The Comic Book Enthusiast
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The New 52!: Green Arrow No. 37 starts out with a police officer with a tattoo of a crown on his wrist. I always feel uneasy when a tattoo is associated with something bad or threatening because, as a collector of tattoos, I just feel that there is always a stigma that comes with it. The officer is put in a tough position since “The King” paid for his daughter’s chemotherapy, so he has to respect his orders. The person on the phone is telling him not to help the Green Arrow. Now, the scene transitions into the Green Arrow fighting with another archer who has scarring on the left side of his body. Oliver was hit during the fight and Felicity is calling in from the Arrow’s safehouse. It seems as though Felicity is a good member of the team like she is in the show because she gets Oliver out of tough situations. Finally with the help of Felicity, the Green Arrow catches up to the other archer. Then, comes page 4 and 5, which has a huge action scene and the art and layout is so well done. I love Daniel Sampere’s usage of targets as focal points for each archer and their actions. The center panel has a green arrow getting shattered by a black arrow from the other archer and perhaps this archer is an archenemy of the Green Arrow’s. The archer asks “Oliver?” (6) when he looks at the Green Arrow. I hope his identity is not revealed, but what’s ironic is that to me, the Green Arrow is who Oliver really is because it seems as though he finally realizes who he is after his time away from the United States. For example, in the show, he turns from being a playboy to someone pretending to be a playboy to pretend that he cannot be associated with the Arrow. Through this, Oliver reminds me of Bruce Wayne because Batman is Bruce Wayne’s real character. Now, Katana is shown asking a priest who he works for, but he could not tell her. He works for The King and she has been trying to locate him. Then, it transitions to the Green Arrow’s safehouse where a girl states: “John King is my dad. He’s also trying to kill me. I think” (12). I think “The King” that Katana is looking for is this person’s father. Oliver acknowledges her father as the “Third richest man in the country behind Luthor and Wayne…” (12). I am on the edge of my seat as to whether her assumptions of her father are true. It seems as though a lot of people who have money in the superhero genre are mostly supervillains, and it’s rare when superheroes are the ones who are rich. Then, Oliver tells her that her father is a good man but she revealed to him and the team that when she was young, she witnessed her father killing her mother because “‘[her] mom discovered his secret’” (13). This reminds me of the show with Malcom Merlyn who had secrets, too. He was an archer like Oliver, but he wore all black, so I think he is the archer that the Green Arrow was fighting in the beginning of this issue. However, in the show, the audience didn’t find out that Oliver’s sister’s biological father was Malcom Merlyn until later in the series. Oliver looking concerned, calls his girlfriend and employee, Zehra to ask to speak to John King but she’s upset because he left abruptly during their dinner. I just yelled out, “Yes!” because Zehra is a person of color! It is so rare to see people of color in comic books still and having the white male superhero be with a female of color says a lot about diversity. It is refreshing to see that a female of color can be a love interest for the hero, too. Wow, John King is evil and only cares about what he can get out of helping people. He even knows that Oliver is the Green Arrow claiming: “I know everything about each city I seize control of. Especially the obstacles standing in my way” (21). Here, shows that some people in power are so power hungry and that everything they do is to push them even higher on the social, political, and economic hierarchy. I don’t think he is the archer from the beginning anymore because King does not have the facial scars. Another interesting moment is when King says to Oliver: “I don’t understand you masked vigilantes. I’m saving your city for you. Merely without weapons or gadgets” (23). Here, shows that he believes that people with money do not need to use violence to change the city into a better place, which is ironic since he even killed his own wife because she figured something out. Additionally, one of the important parts of this issue is the mentioning of gentrification. The effects of gentrification are so terrible because it hurts small businesses and low-income neighborhoods. The King is the one who is initiating this and he is masquerading it as “helping” the city. Further, we find out that The King was the person who hired Felicity to kill Oliver from issue No. 35! The King’s henchman is ready to shoot at Oliver’s team, but before he gets the chance to, Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle get swooped up in a force field created by the Green Lantern! This reminds me of an older Green Lantern/Green Arrow No. 76 where they were used as superheroes making people aware of social issues. To be honest, this issue was not as exciting as the other two. I have been collecting more issues of The New 52!: Green Arrow so I look forward to reading more. Thank you very much for reading!
