I Was Looking Forward to This One Too
In the Flashpoint universe, Oliver Queen becomes exactly what he would have hated, a leading figure in the military industrial complex. It is easily one of the better premises in Flashpoint but only given a single issue to explore. Because of this, a great premise is turned into a rushed, less than compelling story that did not get the time and effort it deserved.
The story is pretty basic. Oliver Queen's military R&D facility is attacked by terrorists while he's unveiling a new weapons system, and some name-dropping and deaths ensue. It would be nice if I could say Pornsak Pichetshote makes the most out of telling this simple story in one issue, but that isn't true. If a lot of creative effort went into this story, it is hard to see where it went.
The characterization of Ollie is very bland and disappointing. If you are curious what it would be like to have someone as snarky and belligerent as Ollie as a right-wing military fatcat, this will not even acknowledge your curiosity. The character here is almost unrecognizable as Ollie. As another review points out, he really is written more like a Tony Stark from the first Iron Man movie but without the charm and wit. Roy Harper is also present and nearly as unrecognizable. He is rather blatantly portrayed as more like the Ollie we are used to, but it is done so blandly and overtly that all life is sucked out of it.
The action in this issue is fairly awful. It centers on Ollie going into action, which is is not accustomed to, and having to improvise with weaponry he hasn't really used before. Pichetshote seems to be going for a sequence where Ollie survives via clever improvisation and dumb luck, but instead, it plays out like a series of slapstick hijinks. It also drags on longer than it should only to come to an unsatisfying end.
Drama falls flat throughout the issue, because there simply isn't room in the story to earn these dramatic moments. Character deaths do nothing, because we are barely given a sense of who these characters are in this context and why they matter. The conflict over the unintentional damage Green Arrow Industries has caused carries no weight, because it is all blurted out in exposition.
The art is solid but fails at its main task of portraying Oliver Queen. It is like there is no concept of age. Ollie appears like a man in his twenties, who apparently has kids who also look like they are in their twenties.
Simply put, this needed to be a three-issue series like the other tie-ins. For it to even attempt a story like this, it needed to be more than a oneshot. It is complete editorial mismanagement to have ever even considered trying to do this in a single issue, and everyone involved should have known better. Perhaps if it was planned as a limited series, Pichetshote would have had the time and motivation to put a lot more thought into this story.
Green Arrow Industries is a pointless read whether you are a Flashpoint fan or a Green Arrow fan. If you have read the solicitation and seen the cover, then you have already taken in the best this oneshot has to offer. It is not a terrible book, though. It is okay in its simple and uninspiring way. Beyond the wasted potential of it all, there is nothing particularly ridiculous or offensive about it. It just presents its story in a basic and barebones way, not offering anything of real interest.
