New comics, Grell Green Arrow

New comics!  I’m stretching these out, just a few left until shipping opens up after humanity gets a handle on COVID.

Punisher: Soviet 6

Frank predictably wraps things out in his own style.  He makes the rare exception of leaving his target alive, but the punishment is very likely worse than his tried and true executions.  Not Garth Ennis’ strongest work, but I’ll always read his Punisher.

Captain Marvel 16

Lee Garbett’s final issue for now (apparently he’s returning in the future, and that’s when I’ll pick this back up).  This arc by Kelly Thompson is an extended fight scene with some sweet character moments, which is all I really wanted on top of the gorgeous art.  Happy I picked it up.

Puke.  On.  Mjolnir.  Epic writing.

Over in DC Box 3, in the land of Green Arrow, I’m starting what will be a long, long run of Mike Grell-written issues.  I’m anticipating an extended string of Nice ratings, let’s see if my memory holds.

Shado 1-4

Well, so far, so true - I remembered decent stories with sketchy art and horrible coloring, so that pans out.  Shado remains one of my favorite aspects of Grell’s run, with her top notch design, complicated relationship with Ollie, and insane skill with the bow.  

Regret buying: No 

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Green Arrow: Wonder Year 1-4

Grell’s take on Ollie’s origin.  (Interesting that I keep calling him Ollie, rather than Green Arrow, Oliver, or Queen…)  It’s pretty uninspiring, especially coming off the heels of my reading Diggle/Jock’s version.  This would be an easy cut if I hadn’t spent so many years collecting the full Grell run…

Regret buying: No 

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Green Arrow: Longbow Hunters 1-3

Here we go, with the main course.  Mike Grell starts his post-Crisis reboot of Green Arrow.  Some things that stand out:

This is a mature readers book.  There’s a street-level grittiness that’s similar to Daredevil over at Marvel, but Grell goes a little bit further with the sex and violence.  Dinah’s torture scene is particularly brutal for a major character in a mainstream comic, I don’t think DC would go for something like that today.

Grell’s art oscillates between gorgeous stuff you rarely see on the comic page and the more generic stuff I mentioned earlier.  Perhaps the time needed to complete the former resulted in the latter. I’m okay with that trade off, it’s not like the less spectacular panels suck either.

Look at that portrait!

Grell loves throwing in a portrait to accentuate something profound.

Those eyes!  Also love the difference in their bow drawing styles.

Love love love that character design.

Who else would think to pause the action for a full blown landscape?

I take it back - His regular panels are pretty darn good too.

A nice start, I also like how Grell brings a lot of nuance to Ollie and Dinah’s relationship.  A partnership of equals, Ollie’s rescue of Dinah notwithstanding.

Regret buying: No 

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice