Green Arrow/Black Canary #1 (December, 2007)
"Dead Again, Part One: Here Comes the Bride"
Writer - Judd Winick
Artist - Cliff Chiang
Colors - Trish Mulvihill
Letterer - Pat Brosseau
Assistant Editor - Elizabeth V. Gehrlein
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $3.50
Was so taken in by yesterday's discussion of the Wedding Special, I decided to continue along. Was pretty surprised (and stoked) to learn that I already had this issue in the long boxes!
When last we left the newlyweds... Ollie lost his mind, tried to kill Dinah... only to have Dinah kill him instead! Where do we go from here? Well, let's pop under the hyphens and find out!
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We open with a flashback of Dinah and Ollie checking out each other's butts, for... some reason. We then jump into the present, where Canary is trailing some armored nogoodniks by some docks in New York City... and she's very clearly not screwin' around.
She proceeds to spend the next half-dozen pages beating these goofs within an inch of their lives before being called off by... Green Arrow. Yeah, not that Green Arrow, this is Ollie's son Connor. Dinah thinks to herself that Connor probably had just as bad a month as she has... considering, ya know... Ollie's dead... again.
They chat for a bit. Connor expresses concern with Dinah's "take no prisoners" approach over the last little while. Dinah replies with a passive-aggressive remark and walks away. Later, Connor reports what just happened with Mia Dearden, the new(ish) Speedy. This doesn't come as much of a surprise to Mia...
... because, it's been a month since Ollie's death, and Dinah still hasn't buried the poor guy! Instead, he lay in some sorta iron lung lookin' thing in the basement. Wonder if you need a permit for that? Anyhoo, Dinah's down there... and reliving the events of her wedding night, when she was forced to kill her new husband.
Then, she thinks back to all of the support she's received from the superhero community since his passing. Gotta wonder... is there going to be a police investigation... or are the heroes just hoping to handle this "in house"? Because, I mean, there is a dead body... stands to reason that law enforcement might at least wanna pop their heads in. Anyhoo, for the most part, the community has been supportive. Hell, the Amazons even offer her a place on Themys... Thimes... Timescy... Paradise Island. The flashback is interrupted, however, by the arrival of... Hal Jordan.
He thinks it's high time they held a funeral. Dinah just ain't havin' it. Ya see, she knows in her heart that the man she was forced to kill on her wedding night was, despite all evidence to the contrary, not Oliver Queen.
Then, two-thirds of the Hard Travelin' Heroes run off to a rooftop for a pretty emotional back and forth. Lemme tell ya, I really dig this... and, I really dig the art in this issue, but here... Hal sorta looks like a gorilla. Kinda takes me out of it.
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| JLApe redux! |
Hal tries to reason with Dinah... he wishes she was right, and Ollie's actually not dead. After all, it was Hal Jordan himself who brought Oliver back from the dead the first time around. Unfortunately though, his ring is telling him the dead man is Oliver Queen... and there ain't no arguing with that.
Unless, you're Batman.
Because... of course it's Batman. He doesn't listen to a ring... or even really, his gut. He investigates... and that's what he's been doing for the past month. He sees there's no real pattern here... like, there really should be another shoe waiting to drop... and it just ain't fallen. So, basically... he believes Dinah when she says the fella on the slab ain't Ollie.
This takes us to the Batcave... and it's time for a Bat-Autopsy. Dr. Mid-Nite is along for the ride. They warn Dinah that it's about to get a bit gruesome... as Batman revs a chainsaw.
The fellas get down to business... and wrists deep into Ollie. They remove a few organs, including the precious brain. I'm very glad this is Cliff Chiang and not some hyper-realistic artist, because... I'm trying to drink coffee as I write this.
Everything seems to be in order. This body definitely belongs to Oliver Quee... hey, waitaminute... Dr. Mid-Nite just noticed an odd cell cluster. Not Ollie's DNA, and they're still reactive... so, Mid-Nite decides to put them "to work", injecting them into the cadaver.
And then...
It's Everyman! Who? Oh, just some shapeshifter from the weekly 52 series, no big. Dinah is overjoyed by the news.
She is also wildly impatient... and wants Ollie back right this second. Batman's all... first things first, because they haven't the foggiest of notions where Ollie might be... and/or who might have him.
Batman asks Dinah if anyone had approached her since Ollie's "death", with a strange offer. She thinks back to the Amazons offering her a home on... that island.
And whattaya know... looks like they got Ollie!
We wrap up with the Amazons pointing their spears at him... and him calling them "big bitches" because, mid-2000's Judd Winick.
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Hey! Another really good time!
