Following my Superman — Action Comics Vol. 1 write-up, Green Arrow Vol. 1 is next on the read list. Although some other superheroes are name-dropped, the events here are pretty stand-alone. I place it third in the overall read list because there is a line about no superhero community existing, which would mean that the Justice League either does not exist yet or is very, very new. The news station GNN is mentioned, but it does not exist in this continuity. Also, this is where Q‑Core is introduced, and it (or its best product, the Q‑Pad) gets name-dropped in several other books.
Dan Jurgens — Writer, Artist
J.T. Krul — Writer
Keith Giffen — Writer
George Pérez — Artist
Published 30 May 2012
Collects Green Arrow 1 – 6 (7 Sep 2011 — 1 Feb 2012)
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Art
Art overall is serviceable. Mostly good, but some of the poses and arrow trajectories just did not make sense to me. And the last issue had weirdly skin-tight clothes on everyone, even civilian wear.
Story
For Story, this volume was actually two three-issue arcs instead of a single larger one. The first one does a good job of setting up Green Arrow’s situation by highlighting the work/superhero balance and his abilities/ideals by setting him off against entitled powered delinquents. The second one is more compelling to me because Midas is a much more interesting villain than Rush. However, the villains’ backgrounds are perhaps too mysterious (especially after Blood Rose’s “reveal”), and the resolution too easy. Green Arrow beats them once and they run away to Metropolis? How is that going to work for them?
Connections
This book introduces the characters Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), Walter Emerson, Michael Holt (Mr. Terrific), Naomi Singh, Dynamix, Doppelgänger, Supercharge, “Jax” Jackson, Adrien Rivers, Rush, Limelight, Alpha, Core, Stunner, Kyle Emerson, Blood Rose, Midas, and Alec Holland (Swamp Thing). Pandora gets her cameo in the nightclub in Paris where Green Arrow takes on Dynamix, Doppelgänger, and Supercharge. Green Arrow mentions that he knows Aquaman. The corporate life is very demanding on Ollie, who only runs Q‑Core, a subsidiary of Queen Industries, while his deceased father’s friend Walter Emerson is CEO for the umbrella corporation. WayneTech, LexCorp, Holt Industries and rattled off as rivals.
Next up, Flash Vol. 1.