Comic Book Review: Green Arrow #3

Literary & Artistic Credits

Writer: J.T. Krul

Penciller: Diogenes Neves

Inker: Vicente Cifuentes

Colorist: Ulises Arreola

Letterer: Rob Leigh

Cover Art: Mauro Cascioli

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

May I just start off by praising Cascioli for one of the best covers I’ve seen this year?  Why can’t DC just hire him to do more art work for DC’s books?  He and Alex Ross are pure masterminds within the comic book genre.

Ok, now onto the story.  My hopes that this book will rise up to become one of DC’s more popular titles has not waivered in the least, but this issue was not what I was hoping for it to be.  The idea is interesting and I can see where Krul is going with the whole story, but the execution was very weak.

We start where we left off last month, with Green Arrow lying on the ground with an arrow smack dab in the middle of his forehead.  But by some miracle, an archer by the same name as a knight of the round table dunks our anti-hero into a forest pool which acts as a Lazarus pit, reviving Ollie to full strength.  During his time submerged, Ollie recalls on his life as a negligent father and husband and goes through what could be equated as a religious journey into his subconscious. 

I’m not sure what I think of the art this month.  Half it is very impressive, and the other half felt lazy.  The scenes I was most unimpressed with were with our main character and Galahad in the heart of the forest surprisingly enough.  When the story went other places outside of the forest, and dealing with back stories of other characters involved, that’s when my eyes perked up and became much more visually involved.

I found the addition of Galahad to be odd and out of place, even though I’m sure that’s what Krul is going for huh?  But also to discover that Galahad wasn’t Green Arrow’s attacker was even more daunting.  That and his random bit of oratory seemed very contrived and preachy.  I certainly hope that Galahad becomes a little more useful then a mere “all knowing” presence in this section of Green Arrows life.

And speaking of out of place plot devices, where the fuck did those dogs come from?  If Galahad and Ollie are the only ones in the forest, then who is the rightful owner of the rabid K-9’s? 

I certainly enjoyed the idea behind issue #3, making this about Green Arrow’s fight against himself.  It was hard to determine what the hell Ollie was shooting at until the outline of the arrow and hood on the shadowy figure became much more defined and clear.  However, the idea that Ollie is going to have to fight his evil, inner demon (at least that’s what I deduced from that last page) is a little too hokey for my tastes.  But it is creative none-the-less.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

A good idea does not always equal a great story.  And while the “battling of one’s self” is a proven effective plot progression, the execution within this issue of that idea was not successfully planned out.  There are still many interesting parts of this title that keep its potential strong, such as the mysterious woman who has taken over Queen Industries, so my fingers are still crossed!

Rating: 6.66 out of 10

Writing: 7

Art: 7

Themes: 6