Green Arrow #50 Review

by Hussein Wasiti on March 06, 2019

Written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing
Art by Javier Fernandez
Colouring by John Kalisz
Lettering by Andworld Design
 
And thus ends another volume of GREEN ARROW. It's been flawed. It's been inconsistent, both creatively and in terms of quality. It seems that its only direction was to get Oliver Queen out of the New 52 rut, but I don't think such a long story was entirely necessary.
 
Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing are frustrating to read. They have a grasp on storytelling, but they always seem to join a book when its time has come to end. So they never have had the chance to truly shine and tell their own story. To hear them tell it, this was supposed to be the start of a massive run of theirs that would have defined the character. I believe them, because this issue certainly feels like a massive development for the character in more ways than one. To say exactly how would be to spoil it, but I actually recommend anyone to pick this issue up. Anyone with an understanding of JUSTICE LEAGUE: NO JUSTICE and HEROES IN CRISIS will be able to read this without any problems.
 
While I do recommend this issue, it's still as frustrating as this series has been. The entire plot is predicated on Dinah hunting down Ollie, since she used to be a spy and all that. The fact that this revolves around this Riot character is strange since I've barely registered her as a significant element of this book. I even forgot she existed before I read this issue. The conflict between Ollie and Dinah felt rushed and not much of this issue felt earned, honestly. The box at the heart of the story has barely been mentioned in the main JUSTICE LEAGUE book so there wasn't much gravitas to it in the first place.
 
Javier Fernandez does some pretty good work here. His art is mostly hit or miss for me, as I find he sometimes make bizarre stylistic choices that almost never end up working for me at all. This is a relatively fast-moving issue, made doubly impressive by the fact that it's a double-sized comic. His use of shadows works so well with John Kalisz's burst of colours, though Fernandez's faces and character acting are still problematic for me.
 
This is worth reading. It's fun to think about what could have been in store for Green Arrow under this creative team, but this little three issue run was overall a success for me. Strange choices were made, the storytelling didn't always make sense to me, but there was a clear passion for this run and this character and for that I need to give it props.
 

Our Score:

6/10

A Look Inside