

Arrow #16 (Web Comic) - A Review

Subtitled 'Sins Of The Father', Arrow #16 is a step backward in several respects.  Much of Ollie's character development in recent issues and episodes of the show seems to have been lost, as Ollie is back to killing minions willy-nilly.  It's a minor point but a caption box noting this story took place early on in Ollie's vigilante days would not have been amiss. 



The script by Emilio Aldrich is somewhat repetitive, covering much the same territory as the television episode Legacies.  Like that episode, the main plot of this issue centers upon a family of criminals and Ollie's attempts to help one of them make amends for his past crimes.  The circumstances are just different enough to maintain interest but one can't shake the feeling that we've seen this before.


The real unpleasant surprise of the issue is the artwork by the usually excellent Mike Grell.  For the most part, this issue looks good.  The problem is one ridiculous action sequence, where Ollie seems to escape capture by throwing arrows with enough force to cut into the flesh of the drug dealers he is fighting. 

I could believe Ollie managing this with darts and we've seen him use those in the show before.  I could see him having arrow-shaped darts just for the sake of keeping to his theme.  But as drawn, given the proportions of everything else, it looks like Ollie is THROWING arrows at people!  For shame, Mike Grell!

As much as it pains me to say this, you can probably skip this week's Arrow comic unless you're a Mike Grell completist or a die-hard Arrowhead.  The story is lackluster.  The art, while generally excellent, falls apart along with all sense of proportion in the final action sequence.  Truly disappointing on all fronts.   

Arrow #12 (Web Comic) - A Review

Subtitled 'Limbo', Arrow #12 has nothing to do with dancing under a stick and everything to do with a state of uncertainty.  Oliver Queen's night of crime-fighting takes a decidedly darker and more personal turn when the path he's tracking to a drug shipment turns into a walk down memory lane.  However, the memories that wash over Ollie are not pleasant ones and he must struggle to bring the drug dealers to justice while combating his own personal torment as he lays siege to a yacht not unlike the ship he lost his father and lover on.  


Though I'm not a psychologist and have no psychological training apart from some college-level course work, I've felt that Arrow has done a good job of portraying Ollie's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  At the very least, it's done a better job than earlier Green Arrow stories which never examined the psychological trauma Oliver Queen would have likely experienced after being shipwrecked for any length of time.  The script by Emilio Aldrich continues in that vein, showing that for all his heroism Ollie is still a deeply troubled man.


Aldrich's script is well depicted by Julian Totino Tedesco's artwork.  There is a roughness to Tedesco's work that fits the harshness of the story.  Reminiscent of Jock's work on Green Arrow: Year One,  Tedesco utilizes thin lines and heavy silhouettes to dramatic effect.  The final product seems detailed yet sketchy, but not in a way that suggests incompleteness.   

If you haven't given the Arrow web-comic a shot yet, this would be a good one to set your sights on trying.  The script is thrilling, the artwork stunning in its' subtlety and it's an all-around good read.  Highly recommended.