Oliver Queen has to deal with double fallout from “Forever Evil” and ‘Outsiders War’ as the city of Seattle gets pummeled in “Green Arrow” #32.
Written by Jeff Lemire
Illustrated by Andrea SorrentinoWith Seattle under siege and Diggle in the grip of crime lord Richard Dragon, the Queen Legacy must find a way to move on. But is that even possible given the violent aftermath of The Outsiders War? A brand-new storyline and perfect jumping-on point to Lemire and Sorrentino’s popular run, as “Green Arrow: Broken” begins here!
Once the poster-child of New 52 editorial interference, “Green Arrow” has become one of the most consistent and high quality titles coming from DC right now. After finally settling on a stable creative team of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, the series was quick to establish a new tone and expand the history and mythology surrounding the character. This issue poses a unique challenge, as many a good series have been derailed in the past by having large inter-company crossovers shoehorned into their story.
Picking up from the end of ‘Outsiders War’ and “Forever Evil,” Oliver has returned to Seattle to find it a warzone, with the public caught between the authorities and the leftover bad guys from the villain uprising. Oliver reconnects with his friends and gets about 30 seconds to breathe before the building literally explodes around. A self-proclaimed group of D-and-C-list villains consisting of Brick, Killer Moth, and the brand new baddie Red Dart are here to kill Green Arrow, and collect a $30 million bounty Richard Dragon has put on his head. Speaking of Richard Dragon, the crime lord has Arrow-ally Diggle tied to a chair and is prepared to painfully extract any information that can help him defeat the vigilante and expand his criminal empire. The whole Arrow-family is in a bit of a pickle.
Jeff Lemire has taken Oliver Queen global, and with this issue he is faced with the difficult task of bringing him back home. The series needed a shakeup and Lemire and the expansive, adventurous ‘Outsiders War’ was exactly what was needed. The challenge the author now faces is to tell more traditional superhero-fighting-crime-in-their-home-city stories without losing momentum or goodwill that has been built up. Lemire makes the wise decision to avoid any noir-ish narration about how Seattle always call Oliver back, and goes with straight up action to reorient the hero. There’s a really good moment where Oliver’s friends berate him for leaving the city for European adventures, which helps with the realist tone of the issue.
This is a set-up issue for a new story arc and new villain, so there was the chance for boring exposition. There is a huge amount of bad guy monologuing and Lemire walks a very thin line between character development and melodrama, but just manages to avoid any corniness. Richard Dragon comes across a formidable street level villain, a Penguin to Oliver’s Batman, and by teaming him up with Count Vertigo, Lemire positions the character in the heart Green Arrow’s rogues gallery. Lemire piles on twist after twist, and the issue feels like it’s building in one giant crescendo, until a big cliffhanger guarantees interest in the next one. Lemire seems to know that Dragon’s story can come across a little monotonous, and by pairing with Oliver getting just piled on ensures that the issue has a great pace to it.
Andrea Sorrentino has just be nailing it month after month on “Green Arrow”, and this issue continues his trend of excellence on the series. Oliver’s scenes are rendered very realistically, with thin lines and heavy shadows creating a bold look. The fact that huge chunks of the book are action scenes could make the art repetitive, but Sorrentino keeps finding new angles and vantage points to watch Oliver’s world literally explode around him. The issue features a New 52 reboot of Red Dart, a minor villain in the past, who now actually has quite the air of menace when rendered by Sorrentino. Yes, the Skrillex haircut isn’t the most revolutionary thing at this point, but it does make the character stand out.
The extended flashbacks to Richard Dragon’s origins are saved from total dullness by Sorrentino art. Breaking from his usual style, these sequences instead emulate the look of 70’s era comics. Colorist Marcelo Maiolo contributes greatly to these moments by harkening to the era’s four colored pallet, while adding enough of a modern twist that it never feels too contrived. These flashbacks are gorgeous to look at, and makes the book feel unique among DC’s other offerings. The fact that Dragon has such a differently visualized backstory does wonders for the character, and sets him apart from other power hungry street thugs.
Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino have brought back “Green Arrow” from the brink of total disaster by expanding the character’s mythology and creating a huge adventure arc. This issue kicks off a new story that successfully proves that this creative team can make traditional bad-guys-in-the-hero’s-city just as exciting as globetrotting escapades. It is a great entry point for new readers without regurgitating old information, and Sorrentino’s art is just incredible.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy.
