Green Arrow #35 heralds a new creative team on this title and immediately pile in elements from the Arrow television show.
GREEN ARROW #35
Writers: Andrew Kreisberg and Ben Sokolowski
Artist: Daniel Sampere
Inker: Jonathan Glapion
Colourist: Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
CW’S GREEN ARROW
Fans of the CW’s Arrow television series (about to enter its third season), will recognize many, many aspects in Green Arrow #35. Jeff Lemire spent his stint on the Green Arrow title striking a balance between the classic Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and the CW update, but now that tv writer Andrew Kreisberg is assisting Ben Sokolowski with story, I suppose that should hardly come as a surprise.
The first line of Green Arrow #35, for example, is “My name is Oliver Queen.” – the very same line that opens each episode of Arrow. The issue opens on an action scene that makes a good show of Oliver’s fighting abilities: he fires the bow, employs nets, punches, kicks and wields hi bow as a bludgeon. It’s kinetic and compelling, a strong choice for the opening panels.
Six pages into Green Arrow #35 we cut immediately to John Diggle (a character created for the television series and brought into the comics by Lemire), who has replaced Emiko, Naomi and Fyff. The entire supporting cast of the previous run is disposed of in little more than a single panel.
The crux of Kreisberg and Sokolowski’s Green Arrow #35 is Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor coming into the Queen Foundation (being rebuilt after having been done away with by Lemire), with the offering of folding Ollie and the Queen Foundation into partnership with Waynetech and Lexcorp. The idea being that with three of the strongest corporations in the world allied these men have the opportunity to fund and tackle huge issues like “cure cancer” and “send colonists to Mars”. For his part, Oliver is closed off to such an arrangement and views both of these men with disdain.
Green Arrow #35 ends with the appearance of Felicity Smoak (in an utterly unsurprising move), although she seems to quite a different character from the fawning, awkward girl viewers are familiar with from the show. I knew that Felicity would appear eventually in this series, but she did she really have to be shoehorned into an already poor issue?
Kreisberg and Sokolowski have written an episode of the Arrow television show, but presented it under the title Green Arrow #35. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is not what I am looking for in the comic book medium and this issue suffers for it.
UNDERWHELMING ART
The cover art of Green Arrow #35 was done by Bryan Hitch and interior artist Daniel Sampere is doing his very best Bryan Hitch impression and, unfortunately, it doesn’t work out so well.
As with much of the narrative many of the art choices are heavily inspired by the Arrow tv series. Oliver Queen is a hair away from being Stephen Amell – depending on the angle really – and the characters that don’t have direct television analogues fair less well. When Sampere tackles Bruce Wayne, for example, not only does he in no way resemble any Bruce Wayne I’ve ever seen in comics, he doesn’t even look good, much less dynamic or interesting.
Seattle could be any city in the United States of America, much less the important staple to Green Arrow #35 it is supposed to be. The best part of Sampere’s work is the opening fight mentioned above. He presents interesting angles and dynamic poses – that moment is really, really fun and speaks to Oliver Queen’s strength and the layers of his training.
Unfortunately, save the opening scene, the art of Green Arrow #35 lacks memorable style.
THE BOTTOM LINE: NOT A GREAT START FROM A NEW CREATIVE TEAM
The new team on Green Arrow #35 have presented an initially public offering that is a lot less polished than anything we’ve read in recent years. It’s not great and is so beholden to the CW version of Oliver Queen that it doesn’t hold a lot of promise for the coming comic book run.
