Green Arrow #31 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: Ollie attends the least heartwarming family reunion ever.

The Review: So Lemire was serious about killing off Robert Queen after all. A pity, though not much of one, in all honesty. Having revealed he was still alive only four issues ago and showing little character to be admired since then, it’s not as if you’re particularly attached to his existence. Even Ollie, after giving himself a moment to mourn for all that was wasted between them, refuses to get maudlin about it, and allows the Outsiders to bury Robert on the island, away from the rest of his family, significantly enough.

There’s a poetic, even karmic, justice to all this. Robert, whose pointless obsession with the Totem Arrow led him to abandon his wife and nearly kill his son, dies for the sake of his family, even if it’s not the one he left behind in Star City. Komodo gets his comeuppance, too. After raising his child to be an Outsider on a foundation of lies, his child lives up to her upbringing by taking out the man who betrayed her all her life. A deserving end for Komodo, but at a monstrous cost to Emiko.

Green Arrow #30 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: Komodo learns that dads should never get in between a mother-daughter relationship.

The Review: As cool a concept as the Outsiders may have seemed at first, they also seemed slightly antiquated and a little at odds with the criminal demands of the modern world, especially one populated with superpowers. I mean, characters like Green Arrow, Katana, or Hawkman* are in the same boat, or would be if they didn’t modify their martial artistry with trick arrows, magic swords, and Nth metal. The Outsiders haven’t kept up with the times quite as well.

Ollie made that pretty clear last month when he took out nearly an entire clan by himself with a single umbrella arrow. Even fighting amongst themselves, without the pressure of defending against gunfire—can you imagine the slaughter if there was such a thing as a Gun Clan?—we haven’t seen much to recommend them as truly formidable threats. If there’s a title that can stand to skew its balance towards action, it’s this one. The inter-clan battle in this issue is far too brief for its size, making it hard to appreciate the power and skill of the warriors involved.

Green Arrow #29 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: I sense great custody battles ahead for Komodo and Shado.

The Review: Speaking as one who has told a lot of lies in his time—never to you, of course (wink!)—I can tell you that lying itself can be a very powerful form of truth-telling.  The lies we tell invariably reveal something about ourselves because even as they deflect attention away from things we want to conceal, they also expose things we wish were true, whether you’re saying you’re younger than you really are or recounting college exploits that never happened.

With that in mind, Komodo has been telling his daughter some rather interesting tall tales, inadvertently letting his motivations peek through their chinks.  In flashback, we see him telling a younger, less bloodthirsty Emiko, “Your mother’s name was Shado.  She was beautiful.  She was the love of my life.  We were meant to be together forever.  Then a very bad man killed her…a bad man named Queen.”  I tend to weary of villains driven by love gone wrong, but it comforts me to know that Komodo will be getting his comeuppance soon.

Green Arrow #20 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: It’s hard to hold your breath in a graveyard when you have to fend off an assassin.

The Review: I love seeing gradual improvement in a comic book—heck, in anything.  In a world where good things tend to get worse as time goes on (How I Met Your Mother springs quickly to mind),* anytime anything actually gets better, no matter how minimally, is worth some kind of praise.  Lemire’s Green Arrow definitely had a rocky start, but in the last couple issues, his story has slowly taken shape and gotten more confident.

The one thing Lemire really has to get rid of are these morose monologues of Ollie’s: “I could just let myself become that shallow, pampered, rich kid I always pretended to be.  Just give up.  But I don’t.  I keep walking.  Because I know now I’m not that man.  I’m meant to be something more.”  Even if they make sense in context of Ollie’s story of personal growth, they just feel self-serving, almost like a backdoor brag.  If he’s really someone worth investing in, then we should see it in his actions; we don’t need him to reassure us about it.

Green Arrow #19 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: Komodo goes a little too far in sharing his love of work with his daughter.

The Review: Switching genres is always a tricky deal for any writer.  Not only do they have to overcome the many missteps along the way as they navigate unfamiliar territory, they have to deal with the skepticism and expectation of the readers, too.  Lemire made a name for himself with offbeat stories, largely placed in rural settings, driven by sci-fi conventions and family drama.  To go to an urban crime series starring a costumed archer is quite a switch indeed.

The previous two issues showed Lemire still trying to find the right voice and rhythm for this series, and this issue continues that trend.  This doesn’t bode well for the title’s success in the long run, since the fast-paced world of serial comics doesn’t really allow much time just so the writer can find himself.  Even so, this issue takes another incremental step forward to getting the right tone and intrigue for the series, even if it doesn’t feel quite enough for the arc’s mid-stage.

Avengers: The Initiative #26 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Christos N. Gage (Writer), Rafa Sandoval (Pencils), Roger Bonet (Inks), and Edgar Delgado (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Now that the great Dark Reign shakeup has finally finished, it’ll be interesting to see what Christos N. Gage has in store for the Initiative.

