Green Arrow #17 Review
Green Arrow #17 took me by surprise.
I had heard a new writer and artist were coming on board and whenever I found out that the new writer and the new artist were also going to be going in a different direction than what the series originally was set up to be going into, I figured I might as well give it a try.
The new creative team? Writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino, both of which I am not very familiar with.
I knew that Jeff Lemire had recently written Sweet Tooth for the Vertigo line at DC Comics and he was also doing some of their DC 52 books. I knew that Andrea Sorrentino was the artist on the new I, Vampire series with Josh Fialkov but that series is being cancelled. So it makes sense for such a talented artist to move over to a new title and, apparently, he landed on Green Arrow.
If Green Arrow had started out this way when the new DC 52 launched, months ago, I would have already been on board for this series because this seventeenth issue was like a whole new series started. This should have been issue number one from the get-go when this series was re-launched.
This new issue seems to continue on what was done with Green Arrow, back whenever Green Arrow: Year One was completed and told the origin story of Oliver Queen as Green Arrow, but for some reason DC decided to take it in some other direction.
This new issue makes me feel like I’ve come on-board something totally new for the character, which may or may not be the case, but for me it was refreshing and it was great.
The writing by Jeff Lemire is intriguing and mysterious and it puts Oliver Queen on the run, not only from the enemies that are pursuing him, but it seems that he is on the run from what his true calling was. As we read in this issue, it just may have been his fate and destiny to have stayed on the island and never have returned home.
As for the art, Sorrentino’s art seems to have been really influenced by Jae Lee and you can tell that throughout the issue, but that’s not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, I liked a lot of the visual cues and especially the different inset panels that are a part of many of the action scenes that you see throughout the entire issue. It gave it a unique look and a pretty cool vibe.
Most importantly, whenever this issue finished, it made me wish that I had the next issue in my hand and I mean that literally because I really want to know what’s going on with Green Arrow and I want to know more about this cast of characters that seem to be part of his future going forward from this issue. I also want to know a lot more about the island and what it was about the island that he was on and how it is going to affect his future.
Like I said before, if this new launch of Green Arrow had started off like this, I would have been on board with it from #1.
I guess it is a good thing then that they have changed up the creative team and given the readers and fans something that they can really sink their teeth into. This series seems like they are really going in a direction that stems from Green Arrow: Year One and kind of merges and mingles with the Arrow TV series, which I’m enjoying as well. If you haven’t checked out the new series, you should check it out and it is a great read and I’m looking forward to a lot more of it.
As a matter of fact, I’m adding this series to my pull list because that is how much I want to know what is going on with this series.
If Ollie really has to set sail back to the island, I’m on board.
