Aquaman / Green Arrow: Deep Target #3 Review

Somebody is Dino-Sore

Writer: Brandon Thomas

Artist: Ronan Cliquet, Ulises Arreola, and Josh Reed

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: December 28, 2021

Aquaman / Green Arrow: Deep Target #3 is a make-or-break issue. I am still waiting for that Eureka moment when this mini-series clicks in my brain, and I start enjoying it.  I know we are only three issues in, but that's a lot of real estate for a 7-issue series, and I have no idea what is happening in this book.  Worse than that, though, I didn't enjoy the first two issues one bit.  So, does Aquaman / Green Arrow: Deep Target #3 change everything for me?  Let's find out!

Aquaman / Green Arrow: Deep Target #3 opens with a bit of a jump from the last issue's cliffhanger.  I thought we would see more of the island, especially when I thought it was "The Island!" But, instead, we start with General Anderton (the dinosaur man) interrogating Ollie and Arthur.  I guess that Brandon Thomas wanted the reader to get a taste of what our heroes are going through because the first couple of pages were torture!  Repeating each bit of dialogue to show both hero's perspective was annoying as hell and, in the end, pretty much unnecessary.

Here is where I'd usually say, "we move on from there..." but we don't. Instead, almost the entire issue involves watching Arthur and Oliver get beat up and yelled at by General Anderton.  We finally get a gist of what's going on, and while it was kind of obvious that it was timeline wonkiness all along, the explanation of it all is convoluted and confusing.  That leads to General Dinosaur revealing his primary motivation for capturing Ollie and Arthur... he is pissed off that he has dinosaur fingers!

The last act finally gets things moving as shared memories help our heroes escape, but the cliffhanger is one of those "Were not in Kansas" moments that made my eyes roll.  Brandon Thomas is trying to crank things up to eleven, but it all feels silly without a solid story behind it.

This book is a mess, but sometimes these sorts of things can still be fun. Unfortunately, that is not the case here!  I haven't read a lot of Thomas' stuff (though I do enjoy Aquaman the Becoming), so I can't trust him that this sort of story will work out in the end, so I am just riding it like a runaway train right now.  Let's hope Thomas gets it on track and running smoothly next issue.

I have no complaints at all with Ronan Cliquet's art.  Everything looks excellent, especially his character designs.  I just wish the story, and this issue, in particular, had more for him to do.  

Bits and Pieces:

Aquaman / Green Arrow: Deep Target #3 finally gives the reader some answers, but the story is so convoluted and confusing that it doesn't matter much.  I wish I were having some fun with this book, but besides it looking great, there is nothing for me to recommend.

5.0/10