The Story: Tigra, Gauntlet, and some of the New Warriors desperately try to escape one of Norman Osborn’s Initiative teams. When they do, Tigra has a plan to gain some measure of revenge of one person that has wronged her in the past. Meanwhile, Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. officially opens and Taskmaster and The Hood go to work, making sure things are in order. The Hood explains the current situation to some recruits, Taskmaster explains the Penance situation to Trauma, and Trauma tries to get…anything out of Penance.

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Writer Christos N. Gage clearly has a lot to tackle in the first true Dark Reign Initiative book. It’s loaded with characters, slightly cluttered, and seems to jump all over the place at times. But you know what? Gage handles the challenge extremely well. The storytelling is fairly tight, the character work is effective (especially the stuff with Trauma and the final scene with Tigra), and Gage will constantly remind readers why they pick up a book like Avengers: The Initiative in the first place; to dive into the giant sandbox that is the Marvel Universe. While it’s still early, the Initiative and Dark Reign look to fit together quite well. I wonder if Gage will be able to make the most of it?

As for the visuals, Rafa Sandoval’s artwork gets the job done in the ways that matter. Characters look distinct, expressions are appropriate, and the action looks decent enough. Note that I said “decent enough,” because the action is probably the weak point of Avengers: The Initiative #26. It seems to lack any sort of comfortable flow and gets overwhelmed by all the characters taking part in the action. Also, what’s with Tigra having giant paws for hands? Is that supposed to be like that? I’m not too familiar with the character so if you know if Sandoval’s take on her is actually how it’s supposed to be, leave me a comment.

Conclusion: Not all that it could be, but certainly good enough, Avengers: The Initiative #26 is a worthy chapter of a series that keeps on moving forward at a nice pace.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Avengers: The Initiative #23 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Christos N. Gage (Writer), Humberto Ramos (Art), and Edgar Delgado (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Avengers: The Initiative is almost always a sure thing as far as quality is concerned. Nearly every issue feels like a trip to a giant Marvel sandbox filled with all sorts of different characters. While recent issues have not been all that new reader friendly, the series is strong enough that I have no problem saying that it’s well worth taking the time to catch up with things if you are at all interested in jumping on board.

The Story: Camp Hammond is under fire as controversy rages. With the cover-up of Michael Van Patrick’s death now out in the open and part of a major city in shambles, the Initiative’s future looks shaky. Meanwhile, the Shadow Initiative finds Hydra operating in Madripoor and soon learns that things are more serious than initially believed.

What’s Good: Avengers: The Initiative #23 scores big points for simultaneously dealing with both the past and the future in a successful manner. It ties up loose plot threads that have been lingering for quite some time, while dragging the Initiative fully into the Dark Reign period of the Marvel universe. Fans of the series, both new and old, should find something a lot to like.

Christos N. Gage’s writing is very good throughout the issue. He effectively captures the transition of the Initiative through some fantastic character work. As for the artwork, Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado do a very nice job capturing the tone of the time and the emotional ride the various cast members are going through.

What’s Not So Good: As a long time fan of the series, I couldn’t be much happier with issue 23. That said, the comic isn’t perfect. A few of the scenes suffer from awkward visuals and, in some ways, the Shadow Initiative storyline seems sort of shoehorned into the plot until the last few pages. It seems like it might have been better off in another issue because both storylines in the issue suffer from breaks in momentum as the focus shifts back and forth.

Conclusion: Avengers: The Initiative #23 is just an extremely solid comic book all around. I highly recommend it, especially if you have been a fan of the series for a while.

Grade: B+

-Kyle Posluszny

Avengers: The Initiative Special #1 – Review

By Christos N. Gage & Dan Slott (Writers) and Steve Uy (Art)

The Story: Meant for longtime Initiative readers, this special issue focuses mostly on the Initiative recruit, Hardball and his relationship with both Komodo and Hydra organizations. Also, the book offers a short story about the day Trauma’s unique powers manifested during a school day.

What’s Good: As part of this special’s target audience, I really couldn’t be much happier with how things come together in this issue. It really hits all the right notes as Hardball’s bittersweet love story is handled extremely well. The Hydra plot wraps up (or truly begins?) in a satisfyingly interesting fashion, and Trauma’s origin proves to have been worth the wait. Simply put, longtime Initiative fans will find a lot to like here. Especially since Christos N. Gage’s character work is some of the best to ever grace the series known for it’s strong, well-written cast. In addition, Steve Uy’s artwork is the best it has ever been.

What’s Not So Good: A minor complaint, but Steve Uy’s work is definitely lacking in some spots. While it is without a doubt much improved from his last outing with the Initiative series, I can’t help but wish it was a bit more detailed.

Conclusion: For those that have been reading Avengers: The Initiative from the beginning, consider this to be a must buy. The character work is outstanding and the payoff for sticking with the series so long is most definitely worth the purchase price.

Grade: A-

-Kyle Posluszny