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| [ GREEN IS FOR GO ] |
TO QUOTE Terry Pratchett: “The thing about football, the important thing about football,
is that it is not just about football.”
THE REVIEW:
Man, Benjamin Percy is either a huge
fan or has a serious bone to pick with the Seattle
Seahawks. When he first took over Green
Arrow, following the time-hop break after Convergence, one of
the first things he did was to create and then kill off Eddie Ridge, a
lineman for the DC Universe version of the real world NFL team. And now, well, we shan’t spoil too much, but
all hell is breaking loose at Queen Industries Field, the DC analogue to CenturyLink Field,
where our favorite shaft-slinger finds himself in quite the predicament.
But that’s starting at the end, so let’s
back up a bit, shall we? Right back to where issues 13 and 14 of Green Arrow
turned into the second and third chapters of the
six-part Emerald Outlaw story-arc. As per usual, Percy continues
to weave multiple story-threads together so gracefully, that at times I feel
like not much has happened since my memory sticks with the thread that hit a
flashbang at the end of each issue. But, oh yes, so much has happened.
I’m greatly enjoying the five intertwined stories in this tale; the Arrow Killer, Nathan Domini’s political campaign, Sargent
Notting’s suspension, The Vice Squad, and, well, let’s include Henry’s
whining, too. The first two threads of the Killer and Domini are clearly tied back in some way
to Broderick, and thus, perhaps, what remains of the Ninth Circle. Notting and The Vice Squad
certainly intersect one another, though we do not yet know if they involve
Broderick. And then there’s the guy seen
with Broderick at the end of issue 12, who may be a superior, or even a
henchman. Percy works so many niggling
little mysteries in between the big moments of the story that every re-read
feels like it bears more reward.
We now know the real identity of the Arrow Killer, but do
not yet know for certain if it’s the same someone from Broderick’s office. The implication is that the shootings are
happening as he’s speaking, which would make it impossible, but Percy and
Schmidt like to play with time as they juxtapose action and conversation, so it
possibly is the same person. This
technique is used again when Scott Notting is talking to Chief Westerberg
and we see an earlier or later scene with him at an erotic dance club. (It can’t be a (legal) strip club unless DC’s
Seattle allows booze to be served at strip clubs, contrary to it’s real
world counterpart.)
Schmidt’s art is growing on me more each
issue. With thin, perhaps simple lines,
he is able to bring some great expressions to the page, putting unspoken words
where there aren’t any speech bubbles. This can be seen in the cop’s side-eyed glance at her
partner’s rant, the tired eyes of Westerberg as Notting sits down,
Notting’s seething rage as he attempts to keep his cool, Henry’s woes
turned to pride as he moved from whittling to showing off his software
contribution, Samson’s smug smirk as he speaks out against Green Arrow,
Domini’s clueless gaze, and my personal favorite, that slightly dazed
drunken stupor of the Seahawks fan with the double beer can hat that
conveys a whole different level of “stunned” than the rest of the crowd.
The transition to the Carlini / Rodriguez
/ Vazquez art team worked really well; though I’d say their style is
less distinct than Schmidt’s, they maintained enough of the
stylistic details he’s established for the switch to feel right. And, DAMN, those chase scenes!!! Issue 14 is a series of scrambles,
chases, and fights, and the art brought the action to life with a lot of gusto. My only gripe is a long-time hang-up of mine
when they over-simplified the faces on a couple of mid-distance frames. Everything else, though, was rock solid.
That is everything else except for the timing – that annoying element
of comics that falls somewhere between the writer and the artist. The artwork was so dynamic and engaging that
it built up a higher pace tempo than the story may have been setting. But the speed at which people -- Oliver, the
offensive line, the police, plus however many thousand people Queen Industries Field
seats -- were able to get from the field or main floor of the stadium to the
top-most hallway (or vice-versa) felt kind of distractingly insane. Necessary for the story, perhaps, but with
the art feeling so fast, a little bit of sprinting in the stairwell, or finding
an emergency express elevator, would have helped the cohesion of the drama quite
a bit.
I really appreciated the way Percy and the
art teams are handling the use of a real-world football team in a real-world
city. Instead of manufacturing a team
like the Gotham Knights, they’re using the Seahawks, usually just
calling them the Hawks, and obviously avoiding the exact color scheme or
showing their logo for what I’m assuming are copyright reasons. But rather than using (and killing or
severely injuring) players off the actual roster, the DC Universe has their own
roster of players, who conveniently tend to have contrasting skin tones to the
real-world player who wears the same number, lest you think there’s any
implication that Eleonora Carlini wants to drive an arrow through DeAndre
Elliott’s eye.
Well, I guess she might. But, y’know, it’s not like she actually put
his likeness in the book, right?
THE MUSIC:
OK. So let’s see what we have here! We have
Oliver running off his fowl mouth, running from the cops, running from an angry
crowd, plus running after the Arrow Killer as things get ig’nant and perhaps a
bit hectic! Yeah, I’m going to go ahead
and compare these two issues to the Black Eyed Peas’ overplayed pop earworm, Let’s
Get It Started. Feel free to mock
me, as I know Emiko would. If she were, uh, real.
THE COMPARISON:
There’s a brief moment in this arc that’s
possibly easily overlooked due to it’s remoteness from the more action-packed
threads. But en route from his baffling
attempt at giving a campaign speech to his room full of hookers and blow,
Domini has a little Stoker moment -- that's Bram Stoker. This
doesn’t appear to be the same Nathan Domini that was carjacked by Oliver, but
exactly what is up with him is not yet revealed. Is Domini turning in to R. M. Renfield? As with the primary thread of Emerald
Outlaw, there seems to certainly be more to be revealed than the apparent
madness on the surface.
THE CONCLUSION:
Percy’s Green Arrow continues to be
one of my favorite books month after month.
He’s building up the cast, not just of rogues, but of allies and
gray-area-hangers-on as well. And, for
the most part, nobody’s getting permanently set aside. I spy (with my little eye) Emiko’s return
based on the cover of issue 17,
followed by a three issue arc with Roy starting in 18,
and then what looks like Eddie Fyers on 21,
with a promise of more of the Ninth Circle in the solicit. Granted, that means we’ll probably be getting
yet another retcon of Ollie and Roy’s relationship history, but, hey, I’ve long since forgotten about
the inexplicable return of Queen Consolidated when Percy took over the
title, let alone the mysterious disappearance of Mia Dearden, so I’m
sure I’ll eventually recover from the unavoidable continuity arrhythmia it’ll
give me.
In the meantime, I’ll just be sitting here,
rocking back and forth, contemplating the many unknowns and scratching my
theories in to the woodwork with my fingernails…
- Does Broderick control the Vice Squad?
- Does someone control Broderick?
- Is the Arrow Killer’s framing of Oliver personal? Or just Broderick’s bidding?
- What is the current status of … that other bad guy’s origin?
- Vampires? Maybe?
- Does Westerberg always do a sweep of the station after an all-hands call? Or was there some other reason he headed back in?
- If Much lives, will she continue her documentary?
- What ever happened to the rubber ducky lady who knows Green Arrow’s identity? I want her to weigh in on this good-guy-or-guy thing!
GREEN ARROW #13 & #14
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
January 30, 2017
Rating:
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
January 30, 2017
Rating:
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