Green Arrow #17 Review
***SPOILER FREE REVIEW***
I can easily say that was the best issue of I've read of the New52 Green Arrow. Admittedly, the competition before this issue was rather mediocre, but it cannot hide one simple fact: The new creative team of Lemire and Sorrentino is something to get very excited about.
This comic reminds me alot of Nightwing #16, which is great, as I greatly enjoyed that issue as well. In the first issue penned by Jeff Lemire, we see Green Arrow's world being drastically altered, creating a magnificent amount of tension and drama in the comic. Lemire does a great job of balancing action, exposition and plot progression, while leaving us with a litany of questions going forward. Luckily, it looks by the solicits of future issues that these questions will be answered, and I can't wait to continue reading. Lemire also does a great job with the dialogue, carefully balancing Green Arrow as being both awesome, as well as emotional and understanding. While the New52 Green Arrow may be more of a blend of Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark than ever before, we also get a more mortal Green Arrow in this issue, which has always been one of the hallmarks of the Green Arrow character.
Some questioned on whether Andrea Sorrentino would be a good fit for a title like Green Arrow. He's been really delivering back when he drew I, Vampire, and his dark, gloomy art with all too-handsome protagonists fit the tone of that comic perfectly. Luckily for us, Sorrentino does a great job here, handling penciling, inking AND coloring duties! Since the tone of this comic is quite dark and morbid, Sorrentino's art fits perfect. Luckily for us, he is fully capable of drawing art that does a great job in telling Lemire's story, as well as bringing energy to the action scenes. My only complaint with this comic, is that a few of the characters look too pretty, much like the characters he drew over in I, Vampire. While it works well for immortal vampires, a few of these characters in this issue look to youthful and handsome/beautiful, similar to characters from I, Vampire. Maybe he should use a different model for reference, lol. I would normally subtract a 1/2 star for that. However, I also add a 1/2 star, as Sorrentino does an huge amount of the work on this issue by handling all the art duties of this issue himself.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue to anyone who is a fan of Green Arrow, wants to read a good Green Arrow story, or is just curious to pick up a new comic. As a fan of Green Arrow myself, it made my day that much more enjoyable knowing that I can fully jump on board and back a Green Arrow comic book again!