If you'll allow me to briefly go "off topic"... when I started this blog, it was to celebrate books that I already loved... and discover new (old) books that I'd never gotten around to. What I didn't expect this to become was an opportunity to challenge my preconceptions about certain creators/characters/stories.
Last week we took a look at the Titans crossover, Total Chaos... a story that, up until last week, I would have just said "it sucked". It wasn't until I challenged myself... forcing myself to revisit it (and actually read the whole thing) that I came around to a more well-rounded stance on it. Sure, there were parts that weren't very good... but overall, it deserves far better than a knee-jerk "It stinks!".
I said all of that, so I could say this... if you were to ask me what I thought about Judd Winick three years ago, I'd have given you that same knee-jerk "he stinks!" reply. It's only after forcing myself to read his work with an analytic eye (as analytic as I can be), that my position has changed.
Sure, he's sometimes "sex mad", he uses foul language for absolutely no reason... at times where it adds nothing to the story, his dialogue can be a bit cringy, he does the "soapbox" thing a bit too often... I swear, this is all coming around to a compliment... and, his pet causes sometimes interfere with the overall narrative of the story, but... when he's "on", he's really quite good.
These two issues, while not perfect... and have some of my lesser-liked Winickisms present, were a helluva lot of fun... and overall, highly enjoyable reads. Pair that with some fantastic art from Cliff Chiang (and the Wedding Special's Amanda Conner) and you're looking at a really good time.
So... whatta we got here? Dinah's taking Ollie's "death" really poorly... and taking out her frustrations on any nogoodnik she can get her hands on. The fact that she fully-believes Ollie to not actually be dead might make you wonder why she's still beating the holy hell out of all'a da bad guys... but, I suppose we could chalk that up to frustration and confusion.
I really enjoyed Hal trying to reason with Dinah... and the callback to The Final Night was definitely appreciated. Of course Batman had to hop in and stomp all over Hal's toes... but, considering their contentious relationship during this time, we can probably allow it.
The reveal that it wasn't Ollie all along was... well, c'mon... we knew that was going to be the case. I wasn't around the "comics internet" much back then, so I dunno if this was spoiled ahead of time. I suspect it was, because... everything is... but couldn't say for sure. Not that it really matters now, over a decade removed.
The reveal that Ollie's been captured by the Amazons? If I'm honest, that's a bit of a turn-off. The Amazons, to me, are some of the most boring characters in the DC Universe. Really can't muster a single bit of enthusiasm about reading an Amazon-focused story... so, I probably won't be continuing this one. It doesn't look like I own the second issue anyway... so, even if I wanted to... it would require a hunt.
Overall... despite not being terribly interested in the Amazons... this was a pretty fantastic little chapter. I'd certainly recommend it, and hell... if the Amazons are your thing, you'll probably dig where this is headed! For your convenience, this issue is available digitally.
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Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special #1 (November, 2007)
"And They Said it Wouldn't Last"
Writer - Judd Winick
Artist - Amanda Conner
Colors - Paul Mounts
Letters - Ken Lopez
Assistant Editor - Elizabeth V. Gehrlein
Associate Editor - Tom Palmer, Jr.
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $3.99
Got a really fun one today!
Think we need it after those last couple of Titans books we discussed!
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We open with a quick and dirty look at the Green Arrow/Black Canary relationship through the years. This gives Amanda Conner the opportunity to draw several key moments in Arrow/DC history... and man, it all looks awesome. We go from Hard-Travelin', to Ollie's death, to Birds of Prey, and then some... it's all very good.
We then jump to the present, where Ollie and Dinah are arguing about a recent outing. Ollie's ticked that Dinah used her sonic scream before he fired an arrow, because it messed with his rhythm. This gets pretty heated, and naturally, lest we forget that Judd Winick's name is in the credits, leads to a hot 'n heavy makeout session... and very nearly to a full-on sesh.
That's when Dinah drops the hammer. She suggests, since they're already engaged, that they wait to seal the deal for the skatey-eight hundredth time... until they're married. I think many of us have been here before. Ollie gives in, because... well, we all do... but asks for "one for the road". A few moments later, Ollie's taking a cold shower.
Later, the happy couple start sending out their wedding invites... including one to our pal, Snapper Carr! Poor Snap's kind of a running gag during this issue... wonder if Winick read Hourman? Anyhoo, Ollie's irked that all of their pals will be in "uniform"... which, ya know... is a silly complaint considering the gaggle of folks they're inviting. Speaking of those folks, we get a big ol' page of reaction shots here... annnnd, it's pretty great. Oh, and naturally, Batman declines.
