Scan barcode
martyx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
geekwayne's review
4.0
'Green Arrow Vol. 1: The Death and Life of Oliver Queen' by Benjamin Percy with art by Otto Schmidt delivers what the title states, so hopefully that's not a spoiler.
Oliver Queen returns to Seattle. In his role helping the people of Seattle, he finds that the homeless are being preyed on by ghastly looking beings that seem to be burned. It ties in to his very fortune and family. Before he knows it, he is betrayed by those closest to him, and murdered.
But that's not the whole story. He now finds himself without his fortune, but he still has friends and he wants to solve the mystery of the organization that has taken his wealth to use for evil purposes.
I've always liked that Green Arrow is set in Seattle, and I appreciate that they get so many of the details right. It's good to see Black Canary back in the picture, and I look forward to seeing what Green Arrow's sister Emi will do in future issues.
The writing is good and the art is pretty good as well. The book includes some character, and cover sketches. Also included is a cover gallery with art by Green Arrow legend Neal Adams.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
Oliver Queen returns to Seattle. In his role helping the people of Seattle, he finds that the homeless are being preyed on by ghastly looking beings that seem to be burned. It ties in to his very fortune and family. Before he knows it, he is betrayed by those closest to him, and murdered.
But that's not the whole story. He now finds himself without his fortune, but he still has friends and he wants to solve the mystery of the organization that has taken his wealth to use for evil purposes.
I've always liked that Green Arrow is set in Seattle, and I appreciate that they get so many of the details right. It's good to see Black Canary back in the picture, and I look forward to seeing what Green Arrow's sister Emi will do in future issues.
The writing is good and the art is pretty good as well. The book includes some character, and cover sketches. Also included is a cover gallery with art by Green Arrow legend Neal Adams.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
nellbug's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
green arrow learns money bad
unladylike's review against another edition
3.0
Green Arrow is a fascinating paradox and an anachronism in the world of superhero comics. He's an ultra-wealthy hetero cis white male who hasn't had to work a day in his life, but circumstances led him to fight injustice in Seattle with a bow and trick arrows. That alone is nothing special, but in the '70s, Neal Adams took him in a very different direction content-wise. He's had an HIV-positive sex worker and recovering heroine addict as a partner and possibly as a lover, for example. He's cocky and prone to cracking jokes while the world is crumbling on top of him.
Benjamin Percy starts off GA's series in the Rebirth era with the perfect tone and amount of introductory exposition. And the art in most of the issues is gorgeous!
Benjamin Percy starts off GA's series in the Rebirth era with the perfect tone and amount of introductory exposition. And the art in most of the issues is gorgeous!
hellocookie's review against another edition
5.0
This was everything I’ve wanted a Green Arrow comic to be. I’ve been a fan of the character pre-dating Arrow but fell off of following him during the DC New 52, save for a little toe dip into Jeff Lemire’s pool. The character didn’t feel like Ollie to me and while the writing was good, it didn’t draw me into it as a fan.
I was hesitant to come to this Green Arrow, fearing the same sort of thing but a mere few pages in, I was 100% into it. The story by Benjamin Percy feels very much like a story about Ollie to me. It’s definitely feels a little bit influenced by Arrow at first but grows into its own thing and brings back the character to what I was previously used to. Change for a character isn’t bad or anything but it just wasn’t my cup of tea and this version coming out of Rebirth thankfully made me grateful the latest reboot happened.
As great as Percy’s story is, the real draw of the book (no pun intended) is the art by Otto Schmidt. Oh. My. God. The art is just jaw droppingly gorgeous. I don’t usually spend a lot of time at the back of the book enjoying the “bonus content” but Schmidt’s concept designs for the characters were such a treat to behold. Ughhhhhh, SO GOOD.
Juan Ferreyra does covers for the series and then winds up doing the interiors for a couple of issues. It’s hard to really, truly enjoy Ferreyra’s beautiful line work and colours after Ollo Schmidt’s clean and animated pages but they’re amazing nonetheless and shouldn’t be left out of the discussion. It’s a strange switch up but the artists compliment each other well going back and forth on the series and while I always wish for consistent artwork, if you’re going to get fill in artists, you hope it’s someone like Ferreyra. But again, Ferreyra’s art would be much better served on its own and I’m sure that there are plenty more books that will be featuring exactly that in the coming months.
