Green Arrow

The Team
Writer Jeff Lemire Artist Andrea Sorrentino

Green Arrow is a series that started fairly strong and has been getting better and better with each issue. The books grounded town supplemented the character drama that writer Jeff Lemire introduced with the character at first. Lately with the rise of some new villains, the comic book made a hard right turn and began to hit some supernatural elements. These stranger layers really add to the main crux of the book, which is the fact that this title is about somebody that is really good with a bow and arrow. That by nature is slightly silly, so justifying by some force of nature and tying it into a bunch of different weapons is fascinating choice in the writing. The deeper that this title goes into sheer insanity, the better the end product is. In the last issue readers were treated to a run in with a very different Count Vertigo than they were used to. This version played into the mythology deeper, and was also more personal for Ollie as he was once again tied into the supernatural web of events. Even though many are frustrated with the New 52 at this point, there is no excuse good enough to warrant not purchasing this book every month.

The structure of the story arcs that Jeff Lemire has created is fascinating. The whole series has revolved around Komodo, but yet there are more layers that were pulled back about the entire arc about the character. Stakes were raised, villains were conquered, supernatural enemies are now at play. This is a great story that has some incredible pacing, there is never a suitable time for readers to get bored, as the story continues to pull back more and more layers. The writer is also not pulling these twists out of thin air either, from the first issue you can see some of this material coming. Some have complained about the character of Oliver Queen being too dull, however there is not enough time to get hung up on that aspect of the title when the plot continues to thicken. It is also refreshing to have a solid title with thick plot and style that does not have an anti-hero lead. Tropes of the standard comic book are being subverted beautifully here by the creative team. For evidence take a look at the approach to violence in the title.

Andrea Sorrentino has upped the ante on the stakes of this title. His rendition of the dull colors and strange landscapes make this comic what it is. In terms of look, this title shares a look similar to some of the best gritty sci-fi films. It is an unconventional style that many are clamoring for in modern comics. In seemingly every issue the artist is given a new experiment to draw, the craziest way that the he sees fit. This issue Sorrentino and colorist Marcelo Maiolo start going completely insane at one point they dull every color but the orange and the red. This proves a strong stylistic choice, as the end blend of colors transcend the page and look exquisite. Readers that have been interested the wonderful art of Sorrentino, should be once again quite happy with the results in this issue. In addition to looking beautiful, the art is also quite harsh when depicting actual people. There will be almost too many lines defining one character, but that is the most interesting thing at play here. There is a struggle between beauty and grit wrestling within every page of this series. This is yet another installment of Green Arrow that should have readers utterly fascinated in all aspects of the series. There is little better this side of the big two than the art of Andrea Sorrentino and the writing of Jeff Lemire.