GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #2

Dead Again, Part Two:  The Naked and the Not Quite So Dead

January 2008

Written by Judd Winick

Pencils by Cliff Chiang

Inks by Cliff Chiang

Cover by Cliff Chiang

Synopsis

On Themyscira, Ollie Queen (aka Green Arrow) is being held captive.  He manages to escape his cell, but he is caught before he gets off the island.  Later, Ollie’s wife Dinah Lance (aka Black Canary) and Mai Deardon (aka Speedy) arrive on the island.  They are greeted by the Goddess Athena, who attempts to get Dinah to join her new warriors, the Furies.  Meanwhile, Connor Hawke infiltrates the island and frees Ollie.  They don’t get too far before they are surrounded by Amazons. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I liked this issue; it was enjoyable with a mixture of comedy (Ollie running naked through the jungle) and action (Connor’s rescue) and mystery (what Athena’s plans might be).  It is a typical Winick script, helped immensely by Chaing’s art, which is cartoonish enough to pull of the humor but strong enough to handle the serious aspects as well. 

The downside to this issue, and frankly it is a big downside, is the speech, rant, whatever you to call it, by Mia about her troubled past.  It was uncalled for and not needed at all, both in terms of my reading enjoyment or as part of the overall story.  Really, read the issue again.  If you remove Speedy from the issue, it doesn’t really change what happens to Dinah once she reaches the island.  The rant does allow Dinah to prove she knows the Amazon way, but I am sure there are better ways to get that point across to the reader.  Instead we get this rant, a recall to her past that, frankly, had been ignored for the past year or so.  It should have remained forgotten.  At this point, I think Mia can stand on her own without referring to her HIV status.  Sadly, the fact that Winick felt the need to point this out to the reader suggests that this will become important later in the story.  If so, I can somewhat forgive it appearing here, but that doesn’t overcome the fact that it was not handled/written very well. 

I hope, when all is said and done, Winick is leading up the revelation that Granny Goodness is the one behind the events on the island, based on the ending to Amazons Attack.  If that is not the case, someone really needs to slap DC editorial around.

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