After Oliver’s long and laborious episode of travelling from one country to another, he has returned to Seattle, the place where Green Arrow really works. As opposed to stories in the previous Green Arrow post (read my review of it here), Oliver’s return to Seattle means that we are back to the good old usual stories that display and tackle realistic crime along with gripping stories. Not only that, but we see a few familiar faces return, most notably, Eddie Fyers, the man who framed Oliver Queen for a terrorist crime in the Black Arrow Saga (Green Arrow (vol 2) 34-38). How will Oliver deal with the mercenary’s return? Well, lets get right into it, right after some general information about these stories that is.
The stories I will be reviewing are:
Homecoming/Return of the Outlaw Prince --- Green Arrow (vol 2) 51-52
Old Friends/The List --- Green Arrow (vol 2) 53-54
Justice is Mine --- Green Arrow (vol 2) 55-56
…And Not a Drop to Drink --- Green Arrow (vol 2) 57-58
Predator --- Green Arrow (vol 2) 59-60
Signs of the Times/Pitchforks and Torches --- Green Arrow (vol 2) 61-62
Green Arrow (vol 2) issues 51-62 were published from Late August 1991 to Early June 1992, with the first and last three issues being published bi-monthly and the rest on a monthly basis. Like always, all of these stories are written by Mike Grell with various artists, usually Rick Hoberg and John Nyberg. Again, all stories were published under the “Suggested for Mature Readers” line and I have read these stories in the Green Arrow: Homecoming trade paperback.
Homecoming/Return of the Outlaw Prince --- Written by Mike Grell with art by Shawn McManus
THE PLOT
After police wrap up the terrorist attack on the Seattle Space Needle and Dinah’s date, Kaz, a police officer leaves, Oliver returns home with Dinah. Marianne, who is living in the house, watches and writes about Oliver’s return while Dinah speaks to Oliver about his travels, before going to bed together. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Cameron gets a report based on the findings from the terrorist crime scenes and he notices a gun from the scene that Oliver held. While Cameron is on his way to see Oliver, Kaz drives past Dinah’s home, drinking before driving off before the police arrive. When the police arrive and interrupt Oliver and Dinah, Cameron reveals to Oliver that the gun they have traced to him was used by somebody to kill former police officer Vinnie and his nephew (who Kaz murdered near the start of issue 50). Although Oliver says that he grabbed the gun off of a terrorist at the Space Needle and that he was at an airport when Vinnie and his nephew were killed, Cameron leaves angrily. After they leave, Oliver believe that somebody is trying to frame him, and he goes out on patrol as Green Arrow.
While Marianne writes stories about Oliver and his return, Green Arrow is out on patrol and he defeats a gang of murderers and warns them that he has returned for good. Some time later, Oliver visits Cameron, which results in another heated argument and after Oliver queries Cameron about the stolen evidence related to Vinnie’s nephew’s court case, Oliver leaves, but not before he leaves an audio device in the room so he can hear any conversations in the room. This works in Green Arrow’s favour as he hears more information about the terrorist report which details that the case of the gun has the same ejector as its normal build, but it has a custom extractor, meaning that it is a modified weapon. Meanwhile, Dinah visits Kaz at his home and after the two speak about the case involving Oliver being framed, Kaz admits that only a police officer could have stolen the evidence related to the court case. Dinah works out and tells Kaz that he was the one who stole the evidence, causing Green Arrow to enter the room, who reveals to Kaz that the police are on their way. Kaz then attacks Oliver and runs out of the room. Although Dinah tries to speak to Kaz, he is about to escape on his motorbike, but the police arrive. Kaz then looks at Dinah and points a gun to his own head and fires it.
