I’ve always been a fan of DC’s emerald archer. I’ve got over two boxes full of issues ranging from the current books all the way to Mike Grell’s historic run in the 80’s, plus Dennis O’Neill’s reimagining of him alongside the Green Lantern.
I think it started when he was first introduced on the pilot episode of Justice League Unlimited. I was intrigued by the idea of a hero who wasn’t interested in intergalactic odysseys with the big dogs, a guy who was content looking out for “the little guy” who was all-too-often overlooked in the battles with giant monsters.
Unfortunately, it’s been a rocky road for Oliver Queen these past few years, both on the page and behind the scenes. His marriage ended, his former ward lost an arm, his city blew up, and he was branded a murderer. Lately, DC Comics has had a nasty propensity to fail at following through on something and relaunching a title or character over and over, and Green Arrow has suffered just as much as anyone else.
I would marry you, Ollie...but honestly, whats the point? This will all get retconned, anyway...
In this issue (No. 13), newcomer James Patrick presents Ollie with some classic ethical conundrums as he emerges from the Brightest Day event, highlighting the changes he’s undergone. Our hero finds himself dragged into a government transport of religious terrorist Billy Miggs, who accuses Ollie of using his superhero status to avoid questions regarding his own moral hypocrisy.
Lately, Green Arrow’s books have become a sort of revolving door for writers and artists. They come aboard, present a single story arc, then leave. Ollie’s hardly the first to suffer this fate, but it’s still no less frustrating.
That’s not to say the stories haven’t been good. For the most part, they have, and this issue is no exception. However, with such a limited time to work with the series, I can’t imagine a writer or artist can get all that vested in it. The best runs are almost always the longer ones. (See: Mike Grell) Given his work in this issue, I’d be thrilled to see Patrick stick around, but future solicitations already suggest that just isn’t going to happen.
If I don't get a writer for more than 12 issues, I swear I'm hitting someone with this!
Another strike against this story is DC’s imminent reboot in September. No matter how good and well-crafted this story is, in just over two months (if DC is to be believed) it’s not going to matter. It’s hard to get vested in a story that you know ahead of time is pretty much going to be retconned.
And that’s unfortunate, because Patrick does a pretty stellar job here. Oliver’s an intriguing case study in this issue. He was brought into the transport mission because the ones in charge believed he’d kill someone, if necessary. Yet, when the time came, he essentially flaked out, couldn’t do it. Even though he abandoned that no-killing code with Prometheus, it’s still a pretty big part of who he is.
It’s impressive how Patrick quickly plants heavy weight on Ollie’s renewed code of ethics. By placing him between those who justify their own sins with his and those who expect him to live up to his former ruthless reputation, Patrick captures the lonely feeling of being shackled to one’s past faults.
Artist Augustin Padilla, meanwhile, handles the pacing quite well, interspercing images of arrows cleaving their way through flesh and bone to help drive home the moral weight of this tale.
Dammit Flashpoint, you ruin everything!!
Overall, this was a pretty exciting story, filled with car chases, explosions, and near death collisions, and it manages to deliver all of this while facing Ollie with some hard moral questions. Miggs is also an intriguing villain, almost the perfect antithesis for our hero, and he does it without a flashy costume. Frankly, this issue is pretty damn impressive.
It’s timing just sucks.
I give this three out of five stars. Were it not for DC’s imminent retcon of, well, just about everything it would’ve been a solid five.