Quiver with fear
Oliver Queen got the short end of the stick over the course of the reboot. One of the few characters to get a complete overhaul at the end of flashpoint, Green Arrow stopped being the brash, loud-mouthed, swash-buckling commie bastard we knew and loved and instead was made to line up more with his Smallville counterpart, in order to appeal to newer readers I suppose. This left him in a bit of a pickle. Sales actually dropped below pre-52 levels, and terrible reviews and creative team shifts plagued this book at every turn. Let's face it, he was reduced to being Hawkeye. Actually, that's not even accurate anymore thanks to Matt Fraction. He was just a stock hero near devoid of personality.
Enter Jeff Lemire.
While it's obvious from the start that the book is meant to be more in sync with the CW's Arrow (Hell, it's right on the cover), this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Lemire uses just enough to give the book a unique feel, and help create a little pocket to make the character more interesting and separate the title from the pack. The result is a book with a much more interesting vibe than all 16 previous issues, and the story told within this new world is engaging and, in true Lemire fashion, pretty creepy.
The issue also quickly does away with the last 16 issues of continuity. A whole new status quo brushes aside most of the setting and cast but, let's face it, it's no big loss. With that, we get a blank slate to work from, and from there, new possibilities.
The book benefits most from Andrea Sorrentino's distinct and haunting pencils. Lemire, an artist himself, knows how to write with his artist in mind, and as a result each panel effortlessly set mood, tension, action and emotion all at the same time.
This new team pumps life into a title I had thought dead 10 issues ago. Let's make no mistake here, this is a borderline horror book, done by a team with a horror background. I would say at this point it's pretty much certain that we will never get our old Ollie back, but if anything I've said interests you, pick this book up. You won't be disappointed.
