After the ‘Kill Machine’ arc concluded, I felt as if my
longing for a good Green Arrow run had come to an end. Lemire’s writing and
Sorrentino’s artwork were perfect for me, I loved the sense of direction and
purpose in the story, I loved the new villain Komodo and I adored Sorrentino’s
flawless artwork (now my favourite artist in any field). Could the start of the
next arc have the same effect on me? You’re damn right it could.
This issue covers the first New 52 appearance of one of
Green Arrow’s few regular villains, Count Vertigo, with a fantastic redesign
that fits the character’s new personality and tone perfectly. Fitted with
appropriately spiralled body paint and a visible Vertigo device thing (how
intelligent of me) he looks far better than his previous incarnations. The
whole book, as usual, looks stunning. Sorrentino excels in not only the little
details, but also his amazing splash page work (it certainly blew Green Arrow’s
mind). With the Count’s power being the ability to induce Vertigo to his
enemies, Sorrentino decides to take this and play with it, using his trademark
loose panelling in a new, highly effective way. The issue also showcases Ollie’s
skill in taking on multiple foes, shaking off the view of him only being useful
against one target behind a bow.
The story, whilst standing on its own legs, also holds ties
into the previous arc in terms of the way it deals with Ollie’s origins and his
family ties (one helluva twist at the end, believe me). I found this to be a
fairly welcome element as it gave the first arc an even bigger sense of meaning
than I had originally expected an arc like that to have. It also reassured me
to know that Jeff Lemire wasn’t giving up on his promise to flesh Ollie out
more than his predecessors had, and is still intent on making Oliver Queen, not
Green Arrow, feel more like a real person than just a name.
Splash, ahhahh, savior of the universe.
In this issue, the relationship between Fyff, Naomi and
Ollie is shown off properly for the first time, with a lot of good ol’ friendly
banter being tossed around between the three of them, as well as some new trick
arrows (still no sign of that boxing glove arrow yet…) that help to give them
more of a team feel, whilst still allowing Ollie to have his book without them
invading it. It’s also a pleasantly funny break from the new more serious
status quo of the title which, although being my preferred theme, felt
sometimes too prominent in the first arc.
Also making their New 52 debuts are a re-designed Clock
King, and ex-villain Shado who appears as an ally in this issue. Tockman’s role
in the issue may be a minor one compared to Shado and Vertigo’s, but at least
he is still there (a sign of more great things to come perhaps?) While Tockman is now totally different to his
previous incarnation, Shado has remained very similar to her pre-N52
counterpart.
My one gripe about this issue is mainly to do with one line
on the book’s first page involving a joke about Arrow’s entrance to the castle
in Vlatava, using the old “so much for the subtle approach” type line, despite
walking straight up to the front door with nothing but a hooded rag to cover
his suit, which instantly reminded me of the Halo trailer at E3 involving a
cloaked Master Chief. Very silly indeed.
Verdict:
Green Arrow is my favourite comic book running right now and
is on the fast track to becoming DC’s best not only in my opinion, but in the
opinion of many others also. This issue has it all, action, humour, a classic
villain and above all, mystery. Pick this book up now! Trust me, you won’t
regret it.
Score:
10/10
-Jamie
Copyright Jamie King 2013, All Rights Reserved, permissions may be granted upon request.
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