MY THOUGHTS
Although this is sort of carrying on from the last two issues before this story (those issues being 49 and 50), this story is pretty good, and it features a great return to the normal stories in Mike Grell’s Green Arrow adventures. For starters, we get a conclusion on the Kaz storyline, which had been featured in the run for about ten issues or so. The conclusion itself isn’t so expected as it is pretty clear that he will be found out, but the great ending put in place by Grell really hits the story home as, although we aren’t explicitly shown it, Kaz kills himself. This is such heavy writing and I think that it works perfectly. This is not only due to the fact that he became somewhat of a primary character in the run, but it is also because of the relationship that he and Dinah could have had. Moving on from Kaz, the idea of Oliver being framed again may seem like too much of a coincidence, but the way he handles it is so forceful and this is realistic to me. Just fifteen issues before this, Oliver was being hunted for a terrorist crime that he didn’t commit and that caught him off guard. Here he is ready for this and he is serious about the way he will take out Kaz, which I think is great as we see his character develop. Apart from that, we see more of Marianne and we sort of see that she is beginning to think of Oliver differently and more romantically, which features much more heavily in the later parts of the run, especially issue 75. It is great to see the connection between Oliver and Cameron as shaky and unstable as it (continues after image)
was before and with a plot like this, it is clear that the run is ready to get back into action like it was in the Black Arrow Saga and even before that.
My only real problem with this story to me is the seemingly quick clear up of the terrorists who were behind the attacks on the Space Needle from issue 50. Sure, we get some closure on the gun and the stolen evidence, but there really isn’t much about the terrorists themselves, who could have been involved in a much bigger plan than just one attack. Not only that, but why did it take the police such a long time to notice missing evidence? Wow, the police force really are stupid in Seattle.
Despite Hoberg and Nyberg being the regular artists at this point, here we get Shawn McManus pencilling and inking these whole two issues and while the story is told well enough, I find the art either ugly or just way too over the top. For example, the faces on some people look either way too happy or way too sad depending on the scene and not only that, but the guy cannot draw faces for the life of him. Not the worst, but far from the best.
Story: 9/10
Art: 5/10
Old Friends/The List --- Written by Mike Grell with art by Rick Hoberg and John Nyberg
THE PLOT
In an alley in Seattle, numerous gangsters meet up, but they are all killed by Eddie Fyers, who was hiding in a bin bag nearby. After Oliver and Dinah speak about the death of Kaz and the possible relationship between Dinah and he, there is a knock at the door. Oliver goes to answer it and they find Fyers, who is bleeding and due to that, he falls unconscious. A while later when Fyers is put to recover in a bed, the mercenary explains that somebody is after him, but he doesn’t reveal to either Oliver or Dinah who that person is, despite Oliver being incredibly threatening towards him. Once Dinah complains to Oliver that Fyers shouldn’t be allowed in the house and that Oliver has all of the signs of becoming someone like Fyers, Oliver heads out with Fyers to take him to a hidden place, which is an old abandoned warehouse. Meanwhile, a man named Mr Hawkes arrives in Seattle and he is told the address of Oliver’s home, which he wants to know. While Oliver and Fyers get prepared for any
attacks, the attackers visit the home of Oliver and Dinah, but they find a note on the door telling the killers that they couldn’t wait for them to arrive, meaning that the house is empty.
While somebody high up is told that Fyers is working with Oliver, the two of them are in the warehouse and they speak about how Fyers became an assassin and what it means to him. Oliver then goes around the warehouse and sets out traps for any attackers and also goes out and comes back with his favourite meal, hot chilli. However, while Oliver has been eating, the people following Fyers have found him and Oliver in the warehouse due to hearing about it from people passing by. Although some of the traps kill some of the attackers, Green Arrow and Fyers are forced to defeat the rest of them. Oliver then works out that Fyers is carrying something that the attackers want, which is a miniature laser disc that contains information on it. Fyers admits that he was hired to deliver it, but he doesn’t reveal who hired him for it. After Oliver delivers the disc to Mr Hawkes, the head of the assassins trying to kill Fyers, a board meeting occurs which is hosted by the chairman of the company, who plays the disc to the people in the meeting, which contains the list of all of the rivals to the company. However, one of the names on the disc is the chairman, which causes Mr Hawkes and everyone in the room to turn against the chairman.
