GREEN ARROW #35

City Walls, Part Two:  What's Green and Yellow and Red All Over?

April 2004

Written by Judd Winick

Pencils by Phil Hester

Inks by Ande Parks

Cover by Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez

Synopsis

For about a week, the Riddler has been leaving riddles in the classified section of newspaper that have lead to some elaborate pranks.  Curiously, there are no crimes being committed.  Ollie calls Batman for help, but it leads nowhere.  Elsewhere, the man behind the theft of the museum artifacts closes his deal with the Riddler, who was hired to create a diversion from the real thefts.  At Ollie’s home, Ollie and Mia clear the air about Ollie cheating on Dinah.  Later, Ollie and Connor check out a riddle left on a building wall.  When they crack the riddle, they realize that the Riddler is in possession of an Atomic Bomb.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This was another solid issue.  I loved the numerous riddles, especially when the Riddler snapped on his employer.  There are probably going to be a number of people upset that Winick has picked the Riddler to be the foe for this storyline.  Personally it doesn’t bother me.  I always wondered why some of the criminals stay in Gotham.  They know Batman lives there and ultimately will catch them.  Wouldn’t it be better if they just found a different city to terrorize?  In this case, I think the Riddler is a perfect foil for Green Arrow.  Ollie has a short fuse and blows up pretty easily, something that can be seen in the excellent conversation with Batman.  With the Riddler, it is great to see Ollie fuming as he stares at the latest answer to the riddle.  I can just picture the Riddler sending messages to Ollie, leading him on a wild goose chase to find the bomb and Ollie growing more and more frustrated.

The conversation with Mia was long overdue and I am grateful that Winick decided not to drag out her bitterness towards Ollie.  And I liked the fact that Ollie is both sorry for what he has done, but fully aware that it is his fault and something that he needs to address.  What bothers me is that Mia is very accepting of this explanation.  If she was angry that Ollie cheated on Dinah, wouldn’t you think that Ollie’s attitude would bother her just as much?  Or is that just me?

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