GREEN ARROW #12
"Feast and Fowl"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Kevin Smith
Pencils: Phil Hester
Inks: Ande Parks
Colors: James Sinclair
Letters: Sean Konot
Editor: Bob Schreck
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Smith has been writing super-heroes for grown-ups in Green Arrow, but not in the way we've come to expect in recent years, not like the mega-violent (but nevertheless entertaining) titles in the vein of The Authority. No, Smith's stories here, though growing out of the supernatural and character continuity, focus on down-to-earth personality and dialogue. Here, he offers up a hilarious and emotionally tense story about two former lovers trying to figure out how to act around one another.
Dinah Lance, the heroine also known as Black Canary who was once Green Arrow's lover, has agreed to go out on a date -- no funny business, mind you -- with her resurrected ex. They agree to meet at Justice Society headquarters, but Dinah is horrified to learn that while waiting for her to get ready, the Emerald Archer, a notorious liberal, has bumped into his opposite number -- a notorious conservative who just happens to go by the name of Hawkman.
Hester and Parks's work on this book boasts a dark simplicity that has worked well throughout this first year of the title. But despite its cartoony tone, it's also bolstered subtleties of characterization. Here, the players are thoroughly expressive, which is important given that this issue is not centered on action-oriented scenes. This is about emotional connections, and the artists manage to capture the characters' body language nicely.
Canary cries, unerring aims and the concept of resurrection as surprisingly common... Smith makes these fantastic elements more believable with his down-to-earth characterizations. He makes these larger-than-life figures seem like people we know because we can understand how they feel. Dinah's uneasiness around a former lover she mourned and got over is vivid, as is Oliver's need to recapture the connection they once shared.
Onomatopeia might seem like a silly villain concept, but man, Smith has crafted a thoroughly chilling figure in this new antagonist (aided a great deal by the inhuman but simple design). I can't wait to see more of this icy character.
This issue is certainly about confusing emotions, but Smith maintains a humorous tone throughout as well, keeping the story from drifting into gratuitous melodrama. Even with all of the weirdness, death and occasional chaos, there seems to be an overall positive tone at play here. Smith tells the reader that all things considered, life can be pretty good, even with the bumps along the way.
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