Comic Info
Comic Name: Green Arrow (Volume 4)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artist: Harvey Tolibao/Freddie Williams II/Steve Kurth/Wayne Faucher/Rob Hunter/Art Thibert/Tom Derenick
# of Issues: 7
Release Date: 2013
Green Arrow (4) #7
Reprints Green Arrow (4) #7-13 (May 2012-December 2012). Green Arrow finds himself drawn in by triplets named the Skylarks and their father Leer in a gambit that could cost him the Q-Core forever. With his company in jeopardy, Oliver must think fast and fight to save the business…which may mean turning over dangerous technology to the Chinese.
Written by Ann Nocenti, Green Arrow Volume 2: Triple Threat is the second volume of the New 52 relaunch of the DC series. Following Green Arrow Volume 1: The Midas Touch, the volume contains the three issue storyline “Tripl3 Tr3at” (“Triple Treat” not “Triple Threat”) and a stand-alone issue and a three part story set in China.
Green Arrow is a strangely high profile comic. With a stand-alone “hit” (or at least cult) TV series on the CW and as a former player on Smallville, the character despite being a rather miner player in the DC Universe is better known than most minor heroes. With this being said, Green Arrow is a complete mess.
The first volume of Green Arrow was rather average and not very good. It was one of the first series of the New 52 to reconfigure its writing/artist teams in an attempt to save the comic. Replacing J.T. Krul with Ann Nocenti didn’t help at all. I thought that the comic would get better after the first storyline which was unreadable, but the story continued to nosedive.
Green Arrow (4) #12
The writing is really, really poor. It doesn’t flow or make sense. I found myself rereading scenes to see if I missed something, but it literally is nonsense. In addition to the plot being unreadable, Oliver Queen comes off quite poorly instead of the cool, admittedly over-liberal hero that he’s always been in the pass…he’s pretty much an ass.
The art also doesn’t benefit the comic. For the most part the art is sloppy along with the story. It doesn’t help you understand the nonsense and it isn’t good enough to make you overlook the fact that the series just isn’t very good.
Green Arrow at this point is a series from which you must run away. However, I’m a “completist” and like to finish what I start. I probably will read Green Arrow’s next volume (by Nocenti) so I can move on to the fourth volume which brings on Jeff Lemire and hopefully turn the series around. Green Arrow 2: Triple Threat was followed by Green Arrow 3: Harrow.
Related Links:
Green Arrow 1: The Midas Touch
Green Arrow 4: The Kill Machine