MY THOUGHTS
For the story that features the return of Eddie Fyers, it is a fairly solid story. The best thing about the tale has to be the character of Eddie Fyers, which can be quite funny, but there is certainly an aspect of him which we have never seen before. To me, this is shown in the instances when he speaks to Oliver about his work and how he can never take it personally, which is obviously very fitting for his character. Aspects like this give so much more new information on characters in the run which have featured numerous times and due to that, you constantly find new things to enjoy about these characters. Apart from that, the story basically runs off of characters as it focuses on the consequences of being a mercenary and rather than Green Arrow being the focus for the story, Eddie Fyers is the real main character here, even if the plot itself isn’t anything too special. This is a character driven story as we see the return of Fyers as a big deal to the lives of Oliver and Dinah, which obviously makes sense due to what he did to them in the Black Arrow Saga. We see all three of the main characters in the story seem uncomfortable after their last meeting, but like Fyers said, nothing should be taken personally, and it seems likely that he expects Oliver to be like that as well, which he clearly isn’t.
I guess my main problem with this story has to be, well, the story. Although I enjoyed reading this tale, I thought that the revelation of the people hunting after Fyers was built up way too much and when we do find out that it is just a business, it doesn’t really feel special or shocking in any way. In fact, what I think would have been better is if the chairman of the company appeared in previous stories. This would have been better as it would have made the ending especially much harder hitting and impactful than it actually is. Also, it would have been better to me if we saw more of Oliver angry at Fyers. I mean, that would be so realistic that it comes across as strange that he isn’t that angry with him at all. It is as if he has basically forgotten the events of the Black Arrow Saga, but like it said before, this story is a character piece and to me, it works perfectly in that regard.
The art by Hoberg and Nyberg is pretty standard stuff really. The story is told well enough as usual, but the finishes look dull and there is a lack of genuine excitement when reading it. Also, the team seem really indecisive on backgrounds. Sometimes it is this crosshatching effect and then it is partly that and just a plain black background, which just goes across as really inconsistent to me.
Story: 7/10
Art: 6/10
Justice is Mine --- Written by Mike Grell with art by Rick Hoberg and John Nyberg
THE PLOT
One day, Lieutenant Cameron goes to see the hanging of Harold Gilbert, a murderer of numerous women and prostitutes. Before being hanged, Gilbert admits to Cameron that he is being hanged as Cameron got tired of the game he has playing. While Gilbert is being hanged, Cameron remembers some of the crimes committed by Gilbert, one of which is the murder of Megan Samuels, but the Lieutenant works out that the murder was caused by a copycat, but he manages to pin it on Gilbert, resulting in his hanging. However, Cameron also remembers that in the court session, Gilbert admitted that he has killed loads of people, but they caught him for the murder of Samuels, which he claims he didn’t commit. Later at night, Cameron finds it difficult to sleep and he visits Oliver, who told Cameron at the time that the murder of Samuels was committed by a copycat. Cameron admits to Oliver that although Gilbert did commit numerous crimes, he doesn’t feel at ease that he didn’t commit the murder of Samuels, but Cameron leaves after Oliver tells him that he sleeps fine thinking about it.
Before Cameron leaves in his car, Oliver tells him that he will take the case to find the real killer of Samuels. The next day, Oliver goes out as Green Arrow and locates the roommate of one of the copycat’s victims. At first, the roommate speaks about how nobody would speak up for prostitutes, but she is convinced by Green Arrow’s effort to bring the real killer to justice. She then tells Oliver that her roommate knew Megan Samuels and that a man named JoJo may be the man that Oliver is looking for. After informing Cameron about JoJo, Green Arrow locates him and takes pictures of him abusing prostitutes. Later on, Green Arrow fires arrows near JoJo, making him scared. JoJo tries to run away, but he is chased and attacked by Green Arrow, who nearly gives into the temptation to kill JoJo for what he has done to his victims, but he ends up giving JoJo is the police, saying that he must face justice.
