Green Arrow #2 - DC

It seems like this lady who's taken over Queen Industries, really has a hard on for Ollie. Or as she calls him, 'the bastard son'. Ollie's set up camp in the forest. I'm not sure where, but it looks like it's in the subway or sewers that were left behind when all the buildings, and people were destroyed. He's found a tree . . obviously from the cover, with a White Lantern symbol on it. He doesn't know what it means, but he assumes that's where the power came from to turn this desolation into a forest over night. It's also probably what's putting a stop to anything electrical or technologically based within it's borders. Including Hal's ring, when he comes to visit. But the men, the private security, that Queen industries keeps sending in to kill Ollie have adapted. But Ollie's got a couple of advantages on his side. First he's used to working, and living, in this type of surrounding. Secondly, there's something about the forest that turns a person around when they're trying to navigate through it. And finally . . Hal's come to visit. His ring isn't working, but . . he's still a pretty good hand-to-hand combatant. And when the first wave's back-up arrives, Ollie slingshots him out of the forest so that he can help out from above. But eventually Ollie's going to have to face this woman who's taken over his father's company. Although if you ask me she seems more infatuated with Robert Queen than necessarily his company. Anyways, it's going to be hard for him to talk to anyone, because . . at the end of the book someone appears to have used Ollie's tricks against him. The issue ends with the secretive assailant planting an arrow straight in the center of Ollie's forehead. Kind of like he did to Prometheus. I'm wondering if the forest, or whatever power is behind it, will come to his aid. We see a guy on the second page, whom also seems to have made the forest his home. I'm guessing it's him, but . . we don't know anything about him. Yet. Anyways, I thought it was a good issue. It gave us a little more of the semantics of what's going on here. And I think JT Krul and Vicente Cifuentes are doing a great job creatively. Of course I have to praise Mauro Cascioli beautiful covers. They're a work of art.

Justice League: the Rise of Arsenal #4 - DC

Well . . it looks like Roy is going to turn over to the dark side. I don't necessarily mean that he's going to be a 'bad-guy'. I don't think he has that in him. But . . he is definitely going to be more like Ollie . . or even more like Deathstoke, and use extreme violence in his vigilante activities. The loss of his arm, and his daughter, are just to much for him to bear. And he's turned back to drugs. In his fever dreams he hears his daughter, Lian, screaming for vengeance. Vengeance against the man who did this to her . . the Electrocutioner. So he breaks out of rehab and heads to Star City Penitentiary, where Lester is being held. The guards let Ollie out, hoping that he can help with this debacle. But . . all he can do is try to reason with Roy. And right now . . he's just not listening. In the end he ends up killing Lester in a cell, and then proceeds to destroy the rest of his life . . burning down the house that he and Lian called home. And this is just the beginning of his story. From here he decides to join the Titans. Not the Teen Titans. But Deathstroke's Titans . . Villains for Hire. It looks like he's headed down a pretty dark path. This story is by JT Krul, with art by Geraldo Borges, Kevin Sharpe and Fabio Jansen. I thought it was a great series, showing Red Arrows fall from grace. But now he truly will be Arsenal. Using anything he can get his hands on as a weapon. I can't wait to see what happens next. This should be interesting.

Green Arrow #1 - DC

I've eagerly anticipated this series. Especially with all the recent developments in Ollie's / Green Arrow's life. However, I've been around this block before. I looked forward to the last series when it came out, and . . the one before that, and . . the one before that. So, while I think they're making some good changes for Ollie . . I'm also apprehensive because . . well, it's been tried before. But nothing seems to stick. Not even getting married. And honestly, I'm really not trying to be negative. I love this character. I have ever since he teamed up with Hal, in that classic run with Neal Adams. I want this book to do good. I really do! Anyways, I think we're off to a good start with this one. To begin with, we have some fantastic artists lined up. Mauro Cascioli does the amazing cover on the left here, with Ethan Van Sciver doing the variant. I noticed on Ethan's variant the little blue butterfly under Ollie's arm. It's kind of glowing. I wonder if that's some sign of the Blue Lanterns? We already know that this forest in Star City is a product of the White Lantern, so . . who's to say there's not more ties to those powers. On top of the 2 beautiful covers, we have Diogenes Neves doing the interior art. I think he gave the book a really cool, dark look. Plus . . he draws some great action sequences. And finally, from his recent stint on Titans, and Teen Titans . . JT Krul will be scripting the stories. JT hasn't really been around that long, but . . I think he's come a long way in a short period of time. Plus . . I think he'll bring a fresh perspective. This issue basically introduces us to the new landscape of Star City . . literally. Green Arrow has taken to protecting the citizens of Star City, and hiding, in the lush landscape of this curious garden. We start out with him saving a young woman from an attempted mugging. And then they walk the forest, looking at the city through the trees. But there's some strange stuff going on here. There's one tree in particular with a White Lantern symbol on it. Plus, when Hal comes to talk to Ollie, he finds that his ring doesn't operate here. On top of that, it appears that Queen Industries will be playing a big part in this story. Ollie has lost control of his company, as it's been taken over by a European interest, in the form of Isabel Rochev . .' . major player in the Soviet private sector. Very shrewd reputation. Word is she's rather . . eccentric.' She also knows the history of Queen Industries, and it's family. Particularly Ollie's father, Patrick Queen. But, we don't know what her ties or interests are . . yet. And, there appears to be another vigilante running around this city. They start out by killing Nudocerda, the corrupt Chief of Police. Which sends the Mayor Altman, his equally corrupt counter-part, into a tailspin, and . . straight into the arms of Isabel Rochev for protection. I like the approach that JT is taking with Star City, and it's citizens. The Mayor and Police are telling everyone that Green Arrow is a vigilante and a criminal. They keep pushing this message over and over again. They're basically trying to program them against their familiar hero. But . . the people of Star City are behind Ollie. They know who he is, and they know what he's done for this city. No matter how much they're told otherwise. But they have to be careful. I think they fear they may be arrested if they're found to be in collusion. So they seem to do obscure little things . . tiny little secrets, to help him out. And, it seems like Ollie's become more of a 'Robin-Hood' than a vigilante. Especially with everyone still trying to recover from all of this recent devastation. Anyways, I think we're shown some interesting aspects in this first issue. Like I said . . I have high hopes for this series. The reality remains to be proven, but . . I still have high hopes.

