Green Arrow #1 Review

Shot Through the Heart...

Written by: Ben Percy
Art by: Otto Schmidt and Nate Piekos
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 15, 2016

I think that almost everyone would agree that Green Arrow is already one of the most pleasant surprises of Rebirth so far.  It goes beyond the surface level excitement of seeing Black Canary and Green Arrow together again...for the first time, to a deeper level of self awareness on the part of writer, Ben Percy.  Self awareness and humor.  HUMOR!!!  Yep, Green Arrow is suddenly fun to read again.  Sure, Percy is going to stick to his guns and continue with Ollie being a SJW (I really don't want to write it out, even though the initials may be more annoying), but it now feels a little more like a comic book and less like a pamphlet entitled, "These are the people I hate in this world"...and I love it!  The Rebirth #1 was the best issue of Ben Percy's run on Green Arrow and I hope that every two weeks he keeps giving us the new best issue of this book.  Does he start the trend here?  Let's find out...


The issue opens with a late night trip to the Seattle Docks.  It's not a trip for the working stiff who is there and I'll tell you, it looks like a real shitty job he's got.  It doesn't take long for us to see the Underground Men (I still prefer Sewer Men, but that's just me) are there...but so are Green Arrow and Black Canary.  Only two issue in and Otto Schmidt is making it a habit to start off with kick ass credit pages.

A fight breaks out and we get to see some familiar faces that put a HUGE smile on my dumb face. Emiko and Henry!  Henry's doing his computer thing while Emiko is being her usual badass self and once again, Ben Percy is showing me that he has embraced this whole Rebirth and I am one happy camper.

I loved the back and forth between Ollie and Emiko, but when the fight ends (via a Canary Cry), Ollie pays off the cops like it ain't no thang.  Hey Ollie, it is a thang and Black Canary's expression aped mine.  She just looks way better...my dumb face and all!

It continues when Gang Green has a talk with the worker from the beginning of the issue and instead of Ollie being mad at him for kind of letting the whole fight happen, just pays him off as well.  Again, Canary is pissed and so was I, but not just at Ollie.  I understand that Percy is trying to show us that Ollie lives by the "money can solve every problem" creed, but paying off cops?  Low blow, Benjamin, low blow.

We then get Emiko meeting Dinah and of course, she's a fangirl.  I love Emiko so much, though she comes off a little bit older here.  It's no big deal as Ollie takes Dinah on the "see how much good I do" tour that doesn't end in the gift shop...but with Dinah leaving because she needs some space. Seriously???  Why not use the it's not you, it's me line?  She best be back next issue or I will be so upset.

Everything we've seen in this issue leads Ollie to suspect that things aren't so kosher at Queen Industries and I don't think anyone would disagree with him...except maybe the bad guys doing the bad stuff.  I've heard that life is beautiful when you don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong and Ollie finds that out for himself.  Okay, his nose kind of does belong here, but that doesn't change the fact that his life just got real ugly.

The issue ends with another great blast from the past, that blasts the hell out of Ollie as well as turning his whole world upside down and making this reviewer very, very sad.  It's a twist that makes sense and that's why it hurts that much more.  This is where I usually say, "I can't wait two weeks to see what happens next", but I don't just as much as I do.  Right now, I'm hoping the ending was a ruse since it was against what the Big Bad kind of wanted.

Ben Percy has another winner on his hands.  I enjoyed this issue so much and even if the money thing was a little forced, a bit later in the issue hints at the true problem coming his way.  If Percy is stripping Ollie of everything he loves before building him back up again, then he is off to a superb start.  It's killing me...but a superb start.

Speaking of superb, I loved Otto Schmidt's art even more than in the Rebirth issue.  Maybe it's because I am past the "get used to it" curve, but I think it has a little something to do with him being a talented son of a bitch.  I mean that as a supreme compliment, Otto!  The art in this issue kicked so much ass!

Bits and Pieces:

The pleasant surprise that is Ben Percy's Rebirth run of Green Arrow continues and I couldn't be happier.  This issue throws some old and familiar faces at fans, but that doesn't mean everything is coming up Millhouse...far from it.  The veil is lifted on the Underground Men, but after the twist ending, I'm not sure who will be around to deal with them.  Otto Schmidt's art is a perfect compliment to this story and it's main character and if you've been waiting for a good Green Arrow book to jump into, this is it.  Highly Recommended!

9.0/10