Without spoiling any parts of the story for you, I just want to say that I was SO HAPPY for the reppaearance of Dinah Lance in Ollie’s life. I have been THIRSTING for that romance again and Dinah aka Black Canary has arguably never looked as good as she does with Otto Schmidt bringing her to life. She isn’t a sidekick to Ollie, she is an equal who is more than capable of getting shit done in her own way. I’m so happy to see her properly back in the Arrowverse here.
Verdict:
Buy it! I thoroughly enjoyed the first volume of Green Arrow to come out of DC’s Rebirth. While I don’t think I’ll follow along issue to issue, the trade was worth picking up and contained lots of interesting bonus content to enjoy. As mentioned, Schmidt’s concept art was an absolute treat and I think the book as a complete package will definitely feel like a good investment for your bookshelves.
Green Arrow Vol. 1: The Life and Death of Oliver Queen is out on January 10, 2017.
I was hesitant to come to this Green Arrow, fearing the same sort of thing but a mere few pages in, I was 100% into it. The story by Benjamin Percy feels very much like a story about Ollie to me. It’s definitely feels a little bit influenced by Arrow at first but grows into its own thing and brings back the character to what I was previously used to. Change for a character isn’t bad or anything but it just wasn’t my cup of tea and this version coming out of Rebirth thankfully made me grateful the latest reboot happened.
As great as Percy’s story is, the real draw of the book (no pun intended) is the art by Otto Schmidt. Oh. My. God. The art is just jaw droppingly gorgeous. I don’t usually spend a lot of time at the back of the book enjoying the “bonus content” but Schmidt’s concept designs for the characters were such a treat to behold. Ughhhhhh, SO GOOD.
Juan Ferreyra does covers for the series and then winds up doing the interiors for a couple of issues. It’s hard to really, truly enjoy Ferreyra’s beautiful line work and colours after Ollo Schmidt’s clean and animated pages but they’re amazing nonetheless and shouldn’t be left out of the discussion. It’s a strange switch up but the artists compliment each other well going back and forth on the series and while I always wish for consistent artwork, if you’re going to get fill in artists, you hope it’s someone like Ferreyra. But again, Ferreyra’s art would be much better served on its own and I’m sure that there are plenty more books that will be featuring exactly that in the coming months.
Without spoiling any parts of the story for you, I just want to say that I was SO HAPPY for the reppaearance of Dinah Lance in Ollie’s life. I have been THIRSTING for that romance again and Dinah aka Black Canary has arguably never looked as good as she does with Otto Schmidt bringing her to life. She isn’t a sidekick to Ollie, she is an equal who is more than capable of getting shit done in her own way. I’m so happy to see her properly back in the Arrowverse here.
Verdict:
Buy it! I thoroughly enjoyed the first volume of Green Arrow to come out of DC’s Rebirth. While I don’t think I’ll follow along issue to issue, the trade was worth picking up and contained lots of interesting bonus content to enjoy. As mentioned, Schmidt’s concept art was an absolute treat and I think the book as a complete package will definitely feel like a good investment for your bookshelves.
Green Arrow Vol. 1: The Life and Death of Oliver Queen is out on January 10, 2017.
michieknee's review against another edition
3.0
After the CW disaster known as Arrow this was exactly what I needed.
raul3893's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/3
The pacing of this book was so weird literally two issues in and Oliver has already lost his fortune the “twist” villain is revealed and something that should’ve taken at least 1 vol to properly set up so you have a satisfying pay off is rushed which leaves you with a story with a lot of stakes you don’t care about.
Not sure if I’m going to continue it but I’m still really interest in this character along with black canary, another thing is that I don’t think they did enough to disprove all the people that say he’s a Batman knock off since he kind of was.
Also this was kind of a weird introduction to the character since theres a lot of lore that comes to play but you get the bare minimum explanation so you don’t really know if the things that happened before are canon or not which will maybe be a problem with the whole rebirth line we’ll see
The pacing of this book was so weird literally two issues in and Oliver has already lost his fortune the “twist” villain is revealed and something that should’ve taken at least 1 vol to properly set up so you have a satisfying pay off is rushed which leaves you with a story with a lot of stakes you don’t care about.
Not sure if I’m going to continue it but I’m still really interest in this character along with black canary, another thing is that I don’t think they did enough to disprove all the people that say he’s a Batman knock off since he kind of was.
Also this was kind of a weird introduction to the character since theres a lot of lore that comes to play but you get the bare minimum explanation so you don’t really know if the things that happened before are canon or not which will maybe be a problem with the whole rebirth line we’ll see
chapterswithkyle's review against another edition
4.0
4.25
Enjoyed this first volume. This is my first introduction to the Green Arrow comics and it reminds me of the show a lot, and I like how dark it was compared to the other volumes in DC rebirth right now.
Enjoyed this first volume. This is my first introduction to the Green Arrow comics and it reminds me of the show a lot, and I like how dark it was compared to the other volumes in DC rebirth right now.
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
2.0
Let me start by saying I love some stuff Benjamin Percy has written. I DO think that there's a definite trend, which is that prose fiction writers don't always put together the best comics.
Ollie Queen is the oldest old-school social justice warrior of all time (his term, not mine). It sorta makes sense that he'd still be in that camp, maybe updated. But then him and Black Canary bone down, and then afterward he shows Black Canary all the charity shit he's done, and then she gets pissed off and leaves. Granted, showing off your charitable stuff is weird. That'd be like me saving email receipts for charitable donations and then getting laid off of it. But on the other hand, she's giving him a lot of crap for being "the man," so I don't know what else he's supposed to do. This relationship makes no sense until you remember, "Oh, yeah. This is a thing from the movies." Sometime, usually in the second act, you've gotta pit two characters against each other for no real reason, or break up a couple, or have friends sort of split apart. Because we need something to heighten the drama. But it doesn't really work here. It seems very inorganic and unexplained. Why would she like him before, leave him then, and then like him again later when he's the same dude? Why now?
The politics...feel a little forced. Human trafficking of people experiencing homelessness...okay, that makes sense. But they're being trafficked by this, well, Brotherhood Of Evil Bankers, I guess, who then take the kidnapped folks and burn off all their skin? Which somehow makes them part of the Brotherhood now? I didn't quite get it. And I think the juxtaposition of something like human trafficking with this idea that seemed kinda silly, I think it didn't work so well for me. What exactly are they doing on their bizarre, techno-vagina offshore base with all of these dudes who are basically melted? What's the labor force doing out there? And why were they auctioning some and melting some? How was that decided? It was some confusing stuff.
Also, the story towards the end (no spoilers), is sort of wrapped up in a neat little package. But like a neat little package that's full of Swiffer refills, you kinda wish you'd just left it wrapped because the package was a lot better than the contents.
Ollie Queen is the oldest old-school social justice warrior of all time (his term, not mine). It sorta makes sense that he'd still be in that camp, maybe updated. But then him and Black Canary bone down, and then afterward he shows Black Canary all the charity shit he's done, and then she gets pissed off and leaves. Granted, showing off your charitable stuff is weird. That'd be like me saving email receipts for charitable donations and then getting laid off of it. But on the other hand, she's giving him a lot of crap for being "the man," so I don't know what else he's supposed to do. This relationship makes no sense until you remember, "Oh, yeah. This is a thing from the movies." Sometime, usually in the second act, you've gotta pit two characters against each other for no real reason, or break up a couple, or have friends sort of split apart. Because we need something to heighten the drama. But it doesn't really work here. It seems very inorganic and unexplained. Why would she like him before, leave him then, and then like him again later when he's the same dude? Why now?
The politics...feel a little forced. Human trafficking of people experiencing homelessness...okay, that makes sense. But they're being trafficked by this, well, Brotherhood Of Evil Bankers, I guess, who then take the kidnapped folks and burn off all their skin? Which somehow makes them part of the Brotherhood now? I didn't quite get it. And I think the juxtaposition of something like human trafficking with this idea that seemed kinda silly, I think it didn't work so well for me. What exactly are they doing on their bizarre, techno-vagina offshore base with all of these dudes who are basically melted? What's the labor force doing out there? And why were they auctioning some and melting some? How was that decided? It was some confusing stuff.
Also, the story towards the end (no spoilers), is sort of wrapped up in a neat little package. But like a neat little package that's full of Swiffer refills, you kinda wish you'd just left it wrapped because the package was a lot better than the contents.