MY THOUGHTS
Similarly, to other Green Arrow stories, this tale is a focus on hard crime, its consequence and how even the police can get things wrong (big surprise there). The main plot of this story is perfect. It features an incredibly cruel, but real villain that admits to killing loads of prostitutes and the ironic thing about the story is that he is killed for the one that didn’t commit. It is obvious that Cameron knows that as he has the backing of other officers and Green Arrow himself to tell him that the murder, he has been killed for was a copycat, but you get this great sense of desperateness and vengeance. Cameron wants Gilbert to die, but he cannot rest easy that he died for one that he didn’t commit. This is great writing to me as it highlights the life of a cop more. Cameron has never really been the main focus of a story before, but here he is given the whole stage, mostly just in the first part that is. We also learn about his history as a cop and some of the background surrounding him, which makes his whole character feel brand new and old at the same time. The second part of the story where the real killer is found is pretty good and while the real killer of the prostitute is found and defeated pretty easily, it does demonstrate that being a cop is hard and that it can be so easy to get cases wrong. Apart from that, the ending of the story perfectly mirrors the start, with Gilbert being killed in a vengeful way and JoJo being arrested
to face justice, which really shows the story move at a pace, making this a superb story to read, Other than that, we get some great Green Arrow fighting action, which we very much missed after the episode of travelling around the world and this and the previous few stories instantly tell me that we are back to the stories which make Green Arrow great, gritty and enjoyable.
My only issue with this tale has to be the lack of involvement from Cameron in the second half. It is displayed clearly in the first part that he feels responsible for killing the wrong person, despite all of the crimes that Gilbert did commit (and it is great that Oliver doesn’t feel that as Gilbert did kill loads of people), but it would have been good for the story if Cameron featured more. Hell, I think that this story would be even better if Cameron and Green Arrow teamed up to take out JoJo.
Like before, Hoberg and Nyberg just tell the story. That being said, part one has a very unique way of storytelling, with Gilbert being hanged on the side of each page during the middle, which does pace the story incredibly well while having some interesting storytelling.
Story: 9.5/10
Art: 6.5/10
…And Not a Drop to Drink --- Written by Mike Grell with art by Rick Hoberg and John Nyberg
THE PLOT
While Oliver and Dinah leave a theatre musical play, somebody comes off of a cargo ship holding a strange bag, but when he goes into a dark alley, numerous people begin to chase the man, but luckily, Green Arrow arrives on the scene to protect the man with the bag. After Oliver takes out all of the people, he notices the man with bag is covered in blood and other marks, causing him to collapse. Later on, in hospital, Green Arrow and Lieutenant Cameron discover that the man has got radiation poisoning and he has also just died. However, another police officer walks into the room and says that the dead man has gone missing, resulting in everyone being shocked that a dead man has just walked away. When Oliver gets home and finds that Dinah is out working on something, he is knocked down to the ground by the group of people from earlier who were after the poisoned man. Oliver demands to know why the people are after him and after they test to make sure that Oliver hasn’t got radiation poisoning as the dead man didn’t give him the contents of what he had in the bag, the group tell Oliver to keep out of the case. But Oliver tells the group that he knows they are Mossad agents (a foreign intelligence agency), causing the leader of the group to speak about the dead man, named Carlos Gomez, who was carrying radioactive iodine from Libya. They also reveal that Gomez was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in a small village when he dropped a radioactive isotope in their well. After hearing this, Oliver decides to team up with the agents to get the radioactive isotopes back.
When a tramp finds the body of Gomez hanging in an alleyway, Cameron tells reporters that the death of Gomez was done by a cult, hiding the public from the real cause of his death. Green Arrow arrives and tells Cameron about the agents hunting after the isotopes along with the backstory behind Gomez, who was a courier. Oliver also mentions Gomez’s last word, which was Diablo, which Oliver links to Diablo Dam as it would be the ideal place for somebody to poison thousands of people with isotopes. Later on, Cameron informs the military of the possible attacks on dams to make sure they are guarded. Meanwhile, the agents go to Oliver’s home and Oliver works out that Gomez actually swallowed the key to the location of where his radioactive cargo is hidden and due to that Oliver decides to cut open Gomez’s body to retrieve the key. Afterwards, Green Arrow and the agents visit a bus station which has a locker room, but the agents detect no direct radiation there. The group then check a
bowling alley which has some lockers and they find criminals stealing the cargo from a locker. Green Arrow and his agent friends fight and kill the criminals, but the one holding the isotopes escapes. Luckily, Oliver manage to get to him, but he is injured by him. The holder is then shot and killed by one of the agents and the isotopes are saved, leaving Cameron to make up a story to the news about the attack in the bowling alley.
