Green Arrow #1 - A Review

I imagine that the biggest challenge in revamping Green Arrow had to have been finding a way to differentiate Oliver Queen from all the other billionaire playboys turned vigilante in the comics world. Even as a Green Arrow fanboy – perhaps the biggest one in the world – I have to admit that isn’t an easy task. While many adjectives can be applied to the character of Oliver Queen, ‘original’ is not one of them.

Right from the start, Green Arrow was Batman with a quiver instead of a utility belt. Despite this, thanks to some innovative storytelling by the likes of Jack Kirby and Mort Weisinger, Green Arrow’s adventures remained in print throughout the 1950s at a time when other superheroes books were failing left and right. A revamp in the late 1960s under the team of Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams saw The Emerald Archer receive a new look and a new attitude, as Oliver Queen lost his fortune, found enlightenment and became a modern-day Robin Hood and champion of the oppressed.

As time passed, the character of Oliver Queen has been revamped again and again. From Mike Grell’s portrait of an aging activist confronting his mid-life crisis to the idealistic outcast abandoned by both his family and community J.T. Krul created last year, there has been little consistency to the character of Oliver Queen. One writer envisions him as a loving family man. Another writes him as an unrepentant horn dog, who will bed anything with breasts and a pulse. One author portrays him as an outspoken but well-meaning champion. Another depicts him as a blustering blowhard who barely has the intelligence to dress himself. This problem has plagued Green Arrow to the point that even the people writing his title were unsure whether or not he had ever actively cheated on long-time girlfriend Black Canary.

Thankfully, the universe-wide revamp has given author J.T. Krul – returned to write Green Arrow after having written the book post-Blackest Night – a chance to start over with a clean slate. Krul is now free to ignore several decades of messy continuity and shoddy characterization and get to the true soul of Oliver Queen, restoring The Green Arrow to his former glory, positioning him once more in a place of honor in the pantheon of DC Comics heroes.

Well, we can hope, right?

At first glance, it seems Krul has done little to set Oliver Queen apart from the other billionaire playboy vigilantes. Indeed, it appears that he may have borrowed heavily from the recent cinematic revamp of another billionaire hero from the Marvelous Competitor. Oliver Queen runs his secret vigilante operation out of a hidden lab in the middle of his own business. There’s an anxious executive trying to slowly take over all of Queen Enterprises. There’s even a red-haired secretary tasked with keeping everyone distracted while Oliver Queen is out playing hero.

Thankfully, most of these trappings are nods to the original Green Arrow series, which pre-dated Iron Man by several decades and they are common enough to every comic book with a Rich Idiot With No Day Job protagonist.

How then does Krul set Oliver Queen apart from the rest of the pack?

First, Krul emphasizes Green Arrow’s status as a hunter. Whatever criteria you may use to compare him to similar heroes, Green Arrow is a tracker first and foremost. The first time we see him, he is following a trail and plotting just how to best go about attacking his quarry -in this case, three wanted super-villains who are living it up in a ritzy nightclub.

Secondly, Krul stresses Green Arrow’s status as an outlaw. This may not be uncommon in the new DCU (consider Batman and Green Lantern’s fight with the police in Justice League #1) but it is made clear from the start that Green Arrow has just as much to fear from the police as he does from the supervillains. That is a broad change from how superheroes have usually been viewed in the DC Universe, though it is nothing new for Green Arrow who has lived the outlaws’ life on three separate occasions before this issue.

Next, Krul highlights Oliver Queen’s conscience. Bruce Wayne became a hero because of a child’s vow affirming the love of his parents. Tony Stark became a hero out of guilt for the lives he inadvertently helped destroy. But Oliver Queen does what he does because it is right. Because it is wrong for the strong to prey upon the weak and because if he does not stand up, who will?

Finally, Krul showcases Oliver Queen’s attitude. More than any other hero, Green Arrow represents the heroic swashbuckler spirit. He goes into battle with a smile on his lips and a witty retort at the ready, no matter what the odds. He is Douglas Fairbanks facing three men at once. He is Errol Flynn, striding into the great hall with a poached deer slung across his shoulders. He is Cary Elwes wrestling a giant. He may fall in the end but he will go down fighting.

Speaking of swashbuckling, I must note that this issue gives us plenty of action. Indeed, it has the most action of any of the DCnU comics I’ve read so far. And all of it is masterfully illustrated by Dan Jurgens and George Perez – two pros whose names are synonymous with quality comics.

Do I have any complaints? Yes, but they are meager ones. Chief among them is that much of Oliver’s new supporting cast has not been given any characterization past “the smart hacker chick” or “the competent secretary”. The most well developed of Ollie’s team at Q-Core is Jax; a pacifist weapons designer who Ollie brought in to design and test all of his trick arrows. Hopefully they will get further development in future issues.

I’m also not pleased by the revelation that Oliver has some secret guilt that has driven him to become Green Arrow and that no indication is given as to what event he is talking about, save that he stood by and did nothing and that people died because of it.

Not only is this disappointing because it adds a level of angst to a comic that had been happily free of it until this point but it likely means that Andy Diggle’s excellent Green Arrow: Year One mini-series is no longer canon. I don’t recall Oliver sitting idle while people died in that story, though a large number were probably killed because of his actions and his best intentions.

All in all, I rather enjoyed this issue and I’m cautiously optimistic about this new take on Green Arrow. A part of me longs for the family man who just happened to be a superhero as written by Kevin Smith. And a part of me is nostalgic for the days when Eddie Fyers and Connor Hawke roamed the highways of America looking for adventure and people to help. But what’s past is past and all the wishing in the world can’t turn back time.

As it is, I’d say that this new Green Arrow is on-target.

Batgirl #1 - A Review

When I first saw the list of DCnU titles coming out this week, I knew which one would have to be the first I’d review; Batgirl #1. I wanted to review it for my love of the character and the author Gail Simone. But I knew I also had to review it so I could address the many controversies surrounding the title.

For those of you coming in late to the game, let me sum up.

"The Batgirls" by The Black Cat of the web comic "Batman And Sons"

Since the 1950s, several young women have gone by the heroic moniker of Batgirl. The most famous of these women is Barbara Gordon – librarian by day, vigilante by night and daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. While Barbara wasn’t the first Batgirl, she is the most widely recognized by the public at large thanks to her appearances in the 1960s Batman TV series, the Filmmation Batman cartoons and nearly every Batman cartoon since, including Batman: The Animated Series and The Batman.

For over twenty years, ever since the story Batman: The Killing Joke, Barbara Gordon has been paralyzed from the waist-down following an attack by The Joker. It was John Ostrander who gave Barbara a new lease on life in the pages of Suicide Squad, where it was revealed that Barbara had decided to use her computer skills and photographic memory to fight crime in ways she’d never dreamed of as Batgirl. She adopted the codename Oracle and quickly became a power to be reckoned with as part of the Bat Family, a member of the Justice League and the brains behind the various incarnations of The Birds of Prey.

When it was announced that Barbara would be returning to action as Batgirl, the fan reaction was heavily divided. While most fans met the news with enthusiasm (if the advance pre-orders for the book are any sign) fans of the more recent Batgirls – Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown – worried that their favorite heroines would be erased from the new DC Universe altogether. And a large number of Oracle fans – among them Newsarama columnist Jill “The Nerdy Bird” Pantozzi and actress Teal Sherer – expressed their concerns that Barbara’s legacy as Oracle and her position as an inspiration to handicapped women who read comics were being marginalized.

To her credit, Gail Simone did try to address these concerns in an interview with Pantozzi. In it, Simone – who has done more than anyone to promote Barbara Gordon as an A-List heroine in the last decade – stated that she understood the reactions of fans like Pantozzi and reaffirmed her own love for Oracle as a concept. However, Simone did repeat the sentiment expressed by many in recent years - “why is it that virtually every single hero with a grievous injury, or even a death, gets to come back whole, except Barbara Gordon?”

