Green Arrow #2

I wasn't wild about the first issue. Other than the facial hair confusion though, there weren't any glaring problems with the book. Issue #2 one-ups issue #1 though, significantly at that.  Green Arrow is definitely under the radar right now in the New 52, but this book has the potential to be great.

Side-note, last week I learned that writer J.T. Krul would be leaving this series after #3. He's supposedly going to start work on a new project, and between that and Captain Atom and Green Arrow, well, one of them had to be dropped. I'm sad to see you go, Krul. That said, I've heard good things about Keith Giffen, the new writer, so we shall see.

One negative aspect of J.T. Krul's writing, is his lack of development for any characters other than his protagonist for the story, although at least on Teen Titans, that changed from issue to issue. Here, Oliver Queen will always be the protagonist, which leaves little or no development at all for the rest of the cast. There's nothing distinguishing his behind-the-scenes crew from cardboard cutouts of characters.

This issue though, is just plain fun, and that's why I think of it positively, rather than sulk over a lot of the silliness. J.T. Krul is surely trying to make a commentary on celebrity and public perception in this book, and its rather over-the-top. Green Arrow starts the issue battling duo of villains, Lime and Light (get it? is that too subtle? I couldn't tell). He makes quick work of the wannabe socialites (also, this comic takes place in Seattle, which just doesn't make sense, shouldn't for this arc he be in Los Angelos or New York City?). While some of this doesn't make too much sense, the over-the-top personas actually do work. Hollywood socialites are caricatures of themselves, and if these characters are truly satirical of them, they would be stupid, inept, cheesy, and dumb. Oliver Queen plays right into this, acting derogatory towards Lime and Light's sexuality, and mocking them as being alcoholics.

Later on, Green Arrow takes off after a super-villain team mercilessly slaughters one of their own, named Alpha, streaming across the internet. Green Arrow knows they're expecting him to come, but as in typical superhero fashion, he springs the trap. Green Arrow appears to have the upper-hand before he's knocked out, only to awaken to find that he's the next victim in their internet snuff films. All-in-all this issue is a great commentary on the over-saturation of the internet crap and sludge in our everyday lives.

What I enjoyed: While the whole thing reeks of a really stinky cheese, it's very tasty cheese. I think Krul is intentionally making this issue overwrought with terrible one-liners as a commentary on dumbing-down of entertainment media, making it as low class as possible. If you read it that way, it's a good issue. If you don't, you're probably thinking J.T. Krul is a terrible writer.

What I didn't: I get what Krul was going for, but at times the one-liners made me cringe, which I know their supposed to, but still, it can make it difficult to enjoy this book as a comic, not as a higher commentary on entertainment media in today's modern world. Also, Jurgens is still having trouble with facial hair.

Conclusion: I'm going to keep reading, but this feels like a letdown. Ollie Queen doesn't feel badass enough for me in this book. I want him to engage in Robin Hood type shenanigans, not this silly satire. It gets a 7.5/10 (C) for doing accomplishing his task, even if it wasn't a super fun read.