Green Arrow #2 (of 12)

ComicBook.com

There is a lot to love about this comic, from the stellar storytelling to the eye-catching artwork. There's a contrast between the story taking place on Earth as Team Arrow heads off to get some answers regarding their missing family members, while Green Arrow plays Robin Hood on a strange, alien world. Troublemaker looks interesting as well, as Joshua Williamson continues to sprinkle these new characters throughout his recent DC works.

But Why Tho?

Green Arrow #2 is an excellent issue. Fast-paced writing that gets into the main character’s head and knows the supporting cast without fail. Absorbing action sequences, quips, one-liners, and good emotional beats. The art is steadfast and strong, with kaleidoscopic colors to match and a range of lettering FX to add to the order (and chaos, depending on the panel). I am in love with this series and what DC is producing this year. I didn’t expect Oliver and his Team to be ground zero for the Waller storyline, but it fits. Her nonstop scheming against some of the hardest heads in DC’s superhero lineup will make for an epic battle royal. This book takes a hit-and-run approach to storytelling I highly enjoy. It feels like everything moves fast. Already I love Lia and her spunk, and I look forward to watching her develop into a more disciplined hero. Fans of Green Arrow should already have jumped on. Newbies, give this one a try. It’s got a lot of characters to sink your teeth into. Pick one or three. Enjoy.

AIPT

Green Arrow #1 was a fantastic start to this new series, and did so well that the initial plan of six issues was doubled to 12! Now that’s a good first impression, one I wholeheartedly shared. I can already say that the second issue doesn’t disappoint with the followup, so let’s get into it. (...) Green Arrow #2 continues the momentum of last issue to present another really great issue. As I highlighted heavily last time, I’m a huge Green Arrow fan (my dog is named after the guy for crying out loud), so believe me when I say this is the exact kind of book I’ve been wanting to read for years. It’s just nice having characters you love come back and feel done right by, something that a lot of us as comic readers don’t really have the luxury of sometimes. Williamson makes this all look effortless somehow, and everything he’s doing so far feels like a no-brainer, the kind of stuff fans want: new stories with strong character writing featuring the characters they love to read about. Sometimes it really is just that easy, you know?

Lyles Movie Files

Green Arrow is going to be juuuuust fine. With the two previous Flash writers in Jeremy Adams and Joshua Williamson coming onto Team Green with Green Lantern and Green Arrow respectively, it’s a good time to be a fan of the emerald clad heroes. Green Arrow can get boxed into a certain style of story, but Williamson is quickly setting up a fun new status quo with Oliver and his goddaughter Lian traveling between worlds in the multiverse spirited away by some unknown force. The traveling escapade puts a fun new spin on the whole Hard Traveling Heroes dynamic and revisits the original Green Arrow and Speedy banter with Oliver and a teen sidekick. And there’s even some intriguing new characters being added to the mix. On the main Earth, Arsenal and Black Canary are searching for Amanda Waller, the person they believe is responsible for Oliver and Lian’s disappearance. To get to Waller, they’ll have to break into Belle Reve and its defenders. Williamson has a knack for great characterization and the four leads immediately feel fresher than they’ve been portrayed in far too long. Sean Izaakse’s art is refreshing as it offers a different presentation than the current top DC artists. Izaaskse isn’t going to take long to join that club with detailed panels and an exciting showcase of the action. Colorist Romulo Fajadro Jr. incorporates a nice blend of colors making for a palette that pops allowing for better focus on where readers should direct their attention. It hasn’t taken long for this title to warrant inclusion onto my most anticipated monthly titles list from DC. The fresh scenario and compelling secondary plot has Green Arrow and friends locked up for what hopefully should be a lengthy and entertaining run.

Geek Dad

Last issue kicked us off with a packed issue, as Roy Harper and Lian were finally reunited—only for Lian to be spirited away by some sort of teleportation device, being deposited with Ollie in an alien landscape and leaving Roy swearing revenge against Amanda Waller. How is Amanda involved in this? We don’t know, but given that she’s being set up as the next main villain of the DCU going forward, it seems a safe bet. In working with the Arrowfam, Williamson is giving himself a challenging task—this family is one of the most tangled in the DCU, but it’s also the one where there is the least defining material and there has been so much time since they were last explored. Given that, he gets all the big things very right, such as the unique bond between Roy and Dinah. There’s even a cameo by Barbara Gordon that called right back to those fan-favorite Birds of Prey comics. As for Lian and Ollie, they’re currently stranded in deep space, in a sector neither of them recognize, as they try to find their way home and battle some evil space criminals right out of Star Wars. A deadly assassin hired by an evil cyborg space cat? No problem. It’s fun watching Ollie slip right into the mentor role again with Lian, although Lian herself has a lot of unanswered questions. How did she get this old (roughly Damian’s age)? No answers yet, but she’s certainly got her father’s reckless heroic spirit and skill with a bow. Ollie has developed some strange ideas about why they can’t go home, but being reminded of his son—who was retconned away for a long time—leads to a very emotional scene that delivers. This is an incredibly promising issue, and the second great one in a row. It could be the A-list run Green Arrow hasn’t had since the heyday of Kevin Smith.

The Super Powered Fancast

The Story: Williamson continues to craft an entertaining story for Oliver and the rest of the Green Arrow family. I like the mystery within the story and how Oliver is keeping secrets including why he won’t go home. I like Roy and Dinah’s adventure as well and look forward to seeing how they both collide. Only thing that bothers me is the seemingly overuse of the character of Peacemaker. He is showing up too many places and is starting to become an annoying presence. The Art: Izaakse is crafting some beautifully detailed, dynamic and fluid art throughout the issue. I love the visual style and the action is visually thrilling.

Comics Nexus by Inside Pulse

Solid storytelling on narrative and on art. A satisfying and intriguing read.

COMICON

Ollie and family are at their best in a long time. I’ve missed seeing them as a part of the DCU and this is a great start to their return to being front and center.

Graphic Policy

Joshua Williamson, Sean Izaakse, and Romulo Fajardo‘s Green Arrow continues to be a lot of fun with flashy fight sequences and an emphasis on the found family dynamic. This issue in particular has an action comedy vibe with Oliver Queen and Lian Harper fighting injustice and inequality on a farflung planet against literal fat cats, the return of the boxing glove arrow, and Queen having a portable tree house because he’s always getting stranded places. Izaakse breaks up the page into varied panel shapes to keep the battles moving before using traditional square and rectangle panels for interactions between this separated Arrow-family. He and Williamson pay homage to Green Arrow stories of the past while keeping things fresh with Oliver and Lian ending up in a new planet/reality each issue. It seems a bit random at times, but is a nice change of pace for the street level hero.

Henchman-4-Hire

This Green Arrow relaunch is still rather opaque in terms of overall story and big picture, but that has not stopped me from enjoying the first two issues. The main character is lost on some alien planet with no real foundation to ground him in what we’re reading, but Williamson writes a fun Ollie Queen and that counts for a lot. It helps that Ollie has Lian, his pseudo-granddaughter/niece, to use as a sidekick/foil. The two of them work well together and their fight with their foe is really fun to read. Again, the foe and the criminals don’t really mean anything, but it’s a lively fight that feels specific to Green Arrow. I like that, and I liked the issue. Meanwhile, the other storyline is also very opaque because I have no idea what’s going on with Amanda Waller these days. Arsenal and Black Canary don’t get as much time to banter and quip, but I bet they’d be really fun together. What we do see is fun, and I definitely feel for Roy as he gears up to take back his daughter. But, again, I have no idea where Amanda Waller is or how one goes about seeing her, so the stakes of this storyline aren’t as strong as they could be. I assume Waller is up to all sorts of mischief in the greater DC Universe, but there’s only hints of it in this issue. Still, the writing is really fun and the artwork is perfection, so it’s an enjoyable comic all around and I’m definitely coming back for more. The storylines lack solid firmament, but the overall quality of the writing, character work and art make this an enjoyable comic to check out.

Get Your Comic On

Issue #2 brilliantly builds on the foundations of last month. It’s clear that Williamson has a plan for Oliver and the rest of the Green Arrow cast but at the same time he isn’t revealing all his plans right away. The various elements feel more balanced this month as the story digs in to its Dawn of DC connections and sets up some interesting storytelling for next month.

Graham Crackers Comics

In an interesting turn of events, Joshua Williamson’s story seems to be hinting that Green Arrow (the every man hero) will be leading the charge to return some of DC’s past glory. Speedy’s daughter has returned as has Oliver’s memories of his son Connor. Speedy, ok fine … Arsenal, is on the hunt with Black Canary in tow. The Arrow family while not physically together is returning to the comic pages. And while Green Arrow’s MO and personality make him perfectly suited for multiversal hopping, I am still not sure if I like him in that role. Sean Izaakse’s art is terrificly suited for story as his action sequences are epic. And great Tommy Tutone Jenny lyrics aside, this have got plenty of humor as well as pathos. Running the emotional spectrum, this title has a lot of heart. Lets hope the creative team can keep it up.

The Comicbook Dispatch

Green Arrow #2 provides more action and focus on Oliver, some subtle characteristics that we’ve missed from the character, and a semi-direction for Roy and Dinah while incorporating some tremendous art by Izaakse. However, Williamson spends too much time on an alien planet that we may never see again, chili humor, and a cliffhanger setup that wasn’t that big of deal. How and why the heroes are searching for Waller remains a mystery as well as why Green Arrow and his family are being teleported all over the place. Sure, it’s still incredibly early in the story to get all our answers. However, some direction or story nuggets need to be addressed in order to keep fans locked into the story. Truthfully, it’s not a bad start, however, it could be a bit better. Right now, I think fans are still just riding high on the fumes of a revitalized Green Arrow title. Nevertheless, those fumes can only last so long before fans are going to need something a bit more substantial to sink their teeth into.

Comic Watch

Williamson’s giving us a serviceable mini, but he’s trying to throw in everything and the kitchen sink into the plot that it’s starting to become a bit of a drain on the flow of the book. On top of the plot, we’re also dealing with a cast that is too bloated to get any kind of significant character development here, and the characters and fans are the ones suffering for it. Fortunately Sean Izaakse’s art has helped me overlook some things, but if Williamson can’t pull this together, I fear Ollie’s first solo in six years will be a bust.

Weird Science DC Comics

Green Arrow #2 is a generally good comic with great art, great action, emotional weight, and gobs of character motivation. However, issue #2 isn't as good as issue #1 for a few reasons - namely, over-designed costumes, over-used tropes, and yet another unnecessary appearance by Peacemaker.