DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #3

Part Three

early October 2007

Written by Andy Diggle

Pencils by Jock

Inks by Jock

Cover by Jock

Synopsis

After Oliver Queen has been stranded on a island for months, a helicopter suddenly comes into view and begins to shoot at him.  With his makeshift bow, Ollie fires back and the helicopter crashes into a crater.  When he goes to investigate, he finds a poppy field.  He realizes this island is being used as a heroin farm.  When he hears a truck coming, Ollie hides and watches.  When he sees Hackett, his former assistant who pushed Ollie off the boat that led him to the island, he is stunned.  Hackett, along with his new boss Chein Na Wei (aka China White), figure out someone is on the island, so he goes to investigate.  Ollie tracks down Hackett, but can’t bring himself to kill him.  Hackett has no problem, firing his machine gun.  He misses Ollie, but manages to bring down a tree right on top of him.  Although not shot, Ollie is dazed and he passes out.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

What amazes me is that these issues are read pretty fast.  There is very little dialogue and about four to six panels per page.  Normally I might complain about decompression, but I doubt these mini-series but as good if these three issues were crammed into two or one.  The decision by Diggle and Jock to let the story and the images breathe a little bit which enhances the story even more.  In fact, there is a cinematic feel to it and I think this story would translate well to the big screen.  It also works very well on the comic page book.  Diggle and Jock have the pace of the story down pat and it is that pace that makes the series work so far. 

The decision to put Ollie into the middle of a heroin operation is a suitable choice.  Earlier in this series, Ollie remarks about drugs and addicts, which (at the time) seemed like a remark about the future problems of the first speedy, Roy Harper.  And it still may be.  But now, given Ollie’s drunkenness earlier, I am wondering if Diggle has something else in mind.  Don’t know what, but it is worth thinking about. 

The cover lists this has a 6-issue mini-series.  The cover to the previous two issue indicated it was only a 4 issue mini-series.  I wonder if a decision was made at some point to increase the number of issues and it just wasn’t fixed in time when the first and second issues went to print.