Green Arrow is back in Seattle, but of course he can’t be there long without being framed! This issue delves into that story, but is it good?
Green Arrow #13 (DC Comics)
So what’s it about? The summary reads:
“EMERALD OUTLAW” part two! Snow falls on Seattle as its mayoral race heats up with a rash of murders that implicate a deadly archer. As a city wonders what’s become of its Emerald Archer, Green Arrow and Black Canary race to rule out their prime suspect: Emiko Queen.
Why does this book matter?
Benjamin Percy has been writing a rollicking series that’s fun and delivers on the Black Canary romance too. Otto Schmidt meanwhile, has made the action feel tense and kinetic. Together they make a good team that’s thoroughly made Ollie’s life a complex series of dramatic events.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Gettin their kiss on.
Percy opens this issue with the love birds that are Ollie and Black Canary, who find out the hard way that everyone thinks Ollie is a murderer. This puts them directly into a dicey situation with a cop that I’m sure a lot of folks will find fitting given the pulse of America as of late. As if to incite the “blue lives matter” folks, Percy introduces a crooked cop storyline that is throwing a wrench into things. Drama-wise, this amps things up to 11 for Ollie and company and should supply plenty of surprises along the way.
Along the way, Percy checks in with Ollie’s friends, reveals how crooked the politician introduced last issue is, and throws us one heck of a Black Canary sequence. All in all this issue delivers fun action and good character work before the shit hits the fan.
Schmidt once again excels with the art in this one. Black Canary has a great two-page scene as she infiltrates a police department. His colors are excellent in this issue too, with some evil looking reds that make it quite clear the actions of a new villain are very bad. I continue to adore his forest scenes and how he creates a sense of detail and richness in Ollie’s tree fort base. In five quick panels Schmidt does a great job revealing just how bad the politician is too. Altogether it’s a solid showing for Ollie and company.
It can’t be perfect can it?
The last three pages are easy to predict and set up an even more predictable cliffhanger. It’s also hard to believe Ollie could live through a fall he takes, but that’s a suspension of disbelief thing I suppose. Ultimately the issue does a great job up until these last few pages and could have done better condensing these scenes to one page. The cover is also somewhat odd given it is more fitting for the next issue than this one.
Here we go!
Is It Good?
Green Arrow continues to be a great street level heroes’ journey with plenty of strong supporting characters. Though the ending is predictable, I’ll be back for more next issue.
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