Justice League: the Rise of Arsenal #3 - DC

I really enjoy reading about the ups & downs that JT Krul is taking Roy through here. Last issue ended with him facing off against Cheshire . . Jade. Obviously she's a villain, but Roy's always had an odd relationship with her. They did have Lian together, afterall. Which is why she's here . . she wants to punish Roy. But after they trade jabs and banter, I think she realizes that Roy did everything he could for her. He was a good father. Lian was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus, I think Jade realizes that she's probably just as much to blame. It's not like she was any kind of mother to Lian. And, as usual, they end up in the sack . . consoling one another. Afterwards, Roy hits the streets with a vengeance. But when he busts up a deal going down in an alley . . instead of taking the dealer in . . 'I'm looking to score. Got any China Cat? Heroin. I'll take it. I'll take it all.' We then see him going through the usual fever dreams, until Dick and Dinah show up to force him into rehab. Well . . sort of. They put him in Virgil House. They specialize in convicted villains with substance abuse. They figure it's the best place for him right now. The problem is . . before he was talking to Corey . . the ghost of an old user he used to hang with. Now? Now he seems to be talking to the ghost of Lian. They're only visions, but . . he could treat Corey bad and tell him to shut-up. How's he going to bring himself to do that with Lian? Next issue is the final of this series, so . . it should be an emotional roller-coaster. I really think JT is doing a good job here. The art is provided by Geraldo Borges, Kevin Sharpe and Sergio Arino. Also, beautiful cover by Greg Horn. This series is definitely a classic in the making. And, I think . . the redefining of Roy as a hero. He can't be in Ollie's shadow anymore. He needs to be his own person. For himself, and for those around him.

Justice League: the Rise of Arsenal #2 - DC

I really feel sorry for Roy. Not only did he have to live through the recent experiences and loses in his life, but now . . now he's dreaming about them on regular basis also. And he seems to be getting closer and closer to stepping over that precipice with the drugs again. I assume he's doing some pain-killers right now. Which is understandable, but . . he's starting to abuse them, also. I could totally see his point when he's going off on Ollie. 'Getting back at Prometheus was the only thing I had left anymore. He took my arm. He took Lian. But you took my revenge from me, Ollie.' Some might think he was a little rough on Ollie, but . . I think Ollie needed to hear it. I think somewhere along the line, someone needs to stop and ask Roy what he wants. Rather than everybody trying to 'fix' him and 'help' him, they need to take a step back . . talk to Roy, letting him vent, and just listen. Let him work through his emotions. Let him work through his feelings. And let him get to the core of what it is he wants, or where he wants to go from here. Everybody can prod him, and poke him, and push him all they want. But there's not going to be a change made . . or a course set in motion, unless Roy decides to do it. It has to be his idea, and his desire. Hell, he's trying out the new arm that Vic made for him and he's getting mad because he doesn't seem to have the same natural ability that he once had with it. But he doesn't even pay attention, when he throws a piece of the bow, after he breaks it, and it's a bulls-eye. I'm thinking that he needs to quit trying to follow in Ollie's footsteps and go back to being Arsenal again. A man that can use any sharp object as a deadly weapon. But first he has to stop wallowing in all of this self-pity and let somebody in. He's surrounded by about a hundred friends, family or team-mates, but . . he's never felt more alone in his whole life. Really, the only time I felt sorry for someone other than Roy was when he was going off on Mia. He also gets a visit from Cheshire this issue, who's pissed. She's mad at Roy because he was supposed to take care of their daughter. 'What're you going to do . . cry about your arm? Your going to lose much more than your arm. Much more!' I thought JT Krul wrote a very raw, emotional story here. And Geraldo Borges' art was great. If you aren't reading this one, you'll definitely want to check out the TPB when it comes out. This should be a great story.

