Green Arrow has started to be a little more mainstream ever since the Arrow TV show brought the character to the forefront. Honestly, I'd probably not be too interested in the character without having watched the Arrow show, so I'd say DC's awareness campaign for the character's working. What I do know of the character is that in the early 90's I saw a few graphic novels where he was shown as a womanizer & a rich playboy, who fought crime using a bow & arrow as a main weapon. (Basically a Batman that actually had sex with women & used weapons and gadgets, not fists and gadgets.)
He was eventually brought into the 90's JLA, where I got a taste of who the character was. He was portrayed as an aloof loner, not completely committing to the League, but available when needed. Even though this parallels Batman's MO a lot, they often did not see eye-to-eye, and on more than one occasion, Green Arrow would stand up to Batman (which I always thought was really cool). When nobody else in the League questioned Batman's intent or plan, Ollie would.
My knowledge of the character lacks anything from his own story line until after his Justice League appearances, where I discovered he had a thing with Black Canary & got married, killed a bad guy, had his secret ID outed to the world, and put in jail, where Canary left him while he was in the slammer (bitch!). I know that Speedy / Red Arrow / Arsenal / Roy Harper turned druggy, then good & sober, then bad & had his arm chopped off, then good, then druggy again, then good... I'm really not sure where he stands at this point anymore. Furthermore, FlashPoint had Ollie as more of a gadget head without too much of the bow & arrow path, so I was interested to see what's up with his new52 version.
Since this is a zero issue (and I haven't read anything else other than these DC zero issues up to this point - for those just happening upon this blog), we get an origin story before and slightly after his stint on the island. Most people know his story already: Stranded on an island, taught to use bow & arrow for survival, comes back to civilization & becomes a super hero... I choose to think he was on the opposite side that the SS Minnow crashed on.
Anyway, this story is just basically Ollie being a douche, throwing a party, helicopter dropping his buddy Tommy Merlin in. It is this billionaire carelessness that allows the offshore shindig to be infiltrated by some pirates, one of whom is like a version of Mortal Kombat's Kano mixed with Bane. He comes in shouting his name and threatening to kill everyone and stuff. Oliver thinks he can take them on with the bow he was using to show off to his guests with... and here's where the book totally excelled... See up until this point, I was about three seconds away from giving up. I know Ollie's a douche. I get it. I don't need 6 pages showing it. I figured he'd end up on the island by way of a coward or that the terrorists would blow the boat or something; but it is Ollie's own incompetent foolhardy attempt to be a hero that triggers the catalyst of the explosion that leaves him stranded!!!
 |
| Oh, Ollie, you done effed up! That was a dead-man switch, dummy! |
 |
| And now you're gunna be stuck on an island without the company of the lovely Mary-Anne and Ginger! |
As if it wasn't already enough that Ollie has to live with the guilt of getting everyone blown to shark chum, he's also the one responsible for Tommy Merlin's burns.
Like I said before, I'm only really a fan of the TV series up to this point. I've only ever read Green Arrow as he appears in the JLA and one shots with others. This is going to change! This book did such a good job of setting up what one can only hope is a rivalry between two old friends, that it makes you want to see what happens. The only thing I think I can fault it for is that it totally rushed through his stint on the island and showed him in full Arrow garb. I would have much preferred this zero book ending with Ollie on the island and a sneak peek at Merlin in the ICU or something. In any case, check this one out. The art is outstandingly busy (in a very good way) and reminds me of the old Ropocop series' line work!
 |
| Villians should learn to only shout their moniker out when they've hit the big-time... otherwise you're doomed to be a throw-away villian-of-the-month! |
No comments:
Post a Comment