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A review by bec_cann
Green Arrow: Stranded by Brendan Deneen, Caleb Hosalla
adventurous
fast-paced
5.0
This book has done the impossible and made me care about Green Arrow who I previously considered nothing more than a worse version of both Batman and Hawkeye. Something it accomplishes by focusing on Oliver Queen rather than the Green Arrow identity he will later adopt. This is my first foray into DC's middle grade titles, though I've read several of their YA books so I don't know if this is something they often do, it was very successful here though.
This was a really charming read, and maybe this is a virtue of the nature of the Green Arrow's origin story but this didn't feel like it was trying to tell two different stories in a place where there was really only room for one. Oliver is a likable protagonist and given that this was a middle grade title it was nice to end the book on the hopeful note that everyone was going to make it out alive. I also appreciated that this was an origin story in action more than in name, kids who like comic book superheros or who already know Green Arrow will like this but this can just as easily be sold to fans of Hatchet who are looking for a new survival story. It's great!
The art is gorgeous, the backgrounds especially which is important in a survival story. Really the whole book was a treat to read, it's made me want to go and pick up some more of the middle grade titles that I've missed from DC.
This was a really charming read, and maybe this is a virtue of the nature of the Green Arrow's origin story but this didn't feel like it was trying to tell two different stories in a place where there was really only room for one. Oliver is a likable protagonist and given that this was a middle grade title it was nice to end the book on the hopeful note that everyone was going to make it out alive. I also appreciated that this was an origin story in action more than in name, kids who like comic book superheros or who already know Green Arrow will like this but this can just as easily be sold to fans of Hatchet who are looking for a new survival story. It's great!
The art is gorgeous, the backgrounds especially which is important in a survival story. Really the whole book was a treat to read, it's made me want to go and pick up some more of the middle grade titles that I've missed from DC.