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mysteriousmre 's review for:
Green Arrow, Volume 1: The Midas Touch
by Keith Giffen, George Pérez, Ignacio Calero, J.T. Krul, Dan Jurgens, Ray McCarthy
If you’re going to reboot a character from the ground up, you better replace what you threw out with something of substance. This was not it. I’m amazed at how bored I was reading this.
Green Arrow has a reputation among DC fans for being the social activist in the superhero community (and for being a brooding diet Batman if you watched the early seasons of Arrow). Starting with the New52, the writers decided to toss everything recognizable about the character out the window and start from scratch and what they gave us feels soulless and uninspired. The first three issues are VERY bare bones. The book skips Oliver Queen’s backstory (not a bad decision on its own, Batman by Scott Snyder did this as well in its first volume), but the story doesn’t give us a clue about his motivations as a character or why his antics of being a superhero are more important than his responsibilities at his company (something that you’d think would be pretty important since they threw out all the old continuity and have established NOTHING about the lead character). And if you’re wondering why I haven’t brought up the antagonists yet it’s because just like Green Arrow they have no distinguishing character or personality either. They exist because it’s a superhero story and the artist needs to fill up a few pages of action before picking up their paycheck.
We’re introduced to an entirely new supporting cast, but they don’t get explored beyond establishing their cookie cutter “nerd in the chair” stereotypes. The idea of a pacifist designing Oliver’s tech is cool, but it’s never explored just like the plot’s stance against violence in video games (which was an outdated topic, even when this book was published).
Afterwards, the main writer leaves and the remaining issues are juggled between 2 writers who seem more interested in filling space waiting for the next person rather than writing a coherent story. I remember people saying New52 Green Arrow was bad, but I didn’t know it was THIS bad. This reboot was a HUGE misfire and I don’t think I’ll be reading more Green Arrow anytime soon.
Green Arrow has a reputation among DC fans for being the social activist in the superhero community (and for being a brooding diet Batman if you watched the early seasons of Arrow). Starting with the New52, the writers decided to toss everything recognizable about the character out the window and start from scratch and what they gave us feels soulless and uninspired. The first three issues are VERY bare bones. The book skips Oliver Queen’s backstory (not a bad decision on its own, Batman by Scott Snyder did this as well in its first volume), but the story doesn’t give us a clue about his motivations as a character or why his antics of being a superhero are more important than his responsibilities at his company (something that you’d think would be pretty important since they threw out all the old continuity and have established NOTHING about the lead character). And if you’re wondering why I haven’t brought up the antagonists yet it’s because just like Green Arrow they have no distinguishing character or personality either. They exist because it’s a superhero story and the artist needs to fill up a few pages of action before picking up their paycheck.
We’re introduced to an entirely new supporting cast, but they don’t get explored beyond establishing their cookie cutter “nerd in the chair” stereotypes. The idea of a pacifist designing Oliver’s tech is cool, but it’s never explored just like the plot’s stance against violence in video games (which was an outdated topic, even when this book was published).
Afterwards, the main writer leaves and the remaining issues are juggled between 2 writers who seem more interested in filling space waiting for the next person rather than writing a coherent story. I remember people saying New52 Green Arrow was bad, but I didn’t know it was THIS bad. This reboot was a HUGE misfire and I don’t think I’ll be reading more Green Arrow anytime soon.