GREEN ARROW #42

New Blood Part Three: Center Stage

November 2004

Written by Judd Winick

Pencils by Phil Hester

Inks by Ande Parks

Cover by Marcos Martin & ALvaro Lopez

Synopsis

Danny Brickwell (aka Brick) has slowly consolidated power in Star City, but now the involvement of the District Attorney and Green Arrow.  Brick’s men let him know that Green Arrow is at the moment being taken care of.  Elsewhere, Green Arrow is surrounded by 30 men with guns.  With the help of some of Arsenal’s “toys” he attempts to get away, but he is taken down.  Then another archer arrives on the scene to help out.  At first Ollie thinks it is Conner, but then he learns it is Mia.  Angered, Ollie gets her away as quickly as possible from the fight.  Once safe, he tells her that she will never become a vigilante like him.  Later, Ollie and Conner are attending a charity benefit, also attended by the mayor and the district attorney.  Afterwards, a suicide bomber kills both men.  Then a bag full of bricks is dumped nearby with the message, “My Town Now!”

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

If there is one thing about Winick is that he doesn’t shy away from really, really long story arcs.  This is the middle issue and it pretty much suffers from that sagging feeling of no beginning and no ending.  We get more of Brick consolidating his power, more of Ollie fighting Brick without actually, you know, fighting him, and the Mia saga rambles on with the obvious ending somewhere on the horizon even if Winick is attempting to convince us otherwise.  Don’t get me wrong.  I enjoyed this issue and I like the storyline so far, but in a book that comes out monthly, sometimes that weaknesses of a long story with multiple chapters can be seen. 

Winick has put himself into a damned if you, damned if you don’t situation with Mia.  When she first appeared in Kevin Smith’s run, she was immediately tagged as the possible successor to the identity of Speedy, Green Arrow’s sidekick.  The fact that it has taken nearly 3 and half years worth of issues to reach this point is amazing.  However, no matter how much Winick attempts to dissuade us from thinking Mia will become Speedy, the more and more it becomes apparent that is exactly what is going to happen.  So, in a sense we are marking time, waiting through arguments and statements that Ollie will have to back away from at some point.  Yet, if Winick decided to make Mia into Speedy without the rigamarole, I think the fanbase would get upset, claiming it was arbitrary and that she doesn’t deserve to become Speedy.  So, Winick needs to deny what we know is going to happen until he can find a good reason to make it happen.  It will be tedious for the next couple of issues, but eventual we will get there. 

Yeah, it was a good plot point for Mia to come to Ollie’s rescue, but where was Conner and why don’t the two of them have some kind of signal to indicate when they need help?  Cell phones would be nice or perhaps even ear pieces that provide easy communication.  Ollie’s rich; he can afford it.  Or better yet, just get Arsenal to get for him. 

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