It’s a fair question. Why, in a world with alien technology that can regrow whole bodies, magical Amazon technology that can heal any wound and people with miraculous healing-touch powers (the means used to heal Batman’s severed spine after his first encounter with Bane) must Barbara Gordon be the eternal handicapped heroine?

I heard someone liken this conflict to the Buffalo Springfield song For What It’s Worth and the lyric “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” I think the truth lies closer to a scene from Fiddler on the Roof.

There's a funny scene where two men are arguing about something before a group and after listening to the first man our hero Tevye says, "You are right." Then the second person gives his argument and Tevye proclaims, "You are right.” One of the men in the crowd protests, "Tevye, you said he is right. Then you said he is right. They can not both be right.”

Tevye’s response? "You also are right!"

In any event, there are no easy answers and there is nothing left but to look at this comic and see how it reads. Am I right?

Thankfully, Simone not only meets the high expectations set before her – she exceeds them!

To get my one complaint with the book out of the way early and address the big question on everyone’s mind, we get precious little explanation for how Barbara is back on her feet. In fact, we know nothing about Barbara’s background save that she is still Jim Gordon’s daughter and that it has been three years since she walked, following an attack by The Joker that synchs up with The Killing Joke Nothing is said about how she spent those three years, so there is little to alleviate the worries of Oracle fans... save that Barbara is as strong-willed a heroine as ever.

Thankfully, this book makes it clear from the start that while Barbara may never have been Oracle (as far as we know), she is far from a shrinking violet and much more than “Batman with Boobs”. We are presented with image after image of a competent, confident young woman who knows her business and her business is kicking ass and taking names. All of these images are ably illustrated by Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes, who prove to be every bit Simone’s equal in the creation department.

The story itself is the perfect mix of drama, action and comedy that we’ve come to expect from Gail Simone. We are treated to Barbara’s first night back in the costume as we learn something of her methods and her adjusting to things which have changed. Some changes are for the better, such as her increased upper-body strength. And those who fear that technical skills may have disappeared in the Revamp, worry not – Babs proves as tech-savvy as ever in how she has found a way to keep informed of major crimes in Gotham.

We also get to see Barbara as she moves out, meets her new roommate and has a faithful encounter with a new villain called Mirror, who seems to have it out for those who somehow cheated death… including a criminal Barbara helped bring to justice and Barbara herself. And worry not - there's plenty of the trademark wacky Gail Simone humor as Batgirl rides her motorcycle through a hospital.

It’s easy to see Simone writing a little of herself into Barbara throughout the book. Of course all writers do this but Simone has set up an interesting parallel between Barbara moving on with her life after having regained the use of her legs and Simone writing this book. Simone has been quite vocal about how Batgirl was her “gateway” character into comics and how she always identified with Batgirl as another strong-willed red-head. You can see this in the scene where Barbara has breakfast with her father and discusses her decision to move out, contemplating that it would be so easy for her to stay someplace she feels safe but considering that she has to move on and face new challenges.

That is the Barbara Gordon we all know and love - the woman who will not let anything get in her way. No man, no monster… not even the loss of control of her own body will stop her from doing whatever it takes to succeed.

That is the core of the character, regardless of whether she is hacking a drug lords’ bank accounts or high-kicking a hustler. She will fight them on the rooftops and from her desktop. She will fight them in the cityscapes and in cyberspace. Whatever her name and whatever the mask, she is Barbara Gordon and she is glorious!

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 9 - Night Terrors

THE PLOT

The Doctor, Amy and Rory travel to modern-day England to after the Doctor’s psychic paper receives a message from a boy named George asking for someone to save him from the monsters in his cupboard. Posing as social workers, the three scan the apartment complex with The Doctor eventually finding George and his frantic father.

George apparently suffers from acute pantophobia -the fear of everything. Dismissing his talk of monsters as paranoia, his parents are at a loss as to what to do with him. Of course The Doctor knows better than to ignore a frighten child who sees what others don’t but even he is at a loss as to just what is living in George’s cupboard along with all the toys and other items that made him scared…

Meanwhile, as The Doctor makes his house call, Amy and Rory find themselves falling down an elevator into a most unusual home, where nothing is real and the other residents of George’s apartment building seem to be winding up… and being turned into living dolls!

