Comic Info
Comic Name: Green Arrow (Volume 4)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino
# of Issues: 9
Release Date: 2014
Green Arrow (4) #18
Reprints Green Arrow (4) #17-24 (April 2013-December 2013). Oliver’s company has been lost, and now Oliver is wanted for murder as everyone he knows is under attack. When a mysterious man called the Magus intervenes in Komodo’s attempt to eliminate Green Arrow, Oliver learns there is more to his past than he was ever told…and the appearance of a woman named Shado and a young girl named Emiko could change Oliver’s world forever!
Written by Jeff Lemire, Green Arrow Volume 4: The Kill Machine is a DC Comics New 52 superhero comic book collection. Following Green Arrow Volume 3: Harrow, the comic features art by Andrea Sorrentino. Issues in the collection were also featured in Green Arrow by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino: The Deluxe Edition and Green Arrow: War of the Clans.
The start of the Green Arrow series was pretty rocky and some of the worst of the New 52. With Jeff Lemire’s turn at the character, the comic really changes, and Green Arrow starts a potentially great run.
Green Arrow 4: The Kill Machine not only works to deepen Oliver’s character, but it also works to incorporate aspects of the Arrow TV series. Much of Arrow involved Oliver’s family, secret clans, and of course some new characters. This volume dives into that a bit and introduces the Diggle character to the DCU proper.
Green Arrow (4) #23.1
The story is divided into essentially three storylines (or potentially two) storylines, but unlike a lot of DC Comics at the time, it also doesn’t feel as it is constructed for trade paperback collection. The story has some conclusions, but it feels largely that Lemire is building to something bigger. Not much is resolved from the beginning of the collection to the end of the collection…and that feels good.
The art by Andrea Sorrentino is good and adds a lot of grittiness to Green Arrow. The start of the series featured a much cleaner style and Sorrentino brings the darkness and deadliness. The collection has some complex page layouts that don’t always work (it is difficult to follow story flow a couple of times), but they are pretty minor in the big picture.
Green Arrow 4: The Kill Machine shows the potential of Oliver Queen. The character is tricky to writ because “a guy with a bow” can be dumb, but if written right, he can be great (as he has shown through his storied history). Lemire is on the right track, and I look forward to seeing where he goes. Green Arrow 4: The Kill Machine is followed by Green Arrow 5: The Outsiders War.
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