-Nguyen, Alina
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The New 52!: Green Arrow No. 36 starts out with Mia Dearden and her friend who used most of their money to get high instead of food. They are seen as homeless as she tells her friend: “Trevor, you rely on me too much. You shouldn’t rely on anybody. Nobody cares about us on the streets. We’re invisible” (Kreisberg & Sokolowski 1). However, that quickly changes when they get attacked by a few people who know her by name. Although, she gets saved by someone who claims: “I knew your mother” (3). I wonder who she is and what her relations to the Green Arrow are. Then, the comic book transitions into a full page panel with the Green Arrow drawing his bow towards Felicity Smoak. She does most of the talking and what she says gives off the idea that women are not strong enough to take on men themselves. For example, she tells him: …Since I’m not actually going through with what I was hired to do…which, you know, kill you. Though technically, I wasn’t the one who would have done the killing F-Y-I. There are hired men with big muscles and bigger guns for that. I was supposed to lure you to a warehouse. A trap (4). Here, shows that women are supposed to be seen as only good for “tricking” men into doing things and that they are cunning. It is unfortunate that Felicity is depicted as such: far from her character on screen who cares about her friends and does not try to deceive them. The Green Arrow proceeds to ask her: “Why the change of heart?” (6) in which she replies, “Because I’ve done some…many…questionable things in my life. Leading a hero to his death isn’t one of them” (6). I think it is important to note that Felicity recognizes that Oliver is a hero and that she respects him in not wanting to be a pawn in his death. Further, that shows that the possibility for strong female leads can be right around the corner! Oliver has very short comments as he often does in the show. For instance, he asks, “Who hired you?” (6). Felicity recalled that “It was a blind job. [She] was contacted online by an avatar. [She] take[s] all [her] ‘meetings’ playing World of Warcraft. It’s NSA-free. And fun” (6). This is when the Felicity on screen is being shine through the one in the comic book. She is revealing the nerd side of her that adds to her quirkiness and audience likeability. She continues to display her intelligence as she has already discovered who the Green Arrow’s secret identity is asking: “So how about you take down the hoodie? I already know who you are…Oliver Queen” (6). This is different than the show because within the show, Oliver reveals himself as the Arrow to Felicity when he gets shot by his mother. He trusts her with his life and from then on, she became an important part of team Arrow. On the next page, Felicity continues to reveal truths about Oliver that he is stunned. He finally equates to asking, “What’s in this for you?” (8). She admits to Oliver that “[she] want[s] to help [him] save the city” (10). There is a difference and a similarity within the show here because eventually in the show, she wants to help Oliver protect the city. However, her initial goal was just to help him find his stepfather who is her boss only. Finally, the reason for the introduction of Mia earlier was crucial because she is one of three people that can help save Oliver from the person who sent Felicity to kill him. Eventually, it is revealed that someone who is pretending to be benevolent by building houses for families in need was behind the hire of the Green Arrow’s assassination. I think the most important dialogue within this issue is when John Diggle says to Oliver: “For the record, this isn’t cool. It took you fifteen months to trust me with your secret. One look at Blondie and she’s part of the team?” (14). I cannot help but think race has something to do with this. Diggle is African American and perhaps that can be a factor in Oliver’s determination of who can trust. Although, Felicity was quick to counter with “Actually, I dye my hair” (14), which connects to the show in which a flashback revealed that she was a brunette before. Perhaps this can be interpreted as race being a subject that people would rather dismiss than take into consideration. Even so, I cannot fully dismiss the fear that Oliver might be feeling due to Felicity knowing everything about him and even Diggle. The same people that attacked Mia from the beginning of the issue are back and brought even more weapons. I think the details in these newer comic books are even more visceral than those in the past because the emotion and violence is x1000. However, the goggles that the Green Arrow wears in this issue are a bit cheesy. I enjoy the more masquerade masklike eye wear that he dons in the show. However, I do get the goggles as being more comicesque. Moving on, there are panels where the readers can follow where the arrows that the Green Arrow shoots go. In some ways, that links to the live action television show where the audience can see which direction the arrows go. Even the arrow that turns into a claw that saves Mia’s life. Unfortunately, the Green Arrow was not able to save the man who saved her in the beginning as someone else shot him with an arrow. The issue ends there with the arrow penetrating the man’s heart. I cannot wait for the next issue to see what comes next in Mia’s story arc as she is hiding from King who is Merlyn in the show and who is eventually revealed to be Thea’s biological father. Thank you very much for reading!
