[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Stephen Byrne
Summary
Green Arrow reluctantly teams up with the Flash while Black Canary and Emiko decide to find the Auctioneer.
Positives
The cover by Otto Schmidt is good. I love how bright the colors are; with the Flash involved, it looks great. I like the speed force energy all over the cover. It just looks cool.
I love Stephen Byrne’s art. He has an amazing style that really appeals to me. He draws detailed faces and his colors are gorgeous. Additionally, his style is a little more animated so it makes a lot of sense to bring him on for the Flash crossover. Byrne adds a lot of energy and style to the issue.
I expected this current story to just focus on Oliver teaming up with various members of the Justice League, so it was a nice surprise to learn that Black Canary and Emiko are getting a subplot. They’re my favorite characters in the book so I’m excited to see them in a story together that can develop their relationship.
It is fun to see Green Arrow and Flash fight side by side. Obviously, I’ve gotten to see that in the television shows but in the comics, Ollie has mostly been separated from the League. In real life, that’s because DC created a set team in the New 52 that they rarely deviate from for some reason. But I like that Percy gives a character reason for Ollie not to be involved; the other heroes don’t like and/or don’t respect Green Arrow. I like that Flash has no interest in teaming up at first. The League does not trust him and I don’t blame them. He’s not always the greatest guy and, judging from how he treats Dinah, Emi and Roy, is terrible at teams. I imagine this story is going to deal with both integrating Ollie into the DC Universe the way he used to be, as well as improving his team work skills.
Negatives
I don’t think Flash needs to question Ollie’s abilities just so Ollie can prove him wrong. Barry works with Batman constantly; why is this a problem now? The conflict should be more about trust, and it is at first, but then it changes to Flash doubting Oliver’s skill set. So all Ollie has to do is pull off a good shot and that wins Flash over. It does save Barry’s life which could be enough to win him over. I just don’t think Barry would question Oliver like that.
Verdict
This is a solid team up. I like most of the conflict between the two and it is a lot of fun to see them fight together. The Black Canary/Red Arrow team up promises to be a lot of fun and I am excited for that. The art is fantastic and filled with wonderful moments. There are some character choices that I think are a little off but they’re not huge problems. I recommend reading the issue.