Green Arrow #32 - DC

First of all . . this is an amazing cover by Mauro Cascioli. He's got more coming up too, so . . prepare to be 'Wowed!'. Next . . I thought this was a great story by JT Krul. I didn't think that it had the emotional depth that I was expecting . . the scenes between Ollie and Dinah seemed a little dry. I expected them to be much more moving. But . . I did like the way that the ramifications of Ollie's actions were handled. Ollie gives himself up for the murder of Prometheus. And Police Chief Nudocerda is more than ready to drag Ollie's name through the mud. The problem is . . no matter how much pull, or clout that Nudocerda thinks he has . . Ollie is still an icon to this city. Both as Green Arrow and as philanthropist Oliver Queen. I expected Ollie to have to fulfill some kind of sentence, but the jury finds him not guilty. I think they sympathized with the reasons for his actions more that just the actions themselves. They let him off. But the judge isn't so kind. 'You may be a free man, Oliver Queen. But from this day forward you are hereby exiled from Star City. You step even a foot back inside . . either as Oliver Queen or Green Arrow . . you will be incarcerated for as long as I can put you there.' But Ollie isn't really a free man. Not in the truest sense. He's already got the burden of his guilt hanging on his shoulders. Plus he's been shunned by both Connor and Dinah. In fact Dinah gave him his ring back. And he's pulling himself away from Mia. 'I'm a great teacher when it comes to the bow and arrow. But I'm not much of a role model.' The issue ends with him walking out of Star City . . a devastated, corrupt Star City. He's got to be asking himself, 'Is this place really any better off for me having been here?' This is the final issue of this series, but Ollie will be back in his own book in another month or so. I have to say, despite the all the bad things that have happened, I like the turn that this character has taken. I think that the road he's been cast upon is much more true to the character of both Ollie and the Green Arrow. And it'll make things a lot more interesting in future issues. Federico Dallocchio does the art for this issue. It looked pretty good. I can't wait to see what happens to Ollie next.

Justice League: the Rise of Arsenal #1 - DC

I have to say . . this is one of those instances where I like the regular cover by Greg Horn more than the expensive variant cover by Mike Mayhew. Unfortunately . . that happens every now and then. Anyways . . this was a very moving issue. First we see Roy the day before his fight with Prometheus. He's at the satellite talking to Lian over the com-link. And then . . we finally get to see just what went down between Roy and Prometheus. In Cry for Justice we saw the after-affects of that battle. But we didn't see what actually happened. Probably because if we had we'd have known that Freddy was actually Prometheus. Anyways, a couple of days later, Roy finally comes out of it to find that his arm is gone. Vic is already making plans to manufacture a cybernetic one for him, but . . whatever it was that Prometheus cut off his arm with, it infected him with some type of nanomite . . a flesh eating bacteria. And then . . shortly after that . . he finds out about Lian. It's really almost more than he can take. This part of the story happens before Ollie goes off and kills Prometheus. I'm thinking that seeing Roy in so much pain and anguish . . it's probably what set Ollie off on that course of events. And then . . on top of all of this . . don't forget that at one point in his life Roy was a drug addict. Well . . right now they're pumping him full of Morphine, and who knows what else. So it looks like he may be facing that monkey again. Right now he's seeing it in his head as his pal Corey. He's one of the guys that he used to get high with during that low point in his life. But he knows that Corey is dead, so he knows that this is all probably just some drug addled dream. But then after seeing Lian's body . . and finding looters in his house, he starts pulling himself further away from his friends and family. Plus he's started taking pain-killers to dull his pain . . both physically and emotionally. I have a feeling that battling this demon will probably be worse than anything he faced with Prometheus. This is the beginning of a 4 issue series, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's by JT Krul and Geraldo Borges. I assume that Geraldo is pretty new to the scene. But I have to say his style and pencils really show a lot of promise. I can't wait to get further into this story.

Green Arrow #31 - DC

I gotta say . . I like Ollie with this little bit of a harder edge to him. I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with him killing Prometheus, but . . we have yet to see if that's really going to 'stick' or not. Actually, the only thing I don't like about his little crusade here is the way he's shutting Dinah out. She's never really agreed with his politics, but . . you'd think she's have a little more compassion or understanding for what he's going through. Obviously she doesn't think that he did the right thing, but she could at least sit down and talk to him and listen to what's going through his head. As much as he's upset about what's happened to Star City, I really think he's only using that as an excuse. What he's really upset about is Lian and Roy. He's upset that he wasn't there when Lian was crushed, and with Roy there's nothing he can do but wait. He has to wait for him to pull himself out of this. And the one person he does have on his side, Mia . . well I'm sure she blames herself just as much for what happened to Lian as Ollie. So at the end of this issue when they capture the Electocutioner, and Mia asks for Ollie to let her kill him . . I think she really means it. This girl's had a pretty tough life. And now she has the means, and the excuse, to even the tables a little bit . . to enact a bit of retribution. The question is . . is Ollie going to let her go down the same path he's traveling? I'm betting . . no! Even though he's crossed the line . . I think he still knows not only right and wrong, but that it's not to late for Mia to make her own choice . . a better choice. I think this is already shaping up to be a fantastic story-line. JT Krul did a great job with this issue. He really brought out a lot of Ollie's emotions and frustration. And I thought Federico Dallocchio did a superb job with the art. And lets not forget Mauro Cascioli and Mike Mayhew's covers. This is one that you just can't miss. If you haven't already bought it . . get out there and find a copy. You won't be sorry.