-Nguyen, Alina As a fan of the show Arrow, I was rather excited to find out that Andrew Kreisberg and Ben Sokolowski will be writing the new issues of The New 52!: Green Arrow starting with No. 35. Kreisberg and Sokolowski are writers on Arrow, so I imagine the issues will be heavily influenced by the show. Now, I will start this small collection of analyses with issue No. 35. The issue starts out with Oliver Queen speaking to the reader as he does in the beginning of Arrow episodes. For example, he says, “For the first three-quarters of my life, I was pretty much a jerk. Now I’m dedicating my life to not being one” (Kreisberg & Sokolowski 1). Automatically, this reminded me of the show because Oliver is depicted as a rich kid who did not care about anyone but himself, until tragedy struck. Perhaps his experience being away for a long time allowed him to eventually become the better version of himself. He finally has motive as he admits: “I’m not the Green Arrow to make friends” (2). Oliver within the show is a vigilante because he does not really follow the rules of the law but acts on his instincts. His only goals are to protect his city from criminals and his family. Therefore, as he continues to speak to his reader and says, “These punks must’ve been hoping not to deal with someone like me today. A super-hero. Whatever that means nowadays,” (3) he can be referring to how that term has shifted drastically. Perhaps it is Kreisberg and Sokolowski’s way of showing how a super-hero can no longer mean fighting with the law but an alternate version of supporting the law. Moving on, there is another main character within the show that appears in the comic. His name is John Diggle and he is a part of Oliver Queen’s team. He has high regards and trust for Oliver, but he stands his ground on what he thinks is right, too. Therefore, I think within the show he is more of an equal to Oliver and in the comic Oliver refers to him as a sidekick. However, John is still depicted as someone who does not agree to everything the super-hero says. For instance, he warns Oliver, “Call me a sidekick again and you’ll be the Green, Black and Blue Arrow” (8). Further into the comic, Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne are at The Queen Foundation to see Oliver Queen! The page shows Lex and Bruce with a background of them with their costumes on and a mini bio that reads: “Lex Luthor. Reformed Super-villain. Current Super-hero. Bruce Wayne. Super-hero” (14). Lex Luthor reveals that “Waynetech and Lexcorp have formed a partnership” (18). Here, can be connected to what Oliver commented on about what a Super-hero means these days because the super-villain Lex Luthor is now on the good side. Oliver can be indirectly commenting that there is no way that Luthor has changed so drastically from “just evil” (19) with a panel of Luthor in his gear standing above a beaten up Superman, to someone he can trust. Now, Bruce asks Oliver, “What are you hiding, Oliver?” (19) when Oliver refuses his and Luthor’s proposal to join their partnership. However, Oliver claims that Bruce “[doesn’t get his] hands dirty” (20) and asks him the same question. The next panel shows Batman’s arm punching a bloody Joker. These appearances for Kreisberg and Sokolowski’s Arrow comic debut is very epic, and really shows how big of a deal it is for them to be given the chance to carry on the story of their favorite archer. Although, I wonder if they tried to add these iconic characters with the purpose of convincing readers that their stories are worth following within the comics, too. Honestly, I am missing Felicity Smoak since she is my favorite character besides Oliver Queen. However, John tells Oliver that “A hacker siphoned a lot of zeroes off Glades Memorial’s Endowment Fund” (26). Oliver goes to a warehouse to hopefully stop whoever was doing so. He claims that he is “no[t] [a] techie … but somehow [he] hooked a line on [the] guy in ten minutes” but someone replies, “Guy? Nope, I’m no guy…” (26). Then, she says, “My name is Felicity Smoak. And I was hired to KILL YOU” (28). This is intriguing because when Felicity is introduced in the show, she is seen as someone who is awkward and has a good moral sense. I am excited to see who sent her to kill Oliver, and if she will become an important part of the team. Thank you very much for reading!
-Nguyen, Alina |