Words: Ann Nocenti. Pictures: Freddie E Williams II. Colours: Rob Hunter.
I’m currently quite conflicted about Green Arrow, and it’s a book that every month I’m finding myself wrestling with, because I want to keep getting it, but I’m not able to make a very compelling argument as to why. “Because Green Arrow is awesome” is a good one, but the current evidence does not support it well.
Green Arrow! Now with added Chinese Kung Fu Zombies!
For me, Green Arrow has always been a bit of a wobbly character. When you write a profile for him, you pretty much find yourself with Batman who went for a bow and arrows over a belt of gadgets. This is fine, as it sets him up for a more “heroic” comic, rather than “super-heroic”, more vigilante and and down to earth. And when you couple that with his more left-wing leanings, that’s where he works well. So when you put him up against Chinese ghosts, I start getting a bit concerned.
Since the New 52 gave us a younger, moustache-free Oliver Queen, I’ve been a bit worried about the way he’s been repositioned. His origin is still sound, he has some demons from his pre-Arrow days that serve to suitably drive him. But running Queen Industries in a maverick fashion, with a team of dedicated tech specialists to support his Arrow’ing, he’s becoming more James Bond than the socialist vigilante who served as such a great conscience for the Hero community.
Now he’s jet-setting, looking more like his Smallville counterpart than Robin Hood, and to be brutally honest, I’ve completely lost track of what the character is up to. The company may have kicked him out. He might be still there. I have no idea. I do know that he’s got some “Wolf Tech” which is awesome at finding/tracking people. Or something. Maybe it’s hungry. I don’t know, but it’s definitely “Tech” and important enough to warrant a mission to China. Because…look, I’ve lost track, okay?
The China setting is refreshing – too often comic stories happen in a place that can only be described as the United States of Generica – there’s very little that separates one city block from another, and if it weren’t for a helpful banner indicating the locality, you’d assume it was the back-lot of Universal Studios. China was visibly different, the story was culturally different – whether it was accurate I have NO idea, but it was a break from the endless sky-scraper genre of inner-city crime-fighting. Ollie fighting ghosts? That bit lost me.
I want to like Green Arrow, I really do. I love what the character used to be, and what he still could be, but I do not care for who he currently is. And it’s a real shame, because Williams and Hunter have done a great job of telling the visual tale – there’s a nice sense of action to the art at all times, and Nocenti’s story has felt refreshing, as I mentioned previously. But overall? Green Arrow isn’t working for me. Give him an orphan side-kick, a goatee and a real sense of right and wrong – that could bring me back into the fold. Until then…
RATING: 2 Trick Arrows Out of 5
Thoughts In The Key Of N 