Okay, this is sort of a Dropped in Midstream Review, but not exactly. This month begins the deck shuffling of the DCnU 52 that includes new creative teams, new directions, and new titles for many of their titles. One of the first announced new creative teams was to the Green Arrow title, with writer Ann Nocenti taking over for J.T. Krul.
This was met with some general huzzahs, as Ann is a fairly well respected comic book writer, and there weren’t tons of fans of the Krul version of the Green Arrow comic.
Despite all of that, this isn’t a restart. I don’t expect there to be much introduction in this issue, so I am definitely coming in on the ground floor of this comic, knowing very little. 1
So with all that in mind, let’s get started.
Green Arrow #7: Ménage À Quatre
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artist: Harvey Tolibao
Release Date: 03/07/2012
Cover Price: $2.99
Review: Digital Copy (From Comixology)
Synopsis
- Green Arrow is confronted by three blonde (genetically engineered) triplets named Skylark who seem to have some minor telepathy.
- Skylark tells him that they want to work for him, and they offer him technology that they developed just for him. He agrees to come to their lab in Canada.
- Back in civilian mode, Oliver Queen caves under the pressure of bureaucracy and decides to take a leave of absence from his company.
- Green Arrow heads to Skylark’s lab in the Queen private jet, and Skylark seduces him on the plane. After landing at their lab, Skylark attacks Green arrow capturing him for their daddy’s arrival.
- Skylark programs the jet to crash in the Pacific. After Police find the destroyed jet, the newspapers announce the possible death of Oliver Queen, as Naomi scrambles to keep control of Queen Enterprises.
Questions and Answers (optional)
Q: Who is the Daddy of Skylark?
A: Answer 1
Analysis
Basically, everything about this comic book says, “Seen this a thousand times before.” Gullible super-hero gets seduced by attractive super villainess. 2 And they reveal their duplicitous nature only when the hero has dropped his guard and they are far away from anyone to save him.
Skylark was way too similar to the X-Men Stepford Cuckoos, right down to the finishing of each other sentences. Just add more seductive tendencies.
The James Bond level-awful sex puns was really lame for 2012: “Let’s see what you girls got?”, “Delightful Entry”
And pheromones or not, Green Arrow has to be the most gullible man on the planet. I just met three girls who are offering me their bodies, their technology, and their services, and they don’t seem to want anything in return. Let’s drop everything and join them. I mean they even say that they thought he’d be harder to get. And they happen to have a secluded lab in Canada?
The art is serviceable enough. And as the characters are trying to be sexual, I guess the posing doesn’t REALLY bother me, but it still seems too blatant and obvious, even for comic books.
It’s very strange to single out one of the Skylark at the end of the book saying that she can’t stick with the triplicate. We can’t tell them apart. They don’t have individual names. None have shown any sign of uniqueness. And yet one of them (which I’m sure will be part of Green Arrow’s escape next issue) is rebelling against the other two. Why? What does she object to? How will Green Arrow know that it’s her, and not one of her sisters?
And it’s nice to know that Green Arrow is really concerned with his secret identity. He checks out the Queen Industries jet. He lets Skylark completely undress him. 3
Hasn’t the petulant super-hero billionaire been done to death? I mean the scenes with Oliver Queen talking to Naomi could be taken right out of the Tony Stark Pepper Potts playbook.
You gotta love comic book time. In less than a half a day 4, the plane goes down (somewhere) in the Pacific, Naomi is notified of the black box exploding, a police boat arrives on the scene of the fallen plane, the police perform a full investigation of the plane to determine whose plane went down and perform a forensic investigation, and the local newspaper is notified by the police that the plane went down and Oliver Queen is suspected of being on the plane. And no one contacts Queen Enterprises or Oliver Queen’s people to confirm his location?
Verdict
Ann Nocenti came out of semi-retirement to write this? Okay… okay… maybe not her fault. The issue may have been completely plotted before she joined the team. Regardless, this is a poorly written and plotted comic book. Green Arrow does not come across as interesting, nor does the new villain, Skylark. I am completely uninterested in reading Green Arrow #8, and feel that I’ve wasted three bucks. It’s not horrible or insulting, but it brings absolutely nothing of interest to the table. I expect better from comic books from a professional comic book company.
Overall Grade: 2.0 (Not worth the price)
Footnotes
1 – Yes, I’m aware that Oliver Queen is basically a superhero Steve Jobs in the DCnUniverse, and that he is much younger than he was in the old DC Universe. I read issue #1 and his guest appearance in Grifter.
2 – Or in this case, villainesses.
3 – Unless Skylark were wearing green bras, the panel was very confusing.
4 – Estimated comic book time here.