Justice League - the Rise and Fall Special #1 - DC

This issue picks up directly after Cry For Justice #7. In it Star City has been destroyed. With thousand's of lives being lost. That alone is enough to drive Ollie over the edge. But . . in the process of all of this . . Prometheus permanently maimed Ollie's son, Roy by removing his arm. And, in the wreckage of the city, Lian was also lost . . crushed under the falling buildings. Losing his grand-daughter like that was just too much for him to take. So, at the end of Cry For Justice, he took it upon himself to go to Prometheus' hideout, and . . shoot him in the head. However, nobody else knows that yet . . except for Ollie. So he goes back to the real world and begins looking for the second guy responsible for all this carnage, the Electrocutioner. He's the one that put Prometheus' device in place and activated it. So in Ollie's eyes, he's every bit as responsible for what happened as Prometheus. I like the line Ollie uses when he's talking about Prometheus. 'Prometheus' specialty had always been an uncanny knowledge of his opponents . . he studied our abilities, skills and tendencies. He took into account my proficiency with the bow. He was well aware of my hand-to-hand combat training. But Prometheus never grasped that vital piece of information. He never knew that at my core, I wasn't a hero. I was a hunter.' And that line right there really summed it up, for me, as to just how cold Ollie had become. Anyways, he finds the Electrocutioner, but then loses him because he and Dinah have a fight over motives and means. And that's when Hal and Barry return from Prometheus' hideout with his body. Shade ended up taking them there when they asked him to help them find Prometheus. But the interesting thing is, Shade says that they are the second people that he's brought there. Is he talking about Ollie? Or someone else? And, since Ollie left him there, it appears that someone has taken off with Prometheus' helmet. That was the source of all of his knowledge. With it, someone else may be preparing to attack the JLA. Anyways, Ollie grabs Prometheus' key off his dead body . . it's the way that he transports himself, and says that he's not done until he finds the Electrocutioner. So . . next week in Green Arrow #31 . . not only is Ollie hunting down the Electrocutioner, but the JLA will also be hunting him. This was a fantastic issue, with an incredible story by JT Krul. The art was shared by Mike Mayhew, Diogenes Neves and Fabrizio Fiorentino. If this is what the rest of the Rise and Fall of Green Arrow is going to be like . . we're in for a heck of a ride.

Green Arrow #30 - DC

First of all, we find out that with this issue this title will revert back to a solo book. From now on this is just going to be Green Arrow's book. I'm sure we'll see Dinah, but . . Ollie's got a pretty rough journey ahead of him . . between the events here, what's happened in Cry For Justice, plus we don't know yet what's going to happen when he makes his final stand in Justice League #43. But all in all . . he's got a lot of hurdles to overcome. Anyways, we saw in Blackest Night #5 & #6 that Nekron was responsible for all the heroes that have died and returned in recent years. He was giving them a second chance so that he could call on them whenever he needed to. And in #6 he made them all bearers of the Black Rings . . including Ollie. Now this issue is the fight that he then has with Dinah, and the rest of his clan, as he's fighting the inner struggle against himself. He can see and hear what his body is doing, but . . he doesn't have any control over the actions. In fact, the more he thinks about Dinah, Conner and Mia as he's fighting them, the more ammunition the Black Lantern Green Arrow has to verbally throw at them. And the Black Lantern Green Arrow tears them apart from the inside out. The problem is, he doesn't look dead like the rest of the Black Lanterns who've returned from corpses. But that doesn't mean that he can't rebuild himself every time he's hit by one of his brethren's arrows. Finally, as he's chasing the 3 of them down, he exerts enough influence to alter the trajectory of one of his arrows. Instead of hitting Dinah, whom it was aimed for, he diverts it enough to hit the hose on a nearby liquid nitrogen tank. Dinah quickly comes up with the plan, and Conner uses it to freeze him in place. Dinah knows that Ollie had to have exerted the influence to effect the arrow. 'Ollie's really something. Even dead, he saved us.' And then they turn around and see the rest of the Black Lanterns. 'Yeah . . but, for how long?' I thought JT Krul did a great job with the story here. The interaction between Black Lantern Ollie and Dinah, Mia and Conner was terrific. You could just feel him tugging at their hearts with every word that he muttered. Also Diogenes Neves did a fantastic job with the art. As you can see, we get 2 terrific covers this month. One by Greg Horn, the other by Mike Grell. This was a great issue, and I can't wait to see what happens next. Unfortunately . . there's only 2 more issues listed for this book . . #31 & #32. It doesn't say that #32 is the final issue, but . . there's nothing listed for May. Please . . say it isn't so!

