GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #7

Greetings From Far Away Lands

June 2008

Written by Judd Winick

Pencils by Mike Norton

Inks by Wayne Faucher

Cover by Cliff Chiang

Synopsis

After discovering aliens flying the aircraft they think was used to shoot Connor, Green Arrow and Black Canary call Green Lantern for help.  Green Lantern then determines that the aliens are actually humans wearing a disguise.  After questioning the men, Ollie and Dinah are then led to London to meet the owner of the spaceship.  There they encounter Dodger, who tells them that he rents out the spaceship to whomever pays and during the time Conner had been shot, it was being rented by League of Assassins, led by Ra’s al Ghul.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

“I thought it was only American men who talked up their gigantic maces.”

Again, this was a really, really fun issue and the type of thing that Winick and Chiang should be doing more often with this series.  I think this issue is helped a lot by the fact that the drama surrounding Conner’s condition is largely forgotten (except for one instance of Ollie screaming) so the story focuses on the mission and the characters, which in turn mean more lighthearted fun and action rather than heavy emotional drama.  Because the drama has been eschewed in favor of fun, the comedic scenes (like Hal’s discovery of the aliens, or Ollie’s interrogation techniques) works better because it doesn’t seem so obviously different to Connor sitting in a coma.  The vast difference between the two doesn’t work in one issue, but minus one, the consistent tone makes for an enjoyable read. 

Last review I questioned why the story hadn’t really delved into the tech that was available to cloak a spaceship.  Once again, Winick dodges the question by having Dodger (eh, good choice of name) avoid answering where he got it or even what it was.  In essence, the ship is a MacGuffin (popularized by Hitchcock), something the main characters are chasing down while the true story is going on.  Usually in Hitchcock movies the true story is the relationship between the main characters.  For this story, I am not exactly sure what Winick is trying to accomplish.  Is he telling the story of how Ollie deals with grief?  How Dinah and Ollie bond during the search? 

I do have a problem with the ending.  Yes, I can accept that Ra’s al Ghul would be behind Connor’s shooting if Winick can provide a good enough excuse.  I can also accept that it might be someone else in the League of Assassins since, let’s face it, Ra’s hasn’t been around for awhile.  And that is my problem.  Ra’s has been dead and when he came back to life in this issue, he was promptly tossed into Arkham Asylum in a catatonic state in this issue.  So, when exactly did he have the chance to engineer Connor’s death?  It is one thing to provide a compelling reason for doing what he is doing, but quite another to make sure if fits within the DC universe timelines.  Ah, continuity, you gotta love it. 

PREVIOUS	Main		Page	NEXT