Witness the exploits of a new kind of Team Arrow as threads from ‘The Kill Machine’ and ‘The Outsiders War’ converge to cap off a phenomenal “Green Arrow” run!
Written by Jeff LemireCover by Andrea Sorrentino and Marcelo Maiolo
Illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino and Denys Cowan
Colored by Marcelo Maiolo
Lettered by Dezi SientyIn this final GREEN ARROW volume written by acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire, Seattle is under siege and Diggle’s in the grip of crimelord Richard Dragon and his Longbow Hunters! Collects GREEN ARROW #32-34, GREEN ARROW: FUTURES END #1 and a story from SECRET ORIGINS #4.
What is the Green Arrow?
Jeff Lemire has implicitly asked this question throughout his entire twenty-issue (and change) run on “Green Arrow,” and come to a variety of conclusions, all seemingly revolving around three concepts identified in ‘The Outsiders War’: enlightenment, steadfastness, and lineage. With the final volume of his run, he pushes these three concepts hard as ever by use of a perhaps shameful past, trying present, and uncertain future, all through the lens of our eponymous “broken” hero and all he has withstood. By assembling threats from each of these eras in the aftermath of the aforementioned war, Lemire is able to put a capstone on his fascinating, cohesive story about the Emerald Archer of Seattle with a surprising amount of hope for the future, simultaneously drawing parallels across various narrative threads to emphasize a sense of emotional growth over Oliver Queen’s vigilante career.
With the primary story that gives this collection its name, ‘Broken,’ Lemire brings readers around for one last full-bore adventure. On the side of the heroes, Lemire shows how each member of Team Arrow is very useful, including hints of how they may develop. These developments are especially useful for John Diggle, who, despite being a transplant from the Arrow TV series, only really comes into his own as a member of the team, as well as examining why he was missing in the first place, in this three-issue arc. Others, in particular Naomi and Emiko, each fold themselves into the entirety of the enterprise rather well, making this last arc less about Oliver than it is about all of the Green Arrow team put together.
After the globe-trotting ‘Outsiders War,’ the return of a street-level threat in the form of Richard Dragon and his Longbow Hunters is very much welcome. Dragon himself is a dangerous foe with a highly tactical mind, the writing helping to emphasize that by having a view into his perspective analyzing approximate weights, heights, and weaknesses of his opponents mid-conflict. Meanwhile, the other members of the Longbow Hunters assemble a vast assortment of villains from throughout the run, in addition to adding one or two to the mix (be they returns from the pre-New 52 continuity or completely original), helping to draw attention to the wide breadth dealt with by Lemire’s pen across twenty issues.
The other two stories, a “five years later” tie-in to the ‘Futures End’ storyline and a short look at Oliver’s “Secret Origin,” are also interesting, though perhaps not as potent overall given the lack of importance of the former’s validity as a future and the fact that readers would likely already be well aware of the latter. The ‘Futures End’ tie-in helps to showcase a future Team Arrow that exists beyond Oliver Queen, as well as putting a coda on the entire run in the form of one last look at the Outsiders. The ‘Secret Origin’ of Green Arrow is well-written, but again is relatively unimportant, perhaps mostly useful as a measure of how far the story had gone since its beginning and a cursory look over the entire run.
Andrea Sorrentino has been the illustrator on the vast majority of the Lemire “Green Arrow” run, and his work here further shows how perfect he was for the role, especially for the gritty, scrambling, and at times panicked nature of Seattle’s hero emphasized throughout all of the issues. Some other artists may not have been able to fully manifest how much of a threat someone like Richard Dragon could be after the far-reaching mythological takes in ‘The Outsiders War,’ but Sorrentino makes it seem almost effortless. Shadows loom deeply around every corner of Seattle, making the city seem all the more dangerous for the villains (or heroes) it may hide within them. Repeated, slowly closing panels with decreased focus give an impression of berserker rage. Panels cutting inside of other panels draws increased attention to certain elements, as if highlighting them, causing readers to wince in sympathy from particularly brutal blows in combat. The use of space, both positive and negative, helps Sorrentino’s artwork to appear part of a completed world that is being viewed through its more horrific avenues, and while his art does fit into the aforementioned grit, it also seems as though it could easily fit in more fantastical elements, such as the work of the Outsiders themselves.
Denys Cowan’s illustrations on the “Secret Origins” story is perhaps less beholden to the sheer grit in Sorrentino’s work, but acts as an interesting variation to close out the volume. Less focus on shadows and light, along with heavier linework on the existing imagery, creates the feeling of a livelier, less beaten-down hero even as he faces horrible trials. At times, he even lets the background tell the story, including “dirty” panels with flecks of black, or giving only minimal shading so as to allow the colors to shine through in greater detail.
The two distinct art styles would perhaps not fit together quite as well without the amazing colors provided by Marcelo Maiolo. Every hue and shade accentuates or changes a scene’s entire tone, keeping a street-level appeal to the entire story. Splashes of a singular color help to add a shock value to scenes, particularly red backgrounds against a grayscale image to draw increased attention to the sheer brutality of conflict. In all, while Sorrentino and Cowan both followed well with Lemire’s emphasis on a “gritty” story, it is likely they would not have come together quite as deliberately and cohesively as a complete unit without the expert color choices and utilization of Maiolo’s discerning palette.
