Green Arrow Misses The Target

When I was a teenager/young adult, Green Arrow was one of my favorite comic book series.  I'm sure it was in large part to the tremendous writing on the series from Mike Grell.  In fact, it was so good that it prompted me to write in with compliments (and have my letters published!) a few times.  Although it resided within the DC Universe, its stories stood apart from the rest of Earth One's superheroes.  They were a lot more than just battle sequences, which frequently get boring.  It involved Green Arrow/Oliver Queen's relationship with Dinah Lance/Black Canary, their flower shop Sherwood Florist in Seattle, Dinah's rape, Oliver's infidelity with Shado and the resulting son, etc.

When I started reading comics again in 2007, one of the series I decided to pick up was Green Arrow & Black Canary, to see what was going on with two of my favorite characters.  To my surprise, Oliver Queen wasn't the Green Arrow of the series.  His son Connor Hawke was.  I had never heard of Connor Hawke.  So Ollie had another kid out of wedlock...and it still wasn't with Dinah?  Sheesh.  Apparently, Ollie didn't believe in any form of birth control. 

Fortunately, soon into the Green Arrow & Black Canary series, Ollie returns to claim his rightful title.  I went and bought all of the back issues of wedding issues and specials to see what I missed.  I really liked this new team series.  It was fun and entertaining.  I even liked seeing Connor Hawke and the new Speedy, Mia Dearden, appear regularly.  They made a great foursome.  Then came the introduction of Cupid.  She was an interesting villain/character at first, but when she started appearing in EVERY issue, that's when my interest started to wane. Who was this series about anyway?  Green Arrow and Black Canary...or Cupid?  DC saw declining sales and so changed the focus (and title) of the book to only Green Arrow.  (Even I could have told them it was not because of Black Canary, but because of stupid Cupid.)  That's when Green Arrow started being serious again, with the killing of Prometheus and running off into the magical forest that once was Star City, following the events of Blackest Night.  The new Green Arrow solo series labeled with the Brightest Day banner was interesting, but I missed the fun of the early Green Arrow & Black Canary issues, and I missed seeing Ollie and Dinah together as a couple. 

Then came the infamous New 52 following Flashpoint.  Oliver Queen is now a young man (a boy, if you will).  He has no facial hair and, as far as I know, has never even met Dinah Lance!  [GASP!  The horrors!]  Because I like Green Arrow in concept, I've read the first 24 issues of the latest Green Arrow series (volume 4 of his solo series titles; volume 5 if you include Green Arrow & Black Canary).  I can honestly say that I don't think I've truly enjoyed a single issue.  Like most, though, I didn't attribute my initial dislike to the writing of J.T. Krul at the beginning of the series.  I think he did the best with what he had to work with, which wasn't much.  Following Krul's dismissal, DC turned over the reigns to Ann Nocenti.  That's when I came to discover that Nocenti is one of the worst comic book writers out there.  I realize she's been writing for many, many, many years, but maybe it's time to force her retirement.  Her storytelling is awful; her dialogue is worse.  And now she's dragging down Catwoman and Katana with her.  In fact, the solo Katana series has already been canceled.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Catwoman's sure to be on the chopping block next.  And don't even get me started about the disappointment with The Joker's Daughter #1.  Seriously...WTF was that about anyway?  Another lame reintroduction to another potential star (see: Amethyst). 

So I was thrilled that DC execs finally came to their senses and moved Nocenti off Green Arrow, giving the series to writer Jeff Lemire (Animal Man).  Sadly, the series is still too boring for me, featuring too many battle sequences and not enough characterization and character interaction/relationships.  I miss the days when Oliver Queen was a man (a sexy man at that), when he had a history and relationship with Dinah Lance/Black Canary, had a strong friendship with Hal Jorden/Green Lantern, had a bunch of rugrats from different babymamas, had a sense of humor, was a strong Democrat, and fought for the little people.   Now he's just this dopey boy who used to have a company similar to Apple and runs around with two associates who create his arrows and buzz in his ear.  Even the reintroduction of Count Vertigo was short-lived and lame.  And now, Ollie's just met the Shado of the New 52 Universe who had a child...from his father.  EW.  

So, I'm done.  For the first time in many, many years, Green Arrow is no longer on my monthly pull list.  It was a good run, but I can't stand to see a good character unnecessarily spin out of control, even where Count Vertigo is involved. 

Aqualad: FAIL

It seems that Aqualad just can't catch a break.  

First, there was the original Aqualad from the Teen Titans, Garth, that everyone seemed to make fun of and, basically, found useless.  In an attempt to recreate/reimagine himself, Garth became Tempest.  Unfortunately, Tempest never caught on in popularity either.  To put him (and his legion of non-fans) out of their misery, in the Blackest Night maxi-series, Garth is killed off.  

To revamp the Aqualad name and bring some diversity into the teenage superheroes of the DC Universe (besides the go-to Static), a new Aqualad appears in Brightest Day #10.  He's African-American; sports dreadlocks, a cooler costume, and tats; has better/expanded powers; and has a mystery surrounding him.  At this point, it seems like DC is really going to do something big with an Aqualad. 

Then comes DC's event series Flashpoint...and changes all DC history.  Where is Aqualad?  Is there an Aqualad?  Who knows.  He's not shown in any new issue of the new Aquaman series.  He also doesn't appear in the new Teen Titans series. 

Goodbye, Aqualad.  We hardly knew ye. 

Drawing the Line at $4.99

Brightest Day #24 (2011)

Yesterday, I stopped into my local comic book store and picked up the past two weeks' comics from my reserve bag.  Included in the stash were the last issue of Brightest Day, the last issue of Justice League: Generation Lost, Action Comics #900, and Avengers Academy Giant-Size #1.  The first two were $4.99 each, Action Comics $5.99, and Avengers Academy was $7.99!  Are you freakin' kidding me with all of these jacked-up prices?!  I bought the first three because they're part of the ongoing series that I've collected, but I couldn't justify spending $7.99 (really?) on the Avengers Academy book.  I can honestly say that I've never seen such an expensive "regular" comic book.  Even Annuals don't cost that much!  I hope whatever's in it isn't integral to the regular series' storyline, because if it is, I'll never know about it.  How many people does Marvel think will actually fork over $7.99 for a single comic book? 

Avengers Academy Giant-Size #1 (2011)

I read the Brightest Day and Justice League issues one evening.  While they were enjoyable, they certainly didn't provide more excitement than a $2.99 comic.  In fact, BD had several two-page spreads, so it wasn't even more story, just bigger pictures.  I felt a little violated.  

A few days later, I read Action Comics #900, hoping for some big revelation or big conclusion to the "Reign of Doomsday" storyline.  Nope.  It was just a mediocre segway story that was about the same length as a regular issue.  I can't even call it a "bridge" between two other issues because nothing much really happened.  If I hadn't read the story, I certainly wouldn't have been lost reading Superman or another Super-title.  The additional $3 I paid for this "100 page" issue were random Superman stories that weren't part of current continuity...and weren't very good themselves.  

DC may be "Drawing the Line at $2.99," but I'm drawing it at $4.99.  No $5.99 or $7.99 comics in my future (even $4.99 was severely pushing it!).  It's time for me to re-evaluate the comics I currently read and shave a few off the list accordingly.