We shift over to a chat between Wonder Woman and Superman... who have also just received their invitations. They have an almost contentious discussion about marrying "in the biz". Diana suggests that they stick to co-mingling with civvies... kinda like Clark did with Lois. Superman, who I gotta say, is in full-on chucklehead mode here, thinks Ollie and Dinah are in it for the long-haul. He's also happy that the hero community has an opportunity to come together for a wedding... instead of a funeral.
Elsewhere, Dr. Sivana chats up Deathstroke... who is sitting on a table in the most adorable way possible. It's like his daddy propped him up there or something. Anyhoo, Sivana stole Snapper Carr's invitation, and suggests all of the baddies get together and spoil the party. Slade gives a hearty thumbs-up.
Next stop, Ollie's bachelor party. Well, kinda. Ya see, Hal's got a whole lotta strippers waiting for the gang in the next room over... but Ollie don't play that.
And so, it looks like Hal just dropped a lotta cash for nothing. Worth noting, however, a lot of these strippers are dressed like female superheroes... so, yeah, this might... I dunno, form some strange associations moving forward. I mean, if Ollie were to, say, get a lap-dance from a stripper dressed like Power Girl... could he look at the real-deal the same way ever again?
The women, on the other hand, are at "The Meat Locker" watching dudes... dressed like superheroes... strip. I guess they have no compunction about making odd mental associations. Dinah and Babs chat about the upcoming wedding as they stuff singles into dudes' thongs.
Next... the wedding day! Everybody shows up... and it's a heckuvan image. Really a who's-who of mid-2000's DC Comics!
Then... here comes the bride. Before Dinah can make it to the alter, however, Superman senses six nukes being launched... which means, all of the heaviest hitters (Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Lanterns) are off to save the world.
No sooner do the "big guns" leave, than... Deathstroke and the gang pop in! Needless to say, a fight follows.
During the skirmish, Monsieur Mallah punches Ring-Bearer Roy Harper in the back... which sends Dinah's wedding ring bouncing into the fracas. She drops everything and bolts after it.
Deathstroke manages to catch the ring on the tippity-top of his sword... which leads to him getting kicked in the... uh, midsection. fortunately for Slade, he's wearing a cup. Worth mentioning, this is a really amazing little action scene.
Then... Batman shows up! Ya see, he declined the invite to the wedding... but he's always up for a fight.
By now, the "big guns" have solved the nuke-problem, and have returned. The baddies are wrangled up in no time... and the (rest of the) wedding goes off without a hitch. Well, they get hitched... but, you know what I mean.
This takes us to the wedding night. Wedding Night + mid-2000's Judd Winick... not completely sure what to expect. Well, it looks as though it's about to "go down" the way we all expect...
But then... Ollie gets a crazed look in his eye. Brandishing a knife, he tackles Dinah to the floor!
In the struggle, Dinah reaches for something, anything with which she can fight Ollie off... and finds, an arrow.
We close with her jamming it right through Ollie's throat! That there's what we call a cliffhanger!
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Okay, how much fun was this? And, holy cow... that art!
This issue both embraces and kinda subverts the classic "superhero wedding" tropes. Sure, the proceedings are interrupted... but, I can't think of another time where the bride just hops into the action, and goes toe to toe with someone as bad as Deathstroke. We saw something kinda similar during the JSA Thanksgiving issue, where some baddies showed up... and instantly realized that they were jolly well screwed. I'm still sitting here with a silly smile on my face just thinking about it. This was really so good.
I gotta hand it to Winick here. When I think of his writing... especially in situations that involve a bedroom... "subtlety" is not a word I'd ever think of using. I mean, this is the fella who gave us a full-on bed scene between Monsieur Mallah and the Brain because of a gag Grant Morrison included in an old Doom Patrol issue. Think of it as "fan-service", think of it as "pushing the envelope", hell... think of it as "Winick's Razor", if the simplest solution involves a bed (or back seat of a car, or pile of trash in an alley, etc.) you know where the scene is likely to go.
Here, however... we kinda sidestep that! Sure, we get "teased" (just like poor Ollie), but it's actually (sorta) in service of the story. That opening scene where Dinah suggests they "wait"... that's real-life right there! I can't get mad at that.
Now, there's that art. I cannot believe I've been at this discussion/reviewing thing for two and a half years, and this is the first time we're talking about Amanda Conner! Seems wrong that it's taken us this long, considering how large she looms over so many of my favorite DC Comics, and how big a fan of her work I am!
Her work here (as we've come to expect) is phenomenal. Just absolute candy for the eyes. Faces are full of emotion, body language is so fluid... just, really... there ain't no words. Just spectacular. It's art like this that makes this book look like it was a top priority for DC Comics... and it was most certainly the best way to usher in a brand-new ongoing series.
