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 #28 – Review

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

The Story: It’s not a great feeling when your dad chooses a pointed stick over you.

The Review: To be honest, I’m still trying to wrap my head around last month’s revelation that Ollie’s dad is still alive.  Talk about your quintessential “What the what?” moment.  More than just the sheer soapiness of it all, however, the existence of Robert Queen means that a rather predictable family conflict is in store: Ollie’s initial rage and disgust at what is obviously a painful betrayal, and a later, probably forced reconciliation amidst tragic circumstances.

This issue features the first half of that developing relationship.  I must admit, Lemire’s pretty committed to milking all the drama out of this plotline, stacking one destabilizing accusation after another.  In some ways, Ollie’s incredulousness at what his dad has done helps us deal with just how insane Robert’s whole plan to turn his son into “a weapon” is.  Insane and selfish, as almost all of Robert’s actions revolved around his own lust for the Arrow.  Ollie’s reaction is nonplussed, to say the least: “It’s just an arrow.  You left me—you left Mom—for this?”

Green Arrow #27 – Review

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

The Story: Fathers—you can (barely) live with them, and you can live without them.

The Review: I was a bit wary when last issue revealed that Ollie’s time on the island involved more than him playing out his own version of Cast Away.  Given the timing, it was hard not to be a little cynical and see the move as an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Arrow.  But upon reflection, giving Ollie a more humanly oppressive environment on the island does make sense, if only by giving him a reason to become a crusader for the oppressed once he returned.

So just as I started to approve of Lemire’s new developments, he threw in another, one that I find a lot harder to take.  It’s impossible to get through this review without discussing it in full, so spoiler alert: Ollie’s dad not only planned his son’s stranding on the island and most of the torments he suffered there, he’s alive to see the current fruit of his work.  Make no mistake, it’s a twist you weren’t totally expecting,* but one that saps the grandeur of Ollie’s origin story.

Batman Incorporated #6 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Chris Burnham (artist), Nathan Fairbairn (colorist)

The Story: No matter where you go, you can always count on your Bat-family.

The Review: Early issues of Batman Inc. made out this series as a world-hopping, adventure extravaganza—which it still is.  But recently, Morrison revealed an even bigger scope to Batman’s mission, as he prepares for a threat guaranteed to have lasting, sweeping consequences.  This issue transitions from the fun-and-games we’ve had into typical Morrison expansiveness.

Under Morrison’s pen, even a transition story can be fast-paced and high-action.  This issue flies by lightning quick, with scenes frequently cutting from panel to panel.  In record time Batman adds a couple more members into the fold (the Batman of Australia wears a rocket pack!), while the newly-joined are already hard at work, showing what kind of foe they’re up against in the process: Nightrunner stops a delivery of kidnapped children, but too late—they’ve already been indoctrinated to kill for Leviathan.

Batman also brings in members of his own inner circle as part of the Inc.  Some have obviously major roles in his big plan: while Red Robin takes lead of the Outsiders, Cassandra Cain makes an appreciable return as Blackbat, the Batman of Hong Kong.  It’s not clear where Dick, Damian, and Commissioner Gordon come in, devoted to Gotham as they are, but it’s great to see Bruce keeping them very much in the loop (although we the readers get kept out, obviously).

At the same time, Batman’s demonstrating how the logistics of this whole Inc. thing will work, with his civilian persona out in the open, prominently and publicly supporting the venture.  Not only does he bring in the Bat-bots (reminiscent of those in Kingdom Come) for high-tech back-up, he also uses the internet’s tireless rumor mill to build layers of conspiracy theories that “out” his true identity and hide it at the same time—very clever stuff.

And if you had doubts as to the necessity for this global network, you have only to look at the depiction of the enemy’s global reach.  Morrison places Dedalus and his Leviathan partner in full view of Earth, making it look as though they have the planet in their possession.  The constant scans across the world’s surface shows their nigh-omnipresent watch over it, and their dialogue implies they have a reach through time as well: “500 agents form the first battle formation.  The youngest and most zealous of these living weapons…is barely eighteen months old…”