What’s different: The last few books have all featured characters that had new status quos set up by DC’s golden boy, Geoff Johns in Brightest Day. As such, my assumption has been that the new books will pick up where Brightest Day left off. No one retcons Johns except maybe Johns himself, right?
While Green Arrow also tied into Brightest Day, he wasn’t getting the same character rehabilitation treatment that Aquaman and Firestorm got. So, this is where things get interesting. The solicit makes it sound like Ollie’s going hard core on us:
Green Arrow is on the hunt. Driven by inner demons, Ollie Queen travels the world and brings outlaws to justice…by breaking every law.
Now, armed with cutting-edge weaponry and illegally gained intel (courtesy of his team at QCore), Green Arrow is shooting first and asking questions later.
Groan, I’ve had enough of that version of Green Arrow lately, thank you very much. However, the original announcement had completely different info:
Oliver Queen is an orphan who grew up to fight crime as the Green Arrow, a billionaire playboy who uses his fortune to become a superhero – able to fight the most powerful super-villains in the universe with nothing but a bow and arrow. JT Krul will write GREEN ARROW #1 with art by superstar artist Dan Jurgens. The cover to issue #1 is by Brett Booth.
See, that one sounds like a more back-to-basics approach I could get on board with. They are not mutually exclusive, so I suppose both could be accurate descriptions of the book. But basically what I am looking for is a streamlined Green Arrow.
As I mentioned in my Wish List, Ollie has been put through the ringer by DC in the last few years. And not in a good, breaking the character down to what makes him work way. More of a tear up everything that made the character likeable kind of way. So if I had my way, I’d erase everything that happened from One Year Later on.
No marriage to Black Canary. No divorce. No Cry For Justice. No destruction of Star City, death of Lian, mangling of Roy. No Connor Hawke in a hoodie and forgetting he’s a vegetarian. Heck, if I had my way, I’d get rid of Identity Crisis as well. Just like Hawkman, I think Ollie would benefit from a complete reboot.
But that’s not going to happen. Identity Crisis and Brightest Day have already been confirmed as cannon post relaunch. So the best we can hope for is for Cry for Justice and the marriage to be erased. And even that is unlikely since the destruction of Star City is kind of key to Brightest Day.
So, just like everyone else, it sounds like Ollie will be a little younger and very little else will change.
What’s the same: JT Krul is one of the few writers to stay on the same book after the relaunch. I find this kind of amazing. While I think Krul did a pretty good job of taking horrible ideas and making the best out of them, I didn’t think he was hitting the ball out of the park or anything. I don’t think I want to live in a world where JT Krul gets to keep Green Arrow, but Gail Simone gets movied off Birds of Prey.
Here’s what Krul had to say about the “new” Green Arrow over at CBR:
It’s ironic because even though this is another relaunch, in many ways it’s simplythe progression of the story that I was already telling. Through “Fall of Green Arrow” and into “Brightest Day,” it was about stripping everything away from Oliver Queen and forcing him to evaluate who he is as a person. And whether or not he can be a hero. Everything with the forest and Galahad and Jason Blood tied into that general theme of looking beyond past mistakes and getting on with one’s life.
In the last page of “Green Arrow” #12, Ollie emerges from the forest with renewed vigor and sense of purpose. He is a hero, plain and simple, fighting against abuses of power in every form. That’s the core of Green Arrow, and that’s not changing. We’re not doing an origin story. This is simply honing in on everything that makes Green Arrow such an incredible, cool and fun character in the DC Universe.
I can see why DC is calling this a relaunch and not a reboot. So far, none of the books seem to be changing all that much. Why are we renumbering again?
Chances for success: Green Arrow was performing well enough that DC decided to leave Krul on the book. Although Ollie will now have to do without the Brightest Day tie-in, I’m sure the book will continue to perform well enough. Plus, it will have art by Dan Jurgens, so it should be a pretty book.
Final Thoughts: I have a long, rocky history with Green Arrow. I wrote a few reviews asking to have Judd Winick removed from the book only to see him replaced by the far-worse Kreisberg who seemed like he would never leave. After all that, Krul is a painless replacement. But I’ll be surprised if this book hooks me any more than his run so far.
Green Lantern: The New Guardians #1
Justice League International #1
James Patrick was doing so well on the 3 issues they gave him that I almost forgot about the year or more of crap that’s been shoveled out of Winick, Kriesberg, and Krul. It’s like GA is a brand DC recognizes as sellable, but doesn’t want to drop any talent into. It’s really painful having been a fan of the character for so long. I guess the best we can hope for is that they stop killing him and bringing him back?
This new direction is just a complete bomb. I’ll be surprised if there’s a Green Arrow book being published next year at this rate.
Personally, I’m hoping for a new writer. But I’ve been singing that song for a few years now. And even when we get a new writer, it’s rarely been an improvement. Although Krul was a slight step up from Kriesberg…