THE GOOD PARTS

* This episode could stand alongside Blink or The Girl In The Fireplace as single-episode stories you could use to try and explain the concept and theme of Doctor Who to that one person in your circle of friends or family. You know the one I mean - the person who has never understood it, probably never tried, thinks the whole thing is a bit silly and then one day they say, “Well, all right…FINE. Give me ONE episode to watch and show me how awesome it is”.

* I’ve mentioned before how, in his most basic and ideal state, The Doctor is every child’s ultimate imaginary friend – an adult who acts like a kid, who knows everything but is still willing to listen. Matt Smith (who has been finding all the right notes for The Doctor lately in his performances) epitomizes this concept in a truly magical moment where he uses the Sonic Screwdriver to power on several of George’s toys from a distance and then just sits back in delight as he shares in that brief second of relief.

* The whole episode is suspenseful and appropriately spooky and atmospheric, with the mystery of the cupboard being played out masterfully. Three cheers for the set-designers and props people on a job well done!

THE PROBLEMS

* Doing research for this article, I found that it was originally meant to be the fourth episode of Series 6 but that it was pushed back, with very little being rewritten. While the script is a good one, I dare say one thing should have been rewritten – most of Rory’s dialogue. Rory in this episode sounds like old Series 5 Rory – the one who was rather reluctant to get on the TARDIS in the first place, who snarked non-stop about how much better The Doctor was than him and why didn’t Amy go marry him?

* On that note, you’d expect Rory – The Last Centurion – to at least try beating the monsters that are turning his wife into a giant blank-faced doll with the mop stick he is holding, rather than standing there in slack-jawed horror as she is grappled.

* While this episode is a wonderful introduction to the basic themes of Doctor Who for new viewers, I fear that experienced Who-ligans may find themselves viewing this episode with a heavy sense of déjà vu. A child who fears something strange in their bedroom? Bit like the young Amelia Pond in The Eleventh Hour, isn’t it? Faceless monsters that make you like them with a touch… just like the gas-mask boy in The Empty Child, right? A child who turns out to be something quite alien? Fear Her. Of course these stock concepts have been used in science fiction throughout time and space, so I can’t accuse writer Mark Gatiss of being unoriginal. It’s just a shame that such a strong script should be so dependent on concepts that have been done recently, done before and debatably done better.

THE FINAL VERDICT

This is a wonderful episode, despite being made-up of a hodgepodge of stock science-fiction concepts and themes that Doctor Who has done before. It is saved by two things; some wonderful performances by the cast (Matt Smith in particular stands out) and some masterful direction which milks some true suspense out of what could have easily been another Monster-Of-The-Week story. It may not be the greatest episode ever but it is one of the most quintessential Doctor Who stories ever.

Share The Love Of Our Hobby: Gift A Comic 2011

SOURCE: Gift A Comic 2011

The world of comics is shrinking. Sales are floundering and the fan base is not growing. Marvel and DC are doing what they think is best to attract new readers. And it is high time we the fans do something as well.

Many of us have friends and family who read but don't read comics. And that needs to change. So this holiday season, gift a comic to a friend and/or family member. Whether it be a single issue, a trade, graphic novel, or a digital copy; the goal is to spread the joy of comics to new people.

This isn't about digital vs. print, or indie vs. mainstream, this is about spreading our love of comics to new readers and possibly new fans. If we don't grow and expand our industry, no one will.

#GiftAComic2011


A noble goal, but I say - why wait until the holidays? Reading isn't a once-a-year thing. It's an all-the-time thing! Why not buy your friends and family a comic now? Or donate a graphic novel to your local library - share the gift of comics with your entire community!

Green Lantern #1 & DCU On-Line 'Fight For The Light' Preview

SOURCE: Geoff Johns on DC Universe Online and the Green Lantern Re-Launch

The Fight For The Light material looks interesting. Maybe good enough to make me reactivate my account for a month.

The real news is the Green Lantern #1 preview. You'll have to follow the link if you want to read it. I'm saving my commentary for the full issue.