By: Jeff Lemire (story), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)
The Story: I sense great custody battles ahead for Komodo and Shado.
The Review: Speaking as one who has told a lot of lies in his time—never to you, of course (wink!)—I can tell you that lying itself can be a very powerful form of truth-telling. The lies we tell invariably reveal something about ourselves because even as they deflect attention away from things we want to conceal, they also expose things we wish were true, whether you’re saying you’re younger than you really are or recounting college exploits that never happened.
With that in mind, Komodo has been telling his daughter some rather interesting tall tales, inadvertently letting his motivations peek through their chinks. In flashback, we see him telling a younger, less bloodthirsty Emiko, “Your mother’s name was Shado. She was beautiful. She was the love of my life. We were meant to be together forever. Then a very bad man killed her…a bad man named Queen.” I tend to weary of villains driven by love gone wrong, but it comforts me to know that Komodo will be getting his comeuppance soon.
He only has himself to blame, too, because he made the first mistake that all imprudent liars make: he made his lie revolve around too many unpredictable variables, i.e., people. Once chance pushes Emiko into learning that Shado is still alive, Komodo makes his second mistake, reversing course to the other extreme, now painting Shado as a “very dangerous woman” who’ll kill her own daughter for reasons he never explains.
Fragile as Komodo’s fabrications have become, Ollie has little power to tear the whole, fraying thing down. Only Shado can really do that, and he foolishly left her and his dad behind on the island to pursue the Outsiders himself. I say foolish mainly because he has no collateral to convince his half-sister with, not because he’s incapable of taking down the “pure” Outsider clans by himself. After all, it only took three people to bring down the Shields and one sweet trick arrow to knock out the Spears. Kind of makes you think twice about Komodo’s claims of turning the Outsiders into a force “more powerful than any government.”
I suppose that’s really the problem I’ve had with this whole arc. Lemire has given the Outsiders the trappings of greatness, but has largely failed to show them wielding it with any finesse. You’re led to believe that each clan’s devotion to these antiquated weapons somehow bestows upon them special abilities or powers, but in each encounter with our heroes, the clans have proven to be no more than cosplaying thugs. Their place in the DCU is confused even further by Komodo’s plans to gas Europe with sarin and front the Outsiders with his company, making them less cult than corporate terrorists.
Back in Seattle, Diggle and Co. take another step towards confronting Richard Dragon, allying themselves with Billy Tockman for extra support. This plotline is of little consequence at the moment, really, and Lemire shows it by relegating the story to two pages in the whole issue. But it’s still a plotline worth pursuing because it may be the only chance Diggle, Naomi, and Fyff get to find some individual worth instead of just backing up Ollie on as-needs basis.
Sorrentino was a big contender to land on my list of Favorite Things of 2013,* but I can tell you right now that he’s well on his way to getting on the list for 2014. There are plenty of artists who make their titles proud, but few completely redefine the very tone and direction of a comic the way Sorrentino has for Green Arrow. His sub-panels and radical geometrics have become more than just trademark, but incredibly potent tools in his storytelling, achieving effects you usually only get in movies. Likewise, Maiolo’s flat monochromes and color-drained panels are story-enhancing flashes against his well-wearing, almost watercolor palette.
Conclusion: The antagonists fall a bit flat, but Lemire-Sorrentino keep the title barreling forward.
Grade: B
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – And the award for Cheapest Line of Sexual Innuendo goes to Ollie, for his suggest to the Spear Clan to “take your hands off your sticks[.]” Well played, sir.
– Even if Emiko manages to enter the side of the angels, there’s going to be a lot of therapy ahead for her, I’ll wager.
Grade
Conclusion