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unladylike's review
1.0
Horrible, frequently misogynistic writing and boring to boot. So glad Dan Jurgens didn't continue writing this title beyond this volume.
crucialxdave's review
3.0
Seattle's own Green Arrow had a somewhat shaky start on the first volume of the New 52 reboot. Maybe I had high expectations, but I just don't think it delivered as much as I expected it would. Looking forward to volume 2 nonetheless.
ericbuscemi's review
2.0
I was introduced to the Green Arrow by the CW show Arrow, a show I look forward to watching each week -- something I wish I could also say about Marvel superhero show S.H.I.E.L.D., but I digress. So when I saw this New 52 comic on sale for Cyber Monday, I jumped at the chance... to waste my money. What a let down.
The comic opens -- and mind you, this is the first issue of a rebooted DC line, so it is really the series opening -- with little to no introduction of Oliver or his supporting cast. In the first arc, he fights against a gang of D-list supervillains who party hard and upload their criminal exploits to social media. For some unexplained reason, they really want to record themselves murdering the Green Arrow. This is supposed to be a subtle dig at the current state of modern society and social media, but comes off more heavy-handed than a bad after-school special. More importantly, this stock batch of villains are all incredibly lame, so there is no tension in thinking they might actually come close to succeeding in their voyeuristic goal.
This subpar villain problem is somewhat resolved in the second half of this book, when Midas and Blood Rose are introduced. The Green Arrow is not any better developed here -- his signature snarky quips come off more juvenile and immature than funny -- but at least his antagonists are deserving of attention. Despite some improvement with these worthier adversaries -- which saved this from getting a one star rating from me -- there was not nearly enough between these pages to get me to continue reading this series. Not by a long shot.
The comic opens -- and mind you, this is the first issue of a rebooted DC line, so it is really the series opening -- with little to no introduction of Oliver or his supporting cast. In the first arc, he fights against a gang of D-list supervillains who party hard and upload their criminal exploits to social media. For some unexplained reason, they really want to record themselves murdering the Green Arrow. This is supposed to be a subtle dig at the current state of modern society and social media, but comes off more heavy-handed than a bad after-school special. More importantly, this stock batch of villains are all incredibly lame, so there is no tension in thinking they might actually come close to succeeding in their voyeuristic goal.
This subpar villain problem is somewhat resolved in the second half of this book, when Midas and Blood Rose are introduced. The Green Arrow is not any better developed here -- his signature snarky quips come off more juvenile and immature than funny -- but at least his antagonists are deserving of attention. Despite some improvement with these worthier adversaries -- which saved this from getting a one star rating from me -- there was not nearly enough between these pages to get me to continue reading this series. Not by a long shot.
justiceofkalr's review
2.0
Okay, so I've never read a Green Arrow book before this one, but this was so incredibly boring. Green Arrow was boring, the bad guys were boring, the plots were boring. Maybe old Green Arrow before the new 52 reboot was a lot better, but I won't be reading anymore of this in the new 52 books. This was probably the least interesting book of the reboot that I've read so far. I'll probably try some of the older stuff first though before I write him off as a boring character altogether, since some of the reboots have been pretty iffy.
rhganci's review
2.0
This volume has seemed the weakest of The New 52 by far. While the action sequences showed a wide range of arrow-types and the story dealt with some really current and interesting social themes, the writing of this book and the general direction of the plot really struggles to find its footing among the high quality of its other counterparts.
The first element of this volume that was weak was the dialogue. I seemed cheesy, even wooden at times, and during the fights especially out-of-place. The endless quipping, betting, ribbing, and blabbing banter between Oliver and his two compatriots got in the way of the suspense and tension of the Green Arrow's struggles. I found myself uneven on the role of Naomi and Jax; sometimes they seemed crucial to GA's operations, and sometimes they seemed an obstruction to the storytelling, which also struggled to communicate with me. What we have in GA Volume 1 are two separate stories, a sort of allegory about voyeurism on the internet paired with an ill-defined revenge narrative that featured a toxic monster and his robot wife. They don't really go together, and either one might have been better developed into something more sensible--as they stand, they both form two below-average stories that in the end didn't do much for me as a comics reader.
The art, however, was a separate story, though I found myself wishing that they would have either stuck with George Perez (can you go wrong with him?) or the other guys who did some finishes the whole way. As a result, the art, though great at times, was as hodge-podged as the plot and in the end served as only a passable addition to the uneven narrative. What I got out of the book was a clear re-introduction to Green Arrow with some interesting potential, but after six issues it's still just potential.
The first element of this volume that was weak was the dialogue. I seemed cheesy, even wooden at times, and during the fights especially out-of-place. The endless quipping, betting, ribbing, and blabbing banter between Oliver and his two compatriots got in the way of the suspense and tension of the Green Arrow's struggles. I found myself uneven on the role of Naomi and Jax; sometimes they seemed crucial to GA's operations, and sometimes they seemed an obstruction to the storytelling, which also struggled to communicate with me. What we have in GA Volume 1 are two separate stories, a sort of allegory about voyeurism on the internet paired with an ill-defined revenge narrative that featured a toxic monster and his robot wife. They don't really go together, and either one might have been better developed into something more sensible--as they stand, they both form two below-average stories that in the end didn't do much for me as a comics reader.
The art, however, was a separate story, though I found myself wishing that they would have either stuck with George Perez (can you go wrong with him?) or the other guys who did some finishes the whole way. As a result, the art, though great at times, was as hodge-podged as the plot and in the end served as only a passable addition to the uneven narrative. What I got out of the book was a clear re-introduction to Green Arrow with some interesting potential, but after six issues it's still just potential.
bpol's review
2.0
Green Arrow is one of my favorites, but I'm not sure I care for this incarnation of him. I guess we'll have to see what comes next.