In this review of Green Arrow #18, Oliver returns to Star City just in time to investigate a series of murders involving Horton Chemicals.
Green Arrow #18
Writers: Chris Condon
Artists: Montos
Main Cover: Taurin Clarke
Variant Covers: Guillem March
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: November 27, 2024
This Review will contain spoilers
Green Arrow #18 begins in the past as a young boy is playing in a park when he comes across a puddle of what looks like oil. He pokes around it a little before he gets called home and the puddle seems to grow.
TODAY: A jittery crook holds up a corner convenience store much to the owner’s annoyance but gets apprehended by the re-arrived Green Arrow, who drops the pathetic criminal at the steps of the Star City PD before calling it a night and heading home to catch the news. On the tube, Detective Benetiz of the SCPD explains a series of murders committed involving executives of the Horton Chemical company. This information draws Oliver back out on the street to investigate the scene of the latest murder. On the scene he discovers a picture of the victim with a Senator Eustace Foley as well as Oliver himself.
Oliver is taken back to where the picture was taken, a party celebrating the victim’s “humanitarianism” and Oliver’s argument with him over the environmental damage Horton Chemicals is actually responsible for. Back at the scene of the crime Oliver discovers the word “REMEMBER” scrawled in oil. Suddenly he hears someone else enter the room. After a brief kerfuffle GA comes face-to-face with Det. Benitez. The two compare notes and the Detective tells Ollie there has been another murder, none other than the other man in the photograph, Sen. Eustace Foley.
Analysis:
I have really high hopes for this series going forward given how the last run went, and I think the promise is there. Having said that, the promise is not realized in Green Arrow #18. I’m happy to grant some leeway for setting up how you want your story to go but there seems to be a lot of wasted space in this issue. For example, do we really need two pages for Ollie and Benitez to throw flashlights at each other?
I know we were previously introduced (in the annual) to the basic storyline but we are ten pages in before we really touch on it here, and even then everything is kind of vaguely handled. I feel some of this space could be used to better establish Condon’s take on GA. I’m not saying there’s no indication but at this point, the more development the better.
Montos’ art is definitely going to star in this book. I reiterate what I said in a previous review about this being reminiscent of Mike Grell’s work which should excite longtime fans of the Emerald Archer. Drawing an archer is never easy but Montos makes the action look natural and fluid. The characters in the book are also drawn well, but there are only a few.
As far as characterization goes, there isn’t much to tell at this point with Green Arrow #18, although I do like the potential of the GA/Benitez relationship. I only ask that Oliver doesn’t eff it up by sleeping with her, a trait several writers erroneously seem to think makes Oliver more interesting.
All told I think I’ve written myself into not being as disappointed as was initially but I would still like to see more development, a little quicker.
Final Thoughts:
Green Arrow #18 is a beginning that misses the mark but still offers promise. The art is excellent but we’ll need more than that going forward. Hopefully more character and story development are on the way.
