GREEN ARROW #16
"The Archer's Quest, Chapter One: Photograph"
Recommended (8/10)
|
DC Comics
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Pencils: Phil Hester
Inks: Ande Parks
Colors: James Sinclair
Letters: Sean Konot
Editor: Bob Schreck
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Well, any worries about a dip in quality in the writing with Kevin Smith's departure from the title are now long gone. Meltzer's debut here is seamless, maintaining a consistent tone with Smith's tenure on the book without aping his style. Of course, having the same art team on board helps with the consistency as well. Meltzer demonstrates an appreciation of the medium here, as well as an appreciation of the rich interconnectedness of the DC universe. And it's all balanced with a more mature and character-driven approach.
He just can't resist... Oliver Queen must know who attended his funeral. For answers, he turns to the last person to see him "alive" in his first life: a certain fellow who can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Most of the answers warm Ollie's heart, but one turns out to be a mystery, one he must solve. And for that different kind of answer, he turns to an old ally with the goverment connections he needs.
Hester and Parks continue to impress. Their angular colloaboration brings a visual edge that matches the edgier tone of the script. I think what most impresses in the art here, though, is Sinclair's colors. They strike me as particularly strong this time around, reinforcing the dark, serious tone of the plot while not clashing with the occasional light tone in the dialogue. The muted colors bring a quiet, tense, cinematic quality to the visuals.
It would seem Meltzer's greatest strength, like Smith's, is dialogue. He presents with characters with personality in spades. Ollie and Clark are clearly very different kinds of men, but Meltzer doesn't present Clark as a caricature, as an implausible boy scout. His Superman may be whitebread, but he's not naive. I like how Ollie's other "friend" asserts himself without making it into a big fight. these characters may be wearing capes and masks, but there's a genuine tone to them under Meltzer's hand.
Mind you, there's more to the issue than strong characterization and dialogue. Meltzer comes up with a delightful mystery that really draws the reader into Green Arrow's world. I also love that he's not falling into the trap of just bringing back old Green Arrow villains to serve as the antagonists. He looks beyond the title character's small corner of the DC continuity, and it makes for fun reading.
Email Don MacPherson comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.
|
