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| [ BOUNCE ON A BARGAIN ] |
In the rusty evenings of October, 2015,
those spooky kids over at DC Comics went door-to-door in their plastic He-Man
and Strawberry Shortcake masks, trick-or-treating for something good. Benjamin Percy and Szymon Kudranski were the
only household in the neighborhood not to get toilet papered trees as they gave
the adorable little licensed characters a second treat to hold off the
tricks.
TO QUOTE King Heidrek (from Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks): “She lights up every land and shines over all men, and Sköll and Hatti are called wargs. Those are wolves, one going before the sun, the other after the moon.”
THE REVIEW:
Yeah, that's right. Forty-seven issues in to this series and
one of DC's seventy-four year old characters has finally gotten his
first Annual, not just since the Flashpoint . . . but, if my reckoning is
correct, since 1995. Nineteen
ninety-five. Grayson's had two
Annuals before his thirteenth issue.
(So, it's a biannual Annual?)
I've said it before: Oliver Queen can't get no respect.
I've said it before: Oliver Queen can't get no respect.
Benjamin Percy is changing that with his
run. Beyond the fact that he's finally
gotten to an Annual, Percy is escalating the character to a more complex
literary status compared with his caricature superhero archetype
compatriots. Green Arrow should
be one of the best selling series in the industry right now. (It's climbing, save for the All-New
All-Different Marvel bump this month, but is still way too far down the
sales rankings given it's high quality). If its not, then woe is us, community of readers!
This issue opens with Oliver playing
philosophical poet in his monologue boxes again, allowing Percy and Kudranski to
set the scene of suburban horrors with appropriately ironic Jeopardy clues in
the background. Our time frame puts us
in between the close of the Night Birds arc in issue 43 and the opening of the
Bone Collectors arc in issue 44. In
other words, it's Halloween. And Seattle
is throwing a midnight parade.
It's got to be tough to introduce
werewolves to your comic book and keep it feeling realistic, but Percy has
managed to do it. He gracefully managed
to merge the classic Germanic Pagan origins of werewolves with the Norse
legends of Berserkers (both rooted in warriors or hunters wearing wolf pelts),
cross it with the Norse myths of wargs like Fenrir, Sköll, and Hati, and cap it
off with a bit of comic book meta-science.
The result (“Lukos”) manages to nudge one's disbelief aside just long
enough to let the idea of modern werewolf-like characteristics be completely
feasible as something the government is secretly isolating and medicating. And of course, the main “I will not be
isolated and medicated” tough wolf guy decides to calls himself The Big Bad
Wolf. Because comics.
As far as I'm concerned, any issue where
Emiko gets to kick ass and make wise cracks is a win. And in this issue she not only kicks
aforementioned ass and makes aforementioned wise cracks, but also has some
highly humorous fretting about simply being a teenager in a school where she's
not allowed to just kill people that piss her off. And then, of course, she gets to kick more
ass and make more wise cracks. So,
double thumbs up on that front.
While Percy's Emiko is a bit different in
attitude from Lemire's Emiko, she's a far more relatable character now. He maintained enough of her original guff to
make it believable emotional growth, even if it implicitly happened off page
during Sokolowski and Kreisberg's run.
Plus, we are finally able to get some much-needed and well-written
brother-sister bonding in this issue, something that it seems like Percy wanted
to work in to earlier issues but didn't quite have the space for. The recovering party boy as guardian of the
recovering assassin warrior works quite well now that the awkward creative team
transition is past.
Szymon Kudranski is sitting in as artist
for Zircher on this Annual, and yes, delivers quite the punch for this interim
tale. While his style is a bit
different, it shares enough in common to flow well from issue to issue -- even
if the Annual is “out of sequence” to the reader. The tone of the wargs is definitely different
than that of the Bone Collectors, but it still feels congruous with the
series. It will be interesting to see
how Zircher handles the same characters -- assuming they return -- when the
story picks up in issue 48.
One magnificent art detail that I actually
missed the first time through is the realistic falling leaves providing
continuity between all the outdoor scenes -- the trailer park night, day, and
following night, Moltman's farm, and the streets of Seattle midnight parade. Emiko's school
flashback also has a mild yearbook style vibe to it which works very well. The only detail I didn't really “get” was the
pixilated artwork on the walls. It makes
it feel like the art is being censored or otherwise intentionally blocked,
perhaps so as not to be recognizable as specific pieces, but some, such as the
Errol Flynn The Adventures of Robin Hood poster that is always on
Oliver's wall are, well, established.
But who doesn't love an issue where artists
get to draw non-hero characters dressed as the heroes of the DC Universe? I need to find the kid dressed as Deadman in
Emiko's school and find out how he got his collar to stay up all day.
THE MUSIC:
“Beware the woods at night! Beware the lunar light!” Yes, there are so many great Halloween songs
to choose from, and tons of odes to the werewolf out there. But to properly match the gloomy mood of this
issue, I'm going to invoke Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia)
by Type O Negative, which is absolutely, positively, not about a
werewolf. Sorry if I just ruined the
song for you.
THE COMPARISON:
This issue goes all over the place, but, in
a good way. It plants an ancient disease
that the government is covering up yet is somehow still known to the residents
of Seattle
So, in the interest of not spoiling said things or the fun twists and turns of
this issue, I will go with a visual comparison from the beginning of the issue.
Here we see the Patriots gang who have tracked down some Lukos patients and
headed over there to be unpleasant to them and generally raise a ruckus. In
ex-president masks. Kind of like the Ex-Presidents gang in Point
Break, only more suburban Pacific Northwest and less So-Cal surfer.
THE CONCLUSION:
Its issues like this one that make me wish
that every (good) comic were 48 pages (or more). I know it would probably overwork a lot of
writers and artists, but it feels like Percy has a far more complex story he
wants to tell and has to thin it down to fit in a comic. These beautifully crafted and interwoven
tales deserve more space, or more issues, or what have you.
But I'll take what I can get. As one of the few comics in DC's line that's
still $2.99 per issue, Green Arrow has got to be one of the best deals out
there. I've got no wise ass lists of
speculation as to what will happen next issue, since: (A) It's moderately
obvious but speculation would spoil this Annual. (B) The next issue has already
happened and there's another issue down Mexico way before we circle back on
this story. And (C) I feel like speculation will ruin the magic.
Instead, I'll leave you with this list of phrases to summarize where we're at thus far.
- The night birds are still watching!
- Melanie, then Kyra, then Catalina.
- The wart lady sees all.
- Magical canine spermatozoa.
- Ancient Athabaskan magic, Mayan blood rituals, and ancient Norse lycanthropy!
- Día de Muertos night cometh.
- Formulae ueteres exorsismorum et excommunicationum strigas et fictos lupos credere!
*** Just reading and writing and rambling in the back of the Joker's old Ho-Home-On-Wheels... Keath.
GREEN ARROW ANNUAL #1
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
November 24, 2015
Rating:
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
November 24, 2015
Rating:
