Excluding the obligatory one-millionth issue, the adventures of our favourite green archer seemingly ended in Green Arrow (vol 2) 137. With the original holder dead, his successor found peace once again in meditation and it appeared as if Green Arrow’s bow would be stored away for good. That is, until Kevin Smith arrived several years later. As DC possess the rather annoying quality of not killing off their characters for good, Oliver Queen returned from the dead in Green Arrow (vol 3) 1. Despite this, Smith’s Quiver story is an excellent comeback for Oliver, and it only gets better from there with Meltzer, and then Winick taking over the writing duties. But, what of Connor Hawke? No longer the main Green Arrow and now seemingly relegated to a sidekick and once a core member of the Justice League, Connor almost seemed to vanish. That is, until 2007. By then, Chuck Dixon’s usual four-or-five-issues-released-a-month life had been over for almost decade. Dixon saw the perfect opportunity for one final story. Who could miss a story with Connor Hawke as the main character with good old Eddie Fyers? Well, perhaps the latter of the two might regret it judging by what happens…
Connor Hawke: Dragon’s Blood was published from January to June 2007. It was written by Chuck Dixon with art by Derec Donovan. I’ve read the miniseries in its
trade paperback collection.
Things have changed for Connor Hawke since the return of his father. Still studying at the monastery with Eddie Fyers, Connor awakens in the night after a nightmare about how he is once again the second-best Green Arrow. He discusses it with Eddie, who’s attitude hasn’t changed in the last few years and his sarcasm is just as sharp as it was. Master Jansen then arrives and informs Connor of a visitor, one Edison Hoon from Zhao Industries. His employer, Mr Zhao, wants Connor to join in an archery competition, before relating a story to him about an ancient war in China in which a geomancer used a giant flaming dragon in order to stop it. However, one young archer shot the dragon with an arrow made of “purest white magic” and defeated it. What does this all have to do with Connor? Well, Zhao just wants him to turn up for the competition. So far, this reminds me heavily of a silver age Green Arrow story, specifically something that could have occurred in the Kirby stint in the late 1950s. I bet that there are several old Green Arrow stories from that era involving rich people and archery competitions and I think Dixon, being the fan he is, has done that here on purpose. As Connor and Eddie fly out for the competition, Hoon travels across the world to find more archers, including the Bamboo Monkey and an anti-hero that both Green Arrows have encountered several times: Shado. Although this is nearly a decade after the run concluded in Green Arrow (vol 2) 137, Dixon’s style of writing hasn’t changed. If anything, it has become even faster and quicker in its pacing, something which works with Green Arrow stories. The first part may be short (just as the others are), but it shows that Dixon remains consistent. Anyway, with all the archers in China, Peng Li Zhao welcomes Connor, Shado, the Bamboo Monkey and others, before the competition begins with firing flaming arrows into the sky. Meanwhile, Eddie meets Brandy Sloane, girlfriend of Tony Crowfoot, a celebrity world-champion of archery with a real attitude problem. At the same time, Connor meets another archer in Libby Lindstrom, before abruptly leaving her mid-sentence to confront Shado. When he does so, he is nearly killed by a mysterious archer, who in turn is killed by Shado. The next few days are mixed between the archery competition and drinking sessions at the nightclub, with Connor still wondering why Shado is here. Since he first met Oliver Queen in Green Arrow (vol 2) 0 (before 91), Connor has partly held Shado responsible for the change in Oliver’s character, with that being an eventual cause of his death later. But I thought this was all cleared in Green Arrow (vol 2) 117, with the conclusion of the Iron Death. This is actually one of my criticisms of this story. Some events from the core are referenced here (most notably Connor’s experience with a ghost in Green Arrow (vol 2) 113), but other events which should be important (like Shado) are just forgotten. Anyway, during the competition, Connor becomes friends with a Kyudo Master, who offers his experience to him. Later however, Connor finally confronts Shado and just as they reminisce about the old days and the gory events of Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, they are both attacked by mysterious archers, one who shoots and nearly kills Shado. While, elsewhere, the Kyudo Master confronts Zhao over the dragon story and suspects that something shady is going on, Connor nurses Shado, who reveals that the reason she attended the competition was to find Oliver to tell him that his son is in danger. Yep, when I first read that I completely forgot that Shado had a son with Oliver Queen. He first appeared in Mike Grell’s Green Arrow (vol 2) 21 and he appears later in Judd Winick’s Green Arrow/Black Canary series. Sometime after Shado’s revelation, the competition continues and Connor trains with the Kyudo Master, who warns that the competition is not a mere test, but something far darker and evil. This all comes to a head later in the night when, just as everybody is partying, celebrating and getting drunk, Connor confronts Crowfoot after his arrow was found buried deep into Libby’s back. Connor’s, Shado’s, and Eddie’s attention turns to the Bamboo Monkey, who has been hiding away in his room since the start of the competition. Before I continue, surely Connor would be far more annoyed that the Bamboo Monkey is present, especially since he (and his worldwide-cult) attempted to kill him. Anyway, Connor finds the Bamboo Monkey, who attempts to warn him that the Brotherhood is innocent in this, just before he is brutally murdered by those mysterious archers. It is then that an all-out war begins, with Connor and Shado working together to take them out as the sky is full of only arrows. It concludes with everybody, including the Kyudo Master, dying. There are only five survivors: Connor, Shado, Eddie, Crowfoot, and Brandy. They are met with Zhao, who greets Connor as his new champion and forces him to continue in the final stages of his competition as he holds Shado’s son captive. Zhao transports Connor and his friends to Zhao Towers and presents him with “the arrow that brings the dragon’s slumber” for the final test, while Eddie and the others prepare a weapon cache to help Connor. Then, at the dragon’s slumber, just as a lunar eclipse occurs, Connor is shocked when the ground trembles and the ancient dragon appears. For the (continued)
