Green Arrow #39 Review

Don't Sandbag Me!

Writer: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing
Art by: Marcio Takara, Marcelo Maiolo, and Deron Bennett
Release Date: April 4, 2018
Cover Price: $3.99

Ben Percy's time on Green Arrow is over and while I see a lot of people painting a broad stroke picture of what I felt to be a very inconsistent run, I wonder if what we are going to get will be better.  The Benson's will be taking over this summer, but for now, we get Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, who have quickly become the middle relievers of the DC bullpen.  They are here to eat up innings, keep the lead and then hand the ball over in the 9th.  They are in one of those odd positions that may be set up to fail, but I guess it all boils down to if they have a good story to tell.  Well, do they?  Let's find out...


The issue opens up with an editors note to Deathstroke Annual #2 and while I am a huge Deathstroke fan, it felt a little odd here out of nowhere.  It eventually makes a little more sense in the story of Oliver Queen trying to be the good guy without the bow, but quickly gets back to what everyone wants and expects...Green Arrow.

Things get very dark very quickly and as we progress through the issue, we get a heavy dose of SJW mixed with hopelessness and a little boredom.  Lanzing and Kelly spend most of the time setting things up through heavy dialogue as Green Arrow makes his way through Rhapastan towards a grim truth...nobody wants him there.

We finally get to the bad guy named Nothing and while that's cool enough, unfortunately, it also tells you what we learn about him.  He's just there, has an army of children and a fight breaks out.  While there are moments in the scrum that are supposed to make the reader smile, it's over too quickly and never had much going on in the first place.

The issue ends with Oliver in some trouble, but really, it just ends.  I wish I could say more, but nothing else really happens.  I liked Marcio Takara's art, but this issue felt like Lanzing and Kelly kind of heard what Percy had been up to on the book leading up to this and just threw out a story on the horrors of war and how point of view determines who is the hero and who is the villain in a story.  I said it earlier, but this issue was overly wordy for such a cliche story and it was a disappointment overall.

Bits and Pieces:

I realize this issue is a placeholder to get to the Benson's run this summer, but it doesn't have to read so much like one.  The story is cliched, the situation is over-explained and yet under-explained at the same time and while I liked the art, I would suggest you skip this. 

4.5/10