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Green Arrow #5 Review

Comic Books

Green Arrow #5 Review

Rebirth hasn’t been good to Green Arrow, further complicating his life and potentially making him broke in the process. His family has backstabbed him and a budding relationship with Black Canary is making things saucy too, but is it good?

Green Arrow #5 (DC Comics)

Green Arrow #5 Review

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So what’s it about? The DC summary reads:

“The Death and Life of Oliver Queen” part five! It’s Green Arrow and Black Canary versus Shado and the Ninth Circle in the belly of the Inferno.

Why does this book matter?

Writer Benjamin Percy has done well to keep the actions and events in the series interesting. The stakes are higher than ever, and the rule is the more pressure you apply the more character work you get. Plus Juan Ferreyra has upped the fun ante, making this book a hell of a ride in the process.

Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?

Green Arrow #5 Review
He’s not wrong.

Through captions Percy expresses two very opposite ideas; one the thoughts of the big bad and the other Ollie. The bad guys’ captions speak to how fire and thus pain create many things in this world (volcanoes create land, the sun gives Earth life etc.). It’s a compelling argument coming from a guy with a melted face. On the other hand Ollie offers up the idea that, given enough pain, you become a slave to it. Percy perfectly expresses two sides to this argument about good and bad and doesn’t say whether one is right and wrong. In this way, Percy has a complex battle of ideas in play in this issue.

Of course, much of this issue is action as Ollie attempts to break out Black Canary from the bad guys’ floating liar, but Percy weaves in solid dialogue and ideas to make the action feel more important. Much of the issue involves Ollie sneaking about the ship and Ferreyra makes each panel of his sneaking interesting and different. Ferreyra makes this read increase in value due to the varied angles and well timed closeups. Amongst the chaos Ollie gets a super happy moment and Ferreyra nails the sequence of panels.

It can’t be perfect can it?

Beyond the opening captions from the bad guy the villains don’t get much to do other than punch and eventually escape, which makes their part in the story feel a tad cliched. It’s rather easy for Ollie and company to do what they want throughout the issue and it would have been nice for them to face some adversity in their sneaking around and breaking into the bad guy fortress. While Ollie does have to make a big choice that will change his future forever, it all comes a bit too easily.

Green Arrow #5 Review
Sometimes bad guys can be so boring, but that’s business for you!

Is It Good?

Green Arrow continues to be a fun ride, introduces interesting ideas, and brings the surprises. Green Arrow does so much well it’s hard to notice its flaws.

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