Most rogues have to start somewhere, and this may be a start for one of Green Arrow's future arch-nemesis, Reverend Billy Miggs. All Green Arrow has to do is guard him during a prison transport. Can it be that easy?
The Good
I really enjoyed this story. It was fun, quick, and felt like an action flick. There's great set-up for this new villain, Reverend Billy Miggs, and the story gets right to the point. You never feel like you're getting the run around here, only the good parts... except for a couple over-the-top, weird moments mentioned in the bad section of the review.
Artist Agustin Padilla loves drawing Green Arrow and you can tell because there is a great attention to detail in every panel with that character. There is a great amount of consistency with Arrow throughout the issue, and he comes across incredibly natural on the page. Everything looks great with him, especially his body language. It's the first time I've ever truly noticed how good a character's body language looked on the page.
Also, this was probably my favorite cover this week. I get a good giggle out of it every time I look at it.
The Bad
Wait wait wait... Green Arrow practiced shooting his arrows on cadavers and a medical school actually let him do it? Between that and the 8 million muscles he has on his back in that scene, I am confused.
In one scene, Green Arrow, while traveling on top of a speeding police van and battling "metal angels with fiery wings," shoots an arrow which goes through a car window, then hits a driver's cell phone. Green Arrow did this because he wasn't paying attention to the road and he was going to hit a pedestrian.So he's so good at shooting arrows he can accomplish the ridiculous, but he still can't get the bad guy in the end?
My biggest problem is that this what seems to be two-part story feels like nothing more than filler until the DC Revamp. While good, it's still just a throw-away story that really won't be remembered or matter even a year from now.
Artwise, Green Arrow was the only character that had consistency in his face. Green Arrow always looked like Green Arrow, yet other characters faces were changing quite a bit, and mainly in the eye section. They either became distorted, change shape, or became bigger than they were on the panel before.
The Verdict
I'm incredibly split on this issue. I liked a lot of aspects about it, but disliked just as many. I feel like this was a throw away issue, given to a creative team that could have a decent run on the book. While the story played off as a fun summer action film, it had the same over-the-top cheesy moments of a summer action film. The attention to detail, with the art, in Green Arrow was amazing, but it lacked in every other character. This one is a borrow. Characterwise, it doesn't matter if you like Green Arrow or not, this book is more for the summer blockbuster action fan than anything else.