Green Arrow #8 is on sale today. Otto Schmidt is back as he and Ben Percy begin the Island of Scars story arc.

Ben talked to DC All Access about the issue. DC has given us an exclusive portion of the interview in which he discusses the island Ollie has found himself on.

For the rest of the interview, and more, check out the full episode of DC All Access.

Ugh, I really dislike Percy as the follow-up to Lemire. I'll ignore the Kingdom writer as he was horrendous. His name doesn't deserve being typed. Back to Percy. He brought us a drawn out drone arc with the most boring villain. I'm pretty sure it was a kidnapping with guys and their skull masks, some end villain who was nothing important than some creep who needed blood or something lame like that. The bad art wasn't any help to Percy's inability to create something decent. Then there was his wolfman arc and the biker Ugh..... please, take his nasty issues out of my collection. Then Rebirth comes; who is the new writer for Rebirth after Percy failed to be anything better than mediocre? Oh wait, it's still Percy. Good ol' Percy. Oh wait, the art isn't Sorrentino, but it's better than you-know-who. What's the story? O.o Kidnapping and skulls. Burnt victims with an overall burnt guy controlling criminal banks, Shado being extremely non-creative and instead a simple ninja-archer with, ugh, loyalties, and good ol' Diggle. Wait, what did Diggle even do? Nothing, he was just there. Now what's Percy's next arc. Bringing us ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE ISLAND. Year One, actual origin, Lemire, and the god-awful 3 seasons of flashbacks on the island in the TV show. And Percy, the bum writer, wants to bring us back? What can be so special about the island? Ollie knows the place inside and out, literally as he found the hidden arrow in Lemire.a arc, so what's it going to be? Some boring villain? Chasing Shado? Is he actually stranded again with some waste of time filler plot (until the next writer comes, who's hopefully someone decent). Oh wait, is he going to turn into a birdman? No, that'll be too creative. Probably run through the wolfman again while some guys with skull-faces chase wolfman Ollie around the island. Enough ranting, I'm glad my subscription is about to expire. It's been three years of doodoo since God Lemire finished. End of rant, sorry, have to throw this in, a wolfman arc.... ew

I hope their relationship can be better developed for both sides and not this relationship is great because Black Canary makes Green Arrow look better.

Loving Percy's run. One of the few writers who actually understands the characters he writes.

@phocracker: Lol, why would you keep reading for 2 years if you hate it so much. Since Rebirth his run has been really good, before that not so much, but to say that it's the same mediocre title it was is wrong.

The subscription went on for a couple of issues after Lemire, and I had kept my subscriptions going for a tons of titles until the 2xRebirth hit, making me have to give up a few books to keep the 2x for the better books. As for saying it's the same mediocre title; his writing may have improved, but as an overall comic, it's still mediocre. So they bring Canary, his gf back. What'd he write that's so good about them? It's nothing but a standard writing with no extra element. Girl meeting guy, strange attraction, banging, and missions running together. They ended up getting separated so Black Canary and Green Arrow can't possibly co tribute to why some think the book is great. Is the reason Emiko? God, no. Spoilers contained. Girl gets kidnapped, girl is leaving a trail while acting like a traitor. Is it Shadow? Already said, nothing special or even Average. It would have to be Arrow himself. So he cares about the people; his care is barely explored. He gives a job to a criminal who did bad for own' family. Okay, what else? Is it the traitorous CFO? Done before. It's definitely not the criminal gang running a bank; the bank could have been run better. Possibly have someone explore the bank to give it a little of importance? I find the book to be mediocre. As for other Rebirth titles, I've enjoyed Superman until the eradicator issues, I enjoyed 7. I enjoyed Batman until the Gotham-guy & girl issues, Flash has been decent, and Green Lanterns? Eh, I wouldn't buy the tpb of it.

I have even let Sam Wilson Captain America and Daredevil expire as Souls is nothing special and Spencer's Wilson? Eh. I enjoy the idea of 2x monthly from DC, but their books are average so far, at least in my opinion. As for now I only have Batman and Superman, and Superman expires in 4 issues; hopefully Dino-island is decent (Batman I have renewed for 4x more issues, took advantage of $20\12 as it's cheaper than standard 24 subscription price and if the price hikes back to 4, I'll have a good deal. Outside o the weekly trips to the shop, I want to add 2 or 3 more subscriptions. It looks like one will be Flash, but I'm a blank on the other two. Never really cared for the Titans less they're teens, and teen titans is probably the typical 2 year group rather than being stable, I'd rather have Hal and the Green Lantern Corps as TPB, Justice League is pathetic, I'm sad I let that die out after the end of John's run, but, it simply wasn't any good. I guess, I'm just a major story-seeker, and these books aren't handling that desire outside of the Nightline, but I refuse to subscribe knowing the writing can die out an moment for Nightline, and he's not AList enough to keep it going

This run has been amazing ! Great follow up to Lemires. Percy really stepped up his game for rebirth , especially after his divisive new 52 run. He certainly deserves all the praise he's been getting.

Oh, and beautiful artwork! Otto Schmidt really nailed it in this issue.

Percy's run has been pretty good so far.

@phocracker:

This made me miss the SM/WW relationship.

I'm not gonna lie, I was excited for Ollie having a beard again, but him having the "exact" same goatee he did back in the day, so fast, or even at all, is very underwhelming :/

Isn't Oliver known for having a Van Dyke? Not a Goatee?

To be fair, he does have a point. They came in pretty heavy-handed with the whole Oliver/Dinah relationship. They were in bed in about 2 issues for no actual reason. And Dinah was pretty self-righteous when the arc started. This is just after Oliver said he loved Tarantula 2 arcs ago, and then she vanished, and that was also very rushed.

The storyline for the 9th Circle was pretty lame too. Evil Bankers? Really? Dante was no real threat. He was just surrounded by fodder. I feel like the majority of the arc was fan service. "Look at Oliver and Dinah back together. Just like all those years ago!" Frankly, I don't even like Black Canary. I don't see the reason for introducing them as a couple anyway.

Diggle is also quite different than his previous appearances show. He looks younger, and seems less tactical. Like Rebirth had the exact opposite effect it had on everyone else. Lemire pulled Diggle from the series, which was a fine play. This new version I could take or leave.

Emiko and Oliver, for the most part are well-characterized, which is pretty cool--especially since Emiko has a lot of potential as a character and I'm liking where she's going so far.

Percys' problem has always been his villains just aren't memorable or don't last longer than an arc before dying. Night Bird, The Big Bad Wolf, Jefe and the Bone Hunters, etc. All one-note villains. Not to mention, he "killed" Oliver two arcs in a row. Like, c'mon man!

@scouterv: And their relationship wasn't even developed for her to go through lengths to rescue him as well as embrace him in loving arms. But hey, comic-readers don't usually have high standards for perfection or epics, or simply a re-readable story.

@scouterv: I've only ever heard people call it a goatee