Speaking of "ushering in"... howsabout that cliffhanger? I loved it! I don't have the foggiest clue where it's headed... I was very low on funds when this series launched, so I didn't get to read it the first time around... but, gotta say... I'm intrigued enough to try and track it down! Hell, I might actually have it... somewhere, unread... and lonely.
Overall... if you dig DC Comics at all, I think you'll dig this one. It's really too much fun not to recommend... and again, that art. For your nuptial convenience, this bugger's available digitally and has been collected in the Green Arrow: A Celebration of 75 Years hardcover.
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New Titans #0 (October, 1994)
"The Changing Order"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Penciller - Stephen J.B. Smith
Inks - Hector Collazo, Harry Candelario, & Keith Champagne
Production - Dave Bednar
Letterer - John Costanza
Colorist - Chris Matthys
Assistant Editor - Keri Kowalski
Editor - Pat Garrahy
Cover Price: $1.95
I was planning to follow up with the Titans $ell-Out! story today, which continued through the next issue of Deathstroke the Terminator. Now, having become "once bit, twice shy" about how nicely the Deathstroke book plays with others during a crossover during Total Chaos (which is to say, it does the least amount of "tying-in" possible), I decided to give it the ol' "flip thru" first.
And, yup... $ell-Out! related scenes are only on like two pages.
Maybe we'll get a running start and try tackling that some other day.
Today, however, we're going to check out the launch of the "final" era of the New Titans... and a place where many'a fan seem to feel that the worm finally turns... it's Zero Hour... and it's a barely recognizable team.
I know there was a certain editor who Marv was so angry about that he refused to say his name during interviews... not sure whether or not that person's name is in the above credits... buuuut, I wouldn't be surprised.
Also, this is from a point that I'd already "noped" out of this volume... even in rereads, I never make it this far! So, this is gonna be interesting!
Let's do it.
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We open in Sarge Steel's shadowy office. He's talking to a fella, who's most assuredly not Nightwing about the newest iteration of the Titans. Steel guffaws when he sees their ages, f'r heavens sake... they're just teen-agers! Definitely-not-Dick tells him to settle down... because, the newbies can handle it. Which takes us to... a warehouse where a pair of goofs named Coven and Slagg are interrogating a man on behalf of the "CrimeLord" (yeah, really). Changeling makes his presence known... and, yeah... this is when he wouldn't shift into animals, but... well, whatever the hell this is.
A fight is on. Changeling expels a poisonous cloud... and Coven tosses some flash grenades in response.
We shift scenes to the shopping mall beneath the World Trade Center, where Titans Team-Lead, Arsenal and Titans newbie, Damage are fighting off a bunch of robotic terrorists.
We go through that bit where the new guy wants to impress the boss... and, at the same time, the boss is kinda riding him too hard (in order to prove that he's in charge). This leads to Damage overstepping, getting socked by a bot, and ultimately caught up under a bunch of rock and debris. This, of course, facilitates Arsenal saying something like "This is my first mission, and I'm gonna get my team killed!" Really hacky/hokey stuff.
The bots grow tired of the tussle and head into the subway, where they plan to... well, stand on the tracks and kill hundreds of rush-hour travelers. I mean, haven't they suffered enough? Oh, and the robo-baddies... they work for Crimelord too.
Back at the warehouse, Coven and Slagg stand over Gar's prone, normal(ish) body. Before they can act, however, New Titans (and the sole survivors of the Team Titans) Terra and Mirage arrive on the scene. They make relatively short-work of the goofs, and rescue Changeling.
We jump ahead to somewhere unduh da sea... where Coven and Slagg report their failure to... why, it's the man himself... Crimelord. It looks like he's a giant... but that might just be poor perspective. Maybe he's a hologram, who the hell knows?
As Miri, Tara, and Gar head home (which we only witness to see Gar brooding), we pop back over to under the World Trade Center... where another new Titan arrives on the scene... this is, Impulse! And boy, does he look old. It's always a bit odd seeing the pre-Young Justice Bart... I mean, he looks like he's of college age right here. Anyhoo, he saves the day.
Then, Damage emerges from the rubble... and he's brimming to the top with quaky power. His body engorges... which tells his teammates that he's about to blow. Impulse grabs him and runs him off Manhattan so he could "pop" in peace.
Back at Titans Headquarters (or just wherever the hell they're hanging out), the team reconnoiters... and we learn Damage might not understand what it means for one to "get their rocks off".
They're interrupted by a call from Sarge Steel, who summons them out