penultimate part (or chapter if you are fancy and pretentious), Connor fights the dragon and Zhao becomes angered that Connor leads the dragon away from his tower in an attempt to save lives. With Shado’s help however, and the firepower from Eddie’s rocket launcher, Connor kills the dragon, and its blood lies on the concrete ground. But, according to Shado, that is only the beginning. Meanwhile, Zhao realises that the dragon is not the one of old, but a descendant of the original which returned to its slumber after the archer defeated it and died. However, he is pleased that the dragon is dead. As Shado explains at the start of part six, that the dragon’s blood can be used for power and that is exactly what Zhao will use it for. Once he retrieves the holy arrow from the dragon’s corpse, Connor follows the blood only to find Zhao has been killed by none other than Hoon. Connor finds Hoon bathing in the dragon’s blood, telling him that his master was the one who came up with the plot and idea to use the dragon’s blood, but he turned on him to take the power for himself. This is actually a very good twist as it comes completely out of nowhere and, when you think about it, it makes sense. Hoon doesn’t want to be the slave of a powerful immortal (which is what happens when you bathe in dragon’s blood supposedly) and instead wants it for himself. While Connor fights against Hoon, Shado and Eddie enter the dragon’s slumber only to find its fire-breathing young waiting for them. Although Shado manages to escape unharmed as the dragons are killed, Eddie isn’t so lucky. Meanwhile in desperation, Green Arrow fights against Hoon, only to kill him by stabbing him with the holy arrow through his heart. Hoon is dead, and Connor becomes, like his father, a killer. When Connor arrives back on the surface, he learns of Eddie’s fate and visits him in hospital. Although severely burnt and injured, Eddie tells Connor that Shado saved him. Elsewhere, Shado’s mission is complete as she finds her son and rescues him from Zhao’s guards. With that, Dixon gives us a nice ending, while also implying that Connor Hawke is immortal as he too bathed in the dragon’s blood. It may be obvious from how quick and short this six-issue miniseries is, but Dixon’s gives us another fast-paced and quick story which is very enjoyable. It does have its problems, such as the rather inconsistent continuity and how some aspects of the core run are just forgotten about, like the drama between Connor and the Bamboo Monkey for example. But I think as a story, I really like the competition aspect of it and how it is all revealed to be a rouse for something far bigger, and Hoon’s betrayal is a surprising, yet memorable moment from the story. That being said, one of my biggest problems with the story has to be the dragon. The idea of the blood giving immortality is fine. It’s just the idea of a giant dragon on the streets of China and nobody else but Connor getting involved. Where’s the Justice League? Where’s Superman? You would have thought that with somebody like the Flash, they would be in China instantly. Also, just the idea of Green Arrow fighting a dragon and almost single-handedly killing it just seems bizarre. I don’t want to say it’s unrealistic, because it’s comic books and anything can happen, but one man without a superpower taking out a dragon? That just doesn’t seem right.
Radically different from what we are used to from the Dixon core run, the art here by Derec Donovan is far more cartoony and much more animated than the likes of Demaggio, Aparo, Rosado, and Braithwaite. If anything, it’s far more similar to the type of art you’d get from Phil Hester and Ande Parks during the Smith/Meltzer/Winick era. I personally don’t mind it. It’s a bit strange at time, but the (continued)
finishes look generally fine and it’s pretty inoffensive. I’d like some detail, but what can you do?
VERDICT
Overall, Connor Hawke: Dragon’s Blood is, despite its rather glaring problems to do with continuity and giant dragons, a good and enjoyable story. As ever with Chuck Dixon, the story never slows down, and I never found it dull. Like I said, it does have its problems and it’s not perfect, but it’s certainly a fun read with some greats twists and turns. It concluded the journeys which these characters began in Green Arrow (vol 2) 91 and shows things have changed. The fate of Eddie may be depressing, but it’s almost as if time has caught up with him and his days of mercenary work are over. Connor has mellowed as a character since he became Green Arrow and the appearance of Shado rounds things off nicely with both Dixon’s run and Grell’s run. Ignoring the rather pointless story that was Crossroads (Green Arrow (vol 2) 81-90), the run really gets going when Dixon arrives, and the death of Oliver Queen is a real highlight of the run. That being said, Connor’s stint as Green Arrow is a welcome breath of fresh air, something that was needed after 101 issues of Oliver Queen. Perhaps there were too many Green Lantern crossovers for my liking and there have been a few stories which haven’t been great, but I struggle to think of one which is appallingly bad or terrible. Dixon rarely, if ever, writes stories like that. Also, because of the great side characters like Eddie, and then Master Jansen (who should’ve appeared in the miniseries more than just one page of the first issue), Dixon gives his run its own flavour and makes it unique. Lastly, the most important part of the run has to be the pacing. Without it, the run wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable as it was. Chuck Dixon remains one of those writers who never receives the credit he really deserves. He has probably written the most comics of any writer ever, and the sense of speed and pacing is extraordinary. Definitely, one of the best writers in comics who has written a truly underrated run on Green Arrow.
Story: 8/10
Art: 6.5/10
Next Week: Superman for All Seasons (Superman for All Seasons 1-4). Written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale.
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