Green Arrow and Black Canary #29 - DC

This issue uses all 30 of it's pages of story and art to wrap up this Cupid storyline. Finally! Or do they? First of all, last issue in her rampage, she's created a whole new villain, I think, with Lt. Hilton. When Cupid came across him last issue, she tried to kill him by sticking a knife in the back of his head. But . . he survived. The doctor doesn't know how, but . . he did. But there's an even bigger problem. 'Brain injury like this can result in massive personality disorders . . memory loss . . cognitive dysfunction . . he may not still be the man you knew.' And . . by the end of the issue, he's really not. He may turn out to be an even bigger problem than Cupid was. Anyways, this doctor comes to town from the group that did this to Carrie Cutter. He was part of the group that trained her, and pharmaceutically enhanced her. But it was the trauma of her last mission that sent her over the edge and created the Cupid persona. It appears that he's brought some kind of serum with him that he thinks can cure her. Anyways, long story short, she tries to take out Dinah, but Ollie saves the day when he shoots Carrie with an arrow that's been soaked in this solution. She goes back to normal . . as far as we can tell, and Ollie and Dinah decide to have the honeymoon that they've never been able to slow down long enough to enjoy. The problem now? They're being heralded by Hal to teleport themselves to the JLA satellite. I assume that this story takes place immediately before Cry for Justice. At least that's how it seems chronologically to me. I thought it was a great issue. I had my reservations about Andrew Kreisberg when he took over the scripts on this book. But now that he's been here for little while . . I think he doing a tremendous job. All these issues that he's done have really been fun, and entertaining. Well . . maybe not to Ollie and Dinah, but . . certainly to us, the readers. Plus Mike Norton and Bill Sienkiewicz have made a fantastic art team. Each of their work seems to compliment the other's very well. I've been with Green Arrow a long time, but . . I think right now is probably my favorite in quite a while. And with everything coming down after Cry for Justice . . I think this is only going to get better.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #28 - DC

Last issue we learned a little about Cupid's back-story. But this issue, Ollie, Dinah and Mia hear it . . right from the horses mouth. First they have to get through their fight with Cupid and Dark Arrow. They've confronted them on top of a building at the same time as Cupid is targeted by her former life . . Cobalt. Meanwhile, downstairs, Lt Hilton has the building and the entire area surrounded by police, hopefully to prevent thier escape. Anyways, this Cobalt is some super-secret organization that's tasked with protecting the United States from enemies without and within. Cupid, Carrie, was an operative for this group. One of thier best, actually. But then on a mission in Georgia, Russia, she saw a lot of collateral damage from one of their missions. And in that damage was a whole lot of kids. This started her descent. Seeing what she was going through, her bosses decided to try an experimental drug on her. Basically, the drug was supposed to ' . . make the unpalatable palatable again.' Honestly, her superior, Ross, was trying to help. The problem came in the side effects. It increased adrenaline response and aggression . . it induced memory loss, 'She had no idea who she was anymore.' . . and it had an impact on the Ventral Tegmental Area of the brain. 'MRI studies done on people newly in love show their VTA's lit up like Christmas trees. The ATE compound heightened the effect. Big time!' She disappeared shortly after that. However, when she resurfaced, and seemed to have a deep obsession with Green Arrow . . they quickly resurrected Hannibal Bates, Everyman, and locked him into his last identity, Green Arrow. This was their way of drawing Carrie out into the open. Although, I don't know why they couldn't just follow the 'real' Green Arrow. That's when Ollie puts the rest of the pieces together and remembers that he had shot her husband through the apartment wall. That's when Carrie became so obsessed with him. Anyways, they learn all of this after Carrie and Bates escape again . . from one of the Cobalt agents. But on thier way out to find her, they discovered that she may have killed Lt Hilton in the process. The issue ends with them standing over his bloodied body. I think Andrew Kreisberg has been doing a fantastic job with this book. I love the way that he's been using the back-up story to enhance, or perpetuate the main story of the book. This time he uses it for the agent to tell the story about Carrie. I think it's brilliant. If you get the 8 extra pages, why not use them? I also think he's doing a great job at giving us the insight into what makes all of these characters tick. I also love the look of the art with Bill Sienkiewicz doing the finishes over Mike Norton's layouts. It looks fantastic. Renato Guedes does the art for the back-up story. Overall, I really love the look and feel of this book right now. The only bad news is, it looks like this story is going to get wrapped up next issue. Which will lead us into the Green Arrow Blackest Night story in issue #30. Right now . . it's 'Top Secret'. But then we get a new creative team, and direction, starting with issue #31. JT Krul will be taking over the scripts. With a couple of different artists on the first couple issues. It should be interesting.