MY THOUGHTS
For a story that doesn’t really feel like something that would fit Green Arrow, I rather like this one. It features some great twists and there is certainly a threat in this story and the great thing is that it is something we have never seen Green Arrow fight against (with the possible exception of the things he used to face in his JLA days). The story certainly builds up mystery as you constantly want to know about the whereabouts of Gomez, both when he is alive and dead. The whole thing basically leads up to a plot involving terrorists threatening and trying to poison a large chunk of America, which is definitely a threat. The agents from Israel feel different, despite us seeing numerous other types of secret agents appearing in the run. The reason I think that these agents are different is purely due to their aim to get the isotopes back and while I think they all pretty much lack any unique or different character, I can accept the reason for them being there. Apart from that, I think that the story that Cameron tells the press is great for multiple reasons. I mean, if the police had something radioactive that could kill millions of people, the chances are they wouldn’t inform the public about. Plus, I believe that it adds to Cameron’s character a bit more. Apart from that, there really isn’t much else to say about the good things of this story. This is a good story, but it does contain one of the problems of many Grell Green Arrow stories.
And that problem is the fact that while the plot threat may be different, the plot itself isn’t too different, meaning that I have read similar stories to this one previous in this run. Now, that is to be expected. Mike Grell writes an eighty long issue run, which runs for over five years. You are bound to write stories that seem familiar to previous ones and this one has that feeling to me. Not only that, but there are some things which really doesn’t make too much sense to me. I mean, I don’t really get why the body of Gomez is stolen. If the terrorists wanted to try and get the isotopes off of him, then why don’t they wait until the corpse is in the morgue? That would mean that less attention if created as stealing a dead body just after death seems a bit, well, suspicious. Also, why would Gomez keep a radioactive isotope in a bowling alley locker? It isn’t the most secure place and its not like the staff will check it after a long period of time, is it.
Hoberg and Nyberg = average, but dull
Story: 8/10
Art: 6/10
Predator --- Written by Mike Grell with art by Rick Hoberg and John Nyberg
THE PLOT
After finding out about the release of Charles Hauke, a sexual predator, Dinah becomes Black Canary to find out information by speaking to an informant, who is sure that Hauke will commit crimes once more. Meanwhile, a mother of one of Hauke’s victims gets a sniper rifle from under her bed, ready to go out and kill Hauke. Some time later, Oliver and Dinah speak about Hauke’s release and Oliver notices how much Dinah cares about the criminal’s victims and how they were children. After speaking to another informant who is sure that Hauke will commit another crime and that somebody may even kill him, Green Arrow and Black Canary argue about whether to arrest Hauke or just simply kill him. While guards are outside of Hauke’s home watching him, the criminal himself goes into his garage and paints his van before going out outside to speak to the guards. However, he is being watched by the angered mother of a victim, who has got a sniper pointed at Hauke. Green Arrow is watching the scene and he has his bow ready.
Just as the mother fires her sniper, Green Arrow fires his arrow at her gun, causing it to miss. Although at first, she is angry at Oliver for preventing her killing of Hauke, the woman follows Oliver. But, in all of the commotion, Hauke manages to drive away in his painted van. Oliver takes the mother back to his home, where she speaks about her divorced husband, who was a competitive shooter and her son, Kevin, who was mentally damaged by what Hauke did to him. Oliver manages to convince the mother that killing Hauke won’t help Kevin as if she killed him, she would be charged with murder. While the mother screams in anger about what Hauke has done to her family, Black Canary is tracking Hauke and she finds him in a bar getting drugs. Fortunately, Black Canary tells the people in the bar that Hauke is present, making everyone kick him out for his crimes. He then simply drives away in his van. Sometime later, Green Arrow speaks to Black Canary and how he has the mother of Kevin with him. Black Canary tells Oliver that something big is about to happen soon. Some time later, Hauke captures a young girl in his van, but she is freed by Black Canary, who then chases Hauke and after a fight between the two of them with the help of Green Arrow, Hauke is captured. When Cameron and the police arrive, they say that his attempted kidnapping crime won’t keep him in prison for long, causing the mother of Kevin is speak out about his crimes again. So, in the end, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Kevin’s mother, Cameron and the police lock Hauke in his van and drive it into the sea and watch him drown.
MY THOUGHTS
It is true that this story is incredibly similar to the Justice is Mine story, but this one has a lot more certainty and vengeance in it. For starters, the main villain of the story, Hauke (who has a name that is a pain in the ar*e to write for some reason) is definitely a horrible character and if Grell wanted to make the most egotistical, nasty and evil character known to man (which he probably aimed for), he succeeded. He also comes across as incredibly clever and he takes advantages of situations, which makes his villain cunning and even more dangerous. But before getting on to Hauke, let’s talk about the elephant in the room, that is Black Canary. This the first time that Dinah has become Black Canary in the whole run, well, at least in her proper costume that is. To me, this should really have happened earlier as she is an integral part of the whole run and the title belongs to her just like Green Arrow. Like always, Dinah comes across as a ruthless hero, which certainly makes her different from other female superheroes. She is almost definitely the highlight of this story and others around this period due to the way she is written and her appearances. There are also some other great characters in this story, like the mother of Kevin, a victim of Hauke’s crimes. This works well as we get to see the representation from a character, who is definitely biased in her view of Hauke, but this is totally justified. This adds so much more to the story as we get to see a person who could become a murderer for her son, but it works so well here, and you really want her to kill Hauke. In fact, this is why I think that the ending of the story is actually very good, but not totally unexpected. While I do have problems with the death of Hauke, it does work incredibly well as it (continues after image)
reflects the way that everyone thinks about him. Apart from that, the greatest thing about this story is the intense displaying of characters. All of them feel different and their emotions are constantly shown in a memorable way, making this a character driven story.
Like I mentioned before, the death of Hauke is excellent, but it does sort of go against the lesson of justice against vengeance that has highlighted in the Justice is Mine story and not only that, but are Green Arrow and the others allowed to just let Hauke die? I mean, there are police there at the scene and you would have thought there would be other witnesses due to already huge crowd of people. Not only that, but this story has the same problem as other Green Arrow stories, which is the fact that it feels the same to previous stories, most notably Hunters Moon (Green Arrow (vol 1) 1-2). The plots are incredibly similar in so many ways and while I like both of these stories, there are loads of similarities between the two.
I repeat again, Hoberg and Nyberg tell the story, but it can look dull and not only that, but they do draw Black Canary rather strangely to me. Just thought I’d point that out.
Story: 9/10
Art: 6/10
Signs of the Times/Pitchforks and Torches --- Written by Mike Grell with art by Frank Springer and Pablo Marcos
THE PLOT
While Dinah and Oliver are out on a trip in the mountains, a huge protest takes place in Seattle, which is fighting for peace. While some protestors speak about their anger with the army, one other protestor speaks about helping cancer patients, creating cures for illnesses and taking care of the people of America. Newspaper editor Harry Robinson realises that the protestor is actually the son of a famous protestor who has fought in wars and due to that, Robinson believe that an interview with the young protestor could win his newspaper an award. Later on, Robinson meets the protestor, who is named Josh. The two speak about Josh’s father and how he used to know and be friendly with him. Josh also speaks about how he objects to doing any military service, causing Josh and his father to appear on the cover of Robinson’s newspaper. Some time later, Josh is invited to speak with military officials as he is becoming a recognisable figure among young people. Josh speaks about his father’s death in the army, despite his father also being against military service. Josh then leaves after he is told that he is just like his father, making Josh pleased about it. While Oliver and Dinah arrive back in Seattle and witness the protests, Josh walks out of the building and finds crowds of protestors cheering him.
