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A review by mcacev
Green Arrow, Vol. 5: Hard Travelin' Hero by Benjamin Percy
3.0
Rise of Star City is the culmination of the series so far, as everything that Percy has introduced, every character, every plot point (except for Diggle, but we'll get to that) culminates in this volume. Was it successful? Let's find out.
The story starts with Olie finding a secret museum under his father's grave, while reminiscing about their relationship. At the same time, a group of assassins and villains, destroy various properties around Seattle. Cheshire brings down 3 planes, Eddie Fyers unleashes a ton of poisonous bugs and insects in various hotels, restaurants and stores, Danny Brickwell destroys a building and Nate blackmails various senators to lift legislation off of pretty much all the safety network Seattle has in construction, environmental protection, business protection and taxes. All this is part of the Ninth Circle's plan to rebuild Star City on top of the lay lines that go under Seattle and usher into a new judgement day.
If all that sounds convoluted... it's because it is. It also might sound familiar to those of you who have played the TellTale version of Batman; it's a very similar premise. Olie finds out his father had been a member of the Ninth Circle; in fact, his ancestor created it and the entire Queen clan was responsible for making it what it is. It's a pretty big revelation, and I thought it was handled well. There was a real sense of loss for Oliver; loss of identity, of hope and of allies. Two extremely powerful moments were the aftermath of Henry's kidnapping and Olie's subsequent fight with Eddie, as well as the destruction of the Space Needle.
Now for things I didn't like. First off, with the amount of destruction that occurs within the span of 24 h, where the hell is the Justice League? I mean it, parts of Seattle are decimated. How is no one else aware of this? Then we have Olie and Dinah's fight (again). I don't understand Dinah's motivation AT ALL. She thinks that of Oliver regains his company back, he will somehow become a fascist? Huh? I am 100% on his side in this, I don't understand the leap of logic that is required for someone to think that Olie regaining control of the company that has been sawing chaos everywhere for the past 20 issues and making it NOT do that is fascist. Does Dinah not realize how much more effective they could be as fighters if they had capital, influence and control than as a ragtag gang of vigilantes who live in a goddamn tree house? And I'm sorry but Dinah has no right to tell anyone not to seek out their literal birthright. This fight was on par with the fight between Wanda and Pietro on sheer stupidity.
Next, Dinah's whole jealousy with the reporter. You are the one who stormed off, you are the one who refuses to acknowledge that you and Olie are dating, you are the one who constantly demands to be alone and that you don't need anyone. You don't get to be jealous or suspicious of others for wanting to help THEIR OWN FUCKING CITY just because they might have a crush on a guy that you constantly reject and shut down. I was glad Olie at least for once stood his ground and refused to cave in; he is actually right in this argument. I honestly have no idea what Dinah is like in her solo series, but if she's anything like what she is here... God Rebirth did her wrong. Very wrong.
We have Roy and Emi interacting which was entertaining. I expected them to clash heads a bit more, but it was refreshing to see two characters not fighting with each other over nothing for a change.
As for the ending... it was stupid. I don't get it. Why would the police arrest Olie. He was presumed dead, why would they arrest him? I can sort of get why maybe the people would think he was maybe responsible for the destruction but even that is far fetched tbh.
Honestly, this volume was a mess. Parts were really good; all the parts were Olie was on his own, discovering his father's past and confronting Cyrus were great. I even liked Roy and Emi's little detour. But all the rest... it was rushed, sloppy and not up to par with the rest of the series. This is where the tone problems really become apparent. Percy wants this to be a fun adventure series, but at the same time he also wants it to be serious social commentary, and you just can't really do both, or at least not like this.
The story starts with Olie finding a secret museum under his father's grave, while reminiscing about their relationship. At the same time, a group of assassins and villains, destroy various properties around Seattle. Cheshire brings down 3 planes, Eddie Fyers unleashes a ton of poisonous bugs and insects in various hotels, restaurants and stores, Danny Brickwell destroys a building and Nate blackmails various senators to lift legislation off of pretty much all the safety network Seattle has in construction, environmental protection, business protection and taxes. All this is part of the Ninth Circle's plan to rebuild Star City on top of the lay lines that go under Seattle and usher into a new judgement day.
If all that sounds convoluted... it's because it is. It also might sound familiar to those of you who have played the TellTale version of Batman; it's a very similar premise. Olie finds out his father had been a member of the Ninth Circle; in fact, his ancestor created it and the entire Queen clan was responsible for making it what it is. It's a pretty big revelation, and I thought it was handled well. There was a real sense of loss for Oliver; loss of identity, of hope and of allies. Two extremely powerful moments were the aftermath of Henry's kidnapping and Olie's subsequent fight with Eddie, as well as the destruction of the Space Needle.
Now for things I didn't like. First off, with the amount of destruction that occurs within the span of 24 h, where the hell is the Justice League? I mean it, parts of Seattle are decimated. How is no one else aware of this? Then we have Olie and Dinah's fight (again). I don't understand Dinah's motivation AT ALL. She thinks that of Oliver regains his company back, he will somehow become a fascist? Huh? I am 100% on his side in this, I don't understand the leap of logic that is required for someone to think that Olie regaining control of the company that has been sawing chaos everywhere for the past 20 issues and making it NOT do that is fascist. Does Dinah not realize how much more effective they could be as fighters if they had capital, influence and control than as a ragtag gang of vigilantes who live in a goddamn tree house? And I'm sorry but Dinah has no right to tell anyone not to seek out their literal birthright. This fight was on par with the fight between Wanda and Pietro on sheer stupidity.
Next, Dinah's whole jealousy with the reporter. You are the one who stormed off, you are the one who refuses to acknowledge that you and Olie are dating, you are the one who constantly demands to be alone and that you don't need anyone. You don't get to be jealous or suspicious of others for wanting to help THEIR OWN FUCKING CITY just because they might have a crush on a guy that you constantly reject and shut down. I was glad Olie at least for once stood his ground and refused to cave in; he is actually right in this argument. I honestly have no idea what Dinah is like in her solo series, but if she's anything like what she is here... God Rebirth did her wrong. Very wrong.
We have Roy and Emi interacting which was entertaining. I expected them to clash heads a bit more, but it was refreshing to see two characters not fighting with each other over nothing for a change.
As for the ending... it was stupid. I don't get it. Why would the police arrest Olie. He was presumed dead, why would they arrest him? I can sort of get why maybe the people would think he was maybe responsible for the destruction but even that is far fetched tbh.
Honestly, this volume was a mess. Parts were really good; all the parts were Olie was on his own, discovering his father's past and confronting Cyrus were great. I even liked Roy and Emi's little detour. But all the rest... it was rushed, sloppy and not up to par with the rest of the series. This is where the tone problems really become apparent. Percy wants this to be a fun adventure series, but at the same time he also wants it to be serious social commentary, and you just can't really do both, or at least not like this.