Green Arrow / Black Canary #27 - DC

Well . . it seems that the Everyman Green Arrow and Cupid are flitting about town like a couple of love-sick teenagers. Well . . Cupid is in love. Everyman has become a victim of his own emotions as Cupid has injected him with some special type of love-potion or something. Anyways, they're going around busting up crimes and criminals, but . . then they're attacking, or even killing the victims themselves. They're kind of stuck in a psycho Robin Hood type scenerio. But they protect the rich, kill the poor, and then . . they steal from the rich and kill them too. I think they read a different story than I did. Anyways, Mia and Ollie and Dinah are out trying to clean up their mess. But Star City has an awful lot of crime going on, so . . they've been rather busy themselves. Well . . that and, Ollie and Dinah are getting reacquainted every chance they get. 'All right, already. Get a room. Or at least get your own rooftop.' But the main purpose of this story is to give us a little background on Cupid. She wasn't always insane. She used to work for some type of special black-ops team, Cobalt. Two years ago they were in Russia trying to take down an arms dealer, when she found herself face to face with him. She had him dead to rights, but . . he had a cache of landmines stashed in the basement of a local hospital. If she shot him he would blow them up. However the leader of her group wanted her to complete her mission . . no matter what. The choice was taken out of her hands when the arms dealer tried to shoot her and she had to defend herself. He dropped the trigger and the whole hospital went up. That's apparently when she had her breakdown . . standing among the rubble and bodies. Andrew Kreisberg is doing a great job with this story. I love what he's putting these characters through, and the relationships he's developing. Yeah they're all going through a lot, but . . adversity makes you stronger. Right? I love Mike Norton's art with Bill Sienkiewicz finishing it. It looks fantastic. I even enjoyed Renato Guedes' art on Cupid's story. I've always been a Green Arrow fan, but this book is a 'must read' every month. I think, right now . . it's the best it's ever been.

Green Arrow / Black Canary #26 - DC

First of all I want to comment on the art this issue. The opening sequence, a dream of Ollie's where he returns to the island and gets some sage advice from his younger self, is drawn by Mike Norton and Bill Sienkiewicz. It is fabulous. Mike and Bill really work well together. It kind of had the feeling of the Year One mini-series that Jock did the art for, but . . personally, I think it was better. It really looked good. Then on the main story, where Diana and Mia are trying to figure out which Oliver is the real one and which is Hannibal Bates . . aka Everyman, the art is by Renato Guedes. Either this guy is getting better, or . . his work is just growing on me. I wasn't overly thrilled with his work on Superman. The guys got a good eye, and good composition, but . . I just don't like the way it's finished. I guess that's just his style, but . . it's just not one of my favorites. However, I do like his stuff better on this book. I don't know . . maybe it's because of all the action . . maybe because of the fight scenes . . it just catches my eye more. Anyways, Diana obviously figures out who is who . . she just had to look for the scar on his neck where she stabbed him, and now the race is on. Neither Ollie or Diana appreciate being messed with . . although I'm not sure that was Hannibal's intentions. I think that's he's been Ollie for so long that he actually believes it to be true. As their chasing him he's drugged by someone else. I'm guessing that it's Cupid. But we'll have to wait until next issue to find out. Also it appears that there's someone else behind all of this. We see 2 guys talking in the shadows, but we don't really know what their involvement is just yet. I think Andrew Kreisberg is doing a fantastic job here, also. I really like the way he's handling these characters and the adventure he's taking them on. Also, I like the way he's getting creative with the back-up stories. He's got these 8 or 10 extra pages each issue and he's using them to further the story . . explain the parts between the lines . . rather than just do a back-up about, well . . anyone. It think it's very creative. I was worried when the creative change took place here, but . . I actually think the book is stronger now. I'm sorry . . we also get a fantastic Ladronn cover.

Green Arrow / Black Canary #25 - DC

We find out a little bit more about Cupid this issue. It appears that several months ago, the police responded to a call that there was an unusual smell coming from the couple's apartment below theirs. When they arrived they found that the husband had been poisoned. When the DA sees the picture of the wife, and puts it next to Cupid's . . he knows that he's got the same woman. We also see that she's dressing up guys that look like Ollie to try to live out her fantasy of making love to the Green Arrow. Meanwhile, Ollie wakes up in an alley . . dazed, confused and naked. He doesn't know how he got there or anything leading up to this predicament. So he gathers up some clothes and tries to head for home. Of course this is Star City so he passes a burglary along the way and decides that even without his bow, he needs to do something about it. That's when someone from the shadows takes out the criminals. With a bow & arrow. When he finally gets home . . he tries to confuse his follower by travelling through the sewers . . he confronts Dinah, but then the follower shows up again from across the way. As he jumps out of the shadows and into the light, we see that he is also Green Arrow. What the ??? It says for the rest of the story to read the back-up, but that one is mostly about Mia. She's babysitting Lian and as she's telling her bedtime stories, she's relaying stories about Ollie and Dinah. I'm just not quite sure about how all of that relates to the opening story. I like this book, and where Andrew Kreisberg is going with it, but . . I was just a little confused about the connection between the 2 stories here. I love that Bill Sienkiewicz is inking Mike Norton's work. I think they're doing a great job together with the art. Renato Guedes does the art for the back-up. Ok . . sorry . . a little update here. It appears that one of the Green Arrows is the one that stabbed Dinah back on their wedding night . . Everyman. I thought he was dead. I guess I was wrong. But now he seems seriously confused. He really believes that he's Oliver Queen. And the point of the back-up story was to show that Cupid can't tell the difference between them. I'm sorry, but . . I didn't get any of that from the story. It's going to get more confusing next issue. The lead story is about Dinah fighting Cupid and her new partner . . Green Arrow. While in the back-up, Green Arrow joins Dinah in her fight against Cupid and Green Arrow. Huhh?? Apparently this is a 5-part story that's going to run through issue #29. I honestly have no idea what to expect.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #24 - DC

Black Canary and Cupid have teamed up . . kind of. In Big Game's hunt to kill Cupid, they think that he ended up killing Oliver. So Dinah takes it on herself to get Cupid out of police custody, in order to protect her. Well . . that or she's planning on using her as bait to draw out Big Game. Either way . . different methods, same result. However, it isn't long before Big Game is hot on their tail. If fact, it gets so dicey that Mia has to come to their rescue. Seeing the flying arrows, before realizing where they were coming from, actually gives Dinah hope . . hope that Oliver is still ok. So while she's thrilled to see Mia . . she's also a little disappointed that it's not her man. In the back-up story, we see the events that brought Mia back home, and then the fight where Oliver and Dinah kind of break-up. I don't think he wants to leave her, but with her recent concerns, I think he feels that he needs to find himself. 'You said it Dinah, there's something wrong in me. Something empty. You wanted me to hear you , babe. Well, I do. Loud and damn clear. I know I don't have to face it along, except . . I don't know how to do it with you. Love, I have to go . . it's the only way I can come back.' And with that . . he's off on his own . . again! I'm enjoying Andrew Kreisberg's stories. He really seems to have a great handle on these characters. I'm also enjoying Mike Norton's pencils. However, in the back-up, when Bill Sienkiewicz does the finishes . . it looks incredible. Mike and Bill seem to make a pretty good pair together. It's very visually stimulating art. I really can't wait to see where we go from here. And speaking of Andrew . . Fringe came back this week. It's a fantastic show. I'll have to look and see if Andrew is still listed in the writing credits.

Green Arrow / Black Canary #23 - DC

I thought it was interesting that Bill Sienkiewicz was doing the finishes over Mike Norton's pencils, but hey . . whatever will give us more access to Bill's work is just fine with me. Andrew Kreisberg really seems to be finding his groove with this book. He's brought a new character to town . . Big Game. Well, actually . . it's a whole new Game . . Big Game . . you know what I mean. Anyways, what's happened is that when Cupid killed Big Game, his son, from Sengala, decided that he had to come and avenge his father's death. That puts him directly on path with Cupid, and crossing paths with the Green Arrow and Black Canary. That's what this issue is all about, really . . setting up the story. We learn who this new Big Game character is, and the extent of his abilities. We also see Cupid, who is in jail getting counseling, is just as delusional as she's ever been. Big Game goes to her apartment first, which is now occupied by some else. He ends up paying the price for his guilt by association. When Ollie comes to the scene, sees his arrow hole in the wall, and realizes where he's at . . he begins to put the pieces together. He ends up arriving at the prison shortly before Big Game does. Luckily he calls in Dinah, who takes off with Cupid and sets up the big fight scene for next issue between Ollie and Big Game. In the back-up Dinah is taking out her aggression, and frustration on some low-lifes in Star City. Ted stops by to talk to her and give her an ear. He knows that she's feeling responsible for Discord, and the 22 people he killed during his assault on the city. But Ted assures her . ."A crazy burrito was already defrosting in the guy's microwave by the time you came along. You made a mistake. Get over it. Move on. Move forward. And do better next time." Shortly after she's called for assistance by Ollie. That's an awkward conversation. Anyways, I think Andrew is really getting a good handle on these characters. He's got them acting true to nature and is presenting a compelling story about them coming to terms with their differences. Not to mention a great cover by Ladronn.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #22 - DC

I thought for sure this would be the kid that Dinah injured when she was a kid, but it wasn't. It was someone else she injured . . on another case. From what I understand, she was using her Canary Cry and it blasted through the wall and hit an innocent guy. A guy who just happened to be a violinist. Sean Sonus was a violinist with the Star City Orchestra. He had a bright future ahead of him as a kid. He was very smart and his father wanted him to go to engineering school. But Sean was in love with music so he chose it instead. That is until a couple of months ago when Dinah took him out . . by accident. So now he calls himself Discord, and he's invented this sonic gun that disrupts sound . . as well as a helmet of sorts that he wears that allows him to hear. He has a younger brother who thinks Sean is a genius . . "What you've created . . I always knew you were a genius, but . . this could revolutionize the world for the hearing impaired. Deafness could be cured. You still clearly have a gift to give." But he quickly finds out that Sean is filled with hatred right now. Hatred for what the world, and Black Canary have done to him. So much hatred, that he can't let his brother stand in his way . . and kills him. Of course Dinah ends up taking him down, but . . it doesn't really feel like a victory to her. This is just another person that she's hurt because of her gift. Which I think is the purpose of the flashback sequences. In them, Ted Grant is talking to the young Dinah offering to coach her if needed. It all comes down to the final thing he says to her . . "Come and find me when your ready. Until then, do me a favor and . . try not to hurt anybody." Pretty prophetic words from a guy who's more than a little punch-drunk. In the back-up story we see how Ollie got on with Cupid. When the sound came back they hear a woman screaming for help. While they were all deaf, this woman started to freak out. Her boyfriend thought she was over reacting and got pissed off . . so he stabbed her. Cupid's ready to kill him for what he did, and Ollie is standing back and watching. He would've stopped her, but before he could the police come busting in. Lt. Hilton was concerned about Ollie's apathy, so he calls Dinah later. This just further proves that she's right to be worried about him. So far, I like what Andrew Kreisberg is doing with this series. He had 3 different parts going on in the main story, but in the end you see how they're all connected. Mike Norton does the pencils on the main story and the back-up, but in the back-up . . Bill Sienkiewicz does his inks. It looks fantastic. This just shows how changing the inker can really change the finished look of an artist's page. Also, another fantastic cover by Landronn.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #21 - DC

Ollie's going to be in some serious trouble with Dinah when she finds out about his recent escapades around town . . with Cupid. Aye-yi-yi! They used to talk about how the 'heroes' in the DC Universe were 'trouble magnets'. Well, Ollie's the prime example of that. But with the women . . not just trouble in general. If I had to choose, I think I'd just go for being in trouble. Why does he have to complicate everything with all these women? Maybe he really does have a death-wish. Anyways, he's running around town trying to help out wherever he can . . remember last issue all sound went . . well, soundless. So when nobody could hear anything, the whole city panicked and chaos ensued. Cupid is tagging along with him, but I really think he's just trying to keep an eye on her so she doesn't make matters worse. Dinah is the one that keeps the level head and goes to the University to see if there's a professor or something that can help her counter-act what's going on. It turns out that someone is basically sending out a modulation wave that's cancelling out all other noise. She gets a detector and figures out that the guy who is doing this is on top of one of the tallest buildings. When she gets up there, I think he's surprised that she figured things out so fast, but I also think that he was expecting her . . or wanting her. She's been having these flashbacks of when she was a kid and her powers first manifested. They accidentally went off near a friend of hers and he lost his hearing. I'm thinking, that kid is connected to this guy. They don't tell us so in this issue, but . . we'll see. The issue ends with him blowing up the top of the building, with he and Dinah still up there. I wasn't sure about Andrew Kreisberg's work when he first took over this series, but . . now that he's settled into his groove, I think he's doing a fantastic job. He hasn't broken up Dinah and Ollie yet, but . . he's definitely testing their relationship. Which I think is good. Mike Norton is the penciller of this series.

Green Arrow vs. Black Canary #20 - DC

Dinah and Ollie are still trying to figure out their relationship. They love each other, obviously. But, Dinah is worried that Ollie has been even more erratic and cynical lately . . more than normal, anyways. I think she fears he may be even getting a 'death-wish' going. He has seemed rather 'dark' lately. So, to that end, they've decided to try couples counseling. The doctor is a little uncomfortable though, because they have to come in their work clothes. They tried to do it discreetly, but . . they had a hard time talking, being honest, but still maintaining their cover. Anyways, during the middle of their session the whole town is blanketed in silence. Ollie surmises that everyone has become deaf. And now . . now the whole town is in chaos. Ollie and Dinah go out to try to help, but . . it may be even bigger than the 2 of them can handle. Not surprisingly, they split up, to cover more ground and Ollie runs in to Cupid. I don't think he's thrilled to see her, but at the same time he appreciates the back-up. Sometimes you just have to get it where you can. Because of the therapy sessions, we also get a little background into Dinah. We see her about the time that her powers started to manifest, and were getting a little insight into her relationship with her mother. I'm not sure how that's all related to this story, but . . it should all become apparent as the story progresses. The story ends with the town in chaos, and our heroes running around like chickens with their heads cut off. On the final page we see the perpetrator of this chaos. I'm not sure who he is, but we'll probably find out more next issue. I'm really enjoying Andrew Kreisberg's stories here. I think he's doing a great job so far. I would like to see Conner and Mia back in the picture, but . . maybe down the road. Mike Norton is the penciller. Oh yeah, we also see the Shield pop up this issue. He's one of the characters from the Archie super-hero line. He's only in one panel, but . . it's his first DC appearance.