[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artists: Eleonora Carlini & Hi-Fi
Summary
The members of Team Arrow have to face their greatest desires and their greatest fears on Christmas.
Positives
I love the cover by Jamal Campbell. The tones he uses help the cover feel tense while still adhering to the Christmas theme. I love the little bits of Count Vertigo’s symbol showing through in various places, especially where it’s formed from the shadows of the characters.
The interior art is by Eleonora Carlini with colors by Hi-Fi. Their work is great throughout. The characters look great; they’re expressive and detailed. Hi-Fi provides some nice winter colors that really help set the mood.
I appreciate that this is a simple story. It informs us about the characters and plays off elements in the overall story, but it is a stand alone piece.
There are some really interesting character ideas in this. We get to see what Ollie, Roy and Emiko fear or regret. With Roy and Emi, it’s fairly obvious, but still works. Roy is ashamed of his addiction and Emi is afraid of Shado destroying her life. These are both interesting segments of the issue. What’s more surprising are Ollie’s fears; the first is the death of his mother and the second is the guilt he feels over what happened with Diggle. I really like both of these, especially the Diggle idea. I’m excited to see where Percy takes the relationship between Ollie and Diggle.
Black Canary takes center stage and gets to kick Vertigo’s ass, which is a lot of fun. It seems obvious to have Vertigo and Canary fight each other in retrospect, but it’s a fun idea and it’s a fun part of the issue.
Negatives
There are no negatives worth mentioning in this issue.
Verdict
This is a great issue. It has gorgeous art and fun action. Percy delivers a cool story with a lot of character in an impressive single issue. I highly recommend reading the issue.
