[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Otto Schmidt
Summary
Green Arrow teams up with Green Lantern in order to investigate a Queen Industries satellite that may be the Ninth Circle’s means of spying on the world.
Positives
The cover by Otto Schmidt is great. Green Lantern’s light shining down on Oliver is a really cool image. Schmidt is a wonderful colorist so the green light itself looks amazing. The cover and the interior are both really colorful which is great.
Schmidt also does the interior art and colors. I love the contrast between the Ollie/Hal team up and the Dinah/Emi mission. The former is obviously very colorful, mostly green, and it’s bright. The latter is darker with more of a creepy atmosphere. It works well.
Benjamin Percy effectively works the two plots together. I never feel like one is interrupting the other or that they’re tonally clashing. The two pieces make a pretty good whole which is nice because, personally, I am a little more invested in the Black Canary/Red Arrow dynamic. When this story first started, I figured they would be left out while Ollie did his road trip thing. Which would have been fine; the book is called Green Arrow. But it was a nice surprise to see Dinah and Emi get to have their own adventure and it’s become my favorite part of this arc.
Negatives
I’m not a fan of Hal Jordan. I find him to be a pretty boring character, so this team up does nothing for me. I understand why it has to happen; these two have a history and one of the most important Green Arrow runs is the team up book with Hal. I’m just not invested in this character so that side of the issue is a little boring to me. There isn’t even a solid reason for it to be Hal. Ollie needs to get into space in order to investigate this satellite. In the previous issue, Bruce and Ollie realize that because it’s space, they need to call Hal. Except they don’t. Earth is not under Hal’s jurisdiction anymore; he says he came because it’s his home. I buy that; Hal’s motivations make perfect sense. I don’t understand why Ollie and Bruce called him. Bruce could have loaned Ollie some space tech or Cyborg and Star Labs could have cooked something up. Or they could have used the actual Green Lanterns assigned to Earth, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. Hal feels like a unnecessary part of the story who’s here because of his history, which is fine, but there are other team ups that would have excited me more. I’m pretty much alone in that, but it’s how I feel.
Wendy, the woman Dinah and Emi are trying to rescue, is wearing a Slave Leia outfit. It’s not the exact same thing but it’s that kind of outfit. The Auctioneer even has her on a leash. There aren’t any gratuitous shots of her, thankfully, but it feels unnecessary. I know the Auctioneer is a creep, but the outfit is not needed. She could just be wearing torn up street clothes from when she was kidnapped. I know we’re dealing with human traffickers, but this panel feels really weird and out of place.
Verdict
This is an okay issue. Most people are going to like it; I just don’t like Hal Jordan so this issue doesn’t leave an impression on me. The art is great and there’s a lot of really good dialogue from Percy especially between Dinah and Emi. I’m just not personally invested in the main event. If you’re like me, I recommend waiting for the trade. But if you like Hal, you’ll probably love this issue and should definitely read it.