During Oliver and Dinah’s conversation about the protests, Josh is asked to make a statement on his meeting with military officials and after they try to force something out of Josh, he simply tells the protestors to go home. Editor Robinson chases after Josh and asks him why he gave a brief comment and after Robinson tells Josh that his father would have wanted the chance to speak out to the public, Josh tells him that he wouldn’t have. Although Josh walks away, he is confronted by some people he has (continues after image)
known for years who didn’t know that he was against military service. The people then attack Josh and begin to beat him, but they are stopped by Green Arrow and Black Canary, who also take out the attackers who were fighting Josh, who then gets up to protest over the fighting. Suddenly, an explosion occurs at a gas station, which is below the home of Josh and his family. While Green Arrow and Black Canary go away to save Josh’s family, a fight between anti-war protestors and pro-war protestors take place, with one protestor burning the American flag. After Josh punches the person who burnt the flag and tells everyone that they are just as bad as each other, Josh tells everyone that he isn’t a saint or martyr. Green Arrow then puts his hand on Josh’s shoulder before leaving along with all of the other protestors.
MY THOUGHTS
Although I do complain about how the stories in Green Arrow by Mike Grell do tend to be very similar to each quite often, this feels like a very different stories that focuses on ideals rather than crime, which does actually fit well into the Green Arrow world of stories. For starters, the plot itself is just a usual protest, but actually, the parts away from the protest are the most interesting parts and the main focus character for this story, Josh, is an incredibly interesting character and that feels incredibly human and real. The great thing that Grell manages to do is to allow readers to accept Josh’s opinions and understand him, whether agree with him, disagree with him or fundamentally disagree with him. In fact, the character of Josh and his father are incredibly similar to politicians and protestors in real life, especially one particular political party leader in the United Kingdom currently when he was younger (I’ll let you figure out who I’m referencing). Josh and his ideals are the story here. We get to see how people see him and we also get to see Robinson, the malicious right wing newspaper editor, who is cunning and basically using Josh’s story to get a prize, which adds more to the main focus of the story, which is ideals. While this story can be viewed as a political message to raise awareness, I disagree with that. I believe that this story is a fight between ideals and beliefs and while there may be fundamental disagreements, the ending of the story perfectly presents common ground between everyone, with Josh’s family nearly being killed in a fire. Apart from the pollical stuff that the story focuses on primarily, it is great to see Oliver and Dinah feature in their daily lives relaxing a bit as it adds a more human element to their lives and relationship and while they do take a backseat in this story, the ending with Green Arrow respecting Josh works perfectly and well as Oliver clearly sympathises with Josh’s views.
My big main problem with this story is the fact that Oliver and Dinah don’t appear nearly as much as they should and while I certainly agree that Josh should be the main focus here, the title of the comic isn’t called Josh: The Conscientious Objector Communist, but it is instead called Green Arrow and I really think that he should have appeared more in the story. Not only that, but Josh’s family sort of just appear out of nowhere in the second part and I really think that they should have appeared earlier in the story, just to make it clear that he actually does have a family.
Instead of the dull Rick Hoberg and John Nyberg, here we get veteran artist Frank Springer inked by Pablo Marcos and while the art isn’t perfect, it does look quite good in some places. The storytelling is certainly much more dynamic than anything the main two artists could do and while some of the finishes look a bit ugly, overall, it isn’t bad.
Story: 9.5/10
Art: 7.5/10
VERDICT
Overall, the stories from Green Arrow: Homecoming are definitely an improvement over the tales where Oliver was travelling the world. These stories here take us back to the gritty and enjoyable crime stories that make Green Arrow great. All of these stories range from good to excellent, with the weakest being the story with Fyers and the best being, f*ck, its incredibly hard to choose the best and quite honestly, that is great thing to me. That being said, the main problem with all of these stories to me and something that is missing is an ongoing plotline to keep readers engaged. Sure, the plots are mostly very good, but some small references to future stories is really needed and not only that, but Grell needs to seriously pace his stories differently as every story being a two-parter gets boring very quickly, even if the stories are excellent.
Stories: 8.5/10
Art: 6/10
Highlighted Character: Black Canary (Dinah Lance)
Next Review: Green Arrow: The Hunt for the Red Dragon (Green Arrow (vol 2) 63-72). Written by Mike Grell with art by Rick Hoberg, John Nyberg, Frank Springer and Pablo Marcos. Expected to be published by 11/08/2019.
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