Green Arrow #17 Review

Bow Knows

Written by: Ben Percy
Art by: Otto Schmidt and  Nate Piekos
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: February 15, 2017

I have been getting more and more into the Green Arrow book as it's gone on.  I love the whole "Team Arrow" feel to it and Emiko rejoining was a wish come true.  Last issue started to thin the herd of bad guys (something that really needed to be done), but also the good guys as well.  We still have Malcolm Merlyn and the Ninth Circle out and about and the whole murderer thing hanging over Ollie's head.  So, do we narrow the focus down this week with some more killings?  Let's find out...


The issue starts with what we already know...Malcolm Merlyn framed Green Arrow for the murder of Chief Westberg.  I don't want to sound cold, but it's kind of a been there done that thing and really, has been Merlyn's modus operandi since showing up.

We then go see that Ollie's old friend, Nathan Domini, is now the Mayor of Seattle.  It seems that the murder of Westberg pushed the election his way, but now he's finding out that being friend's with Broderick isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Before he can put Oliver's cloning device on Broderick's computer, he is found out and it's off the the Ninth Circle to become branded a traitor.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow gives Victoria Much evidence to try to bring down Broderick.  She is really going out on a limb here and you can only feel for her as she opens her heart to Ollie and her slams her dead center in the Friend Zone!  Cold, Ollie...cold.

We then get a nice talk between Oliver and Emiko that's about her being his sidekick and taking on the Red Arrow mantle.  Without going into too much detail, he tells her he isn't so sure about either right before they are attacked.

Ben Percy then gives us a pretty messed up history that Ollie and Merlyn share just as Merlyn offers Ollie a future by his side.  There is a pretty good burn about the Justice League not wanting Green Arrow here, but the scene ends with a real shocker.  I was so pissed!

The issue ends with a decent cliffhanger, but the coolest thing is the "Next" callout.  It looks like we are going to get the best legacy character this book could ever have visiting Seattle next issue.

This issue went by pretty fast and for the most part, it felt a bit stale.  Until the big twist, everything just went on with business as usual.  It's like Ben Percy had a checklist of what each character has been doing the past bunch of issues and just wanted to keep on keeping on.  I'm not saying it was bad, just not mind blowing...until the twist.  It may have taken the whole issue to get there, but it was big enough to make my jaw drop and I can't wait to see what comes from it.

I loved Otto Schmidt's art in this issue.  It's all about the expressions of the characters and Ollie is easily the best here.  Ben Percy is lucky to have both Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra on this book.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue continues in a same old same old fashion until Ben Percy throws everything on it's ear with a huge twist.  It was big enough to get me excited for next issue, but not as excited as who looks to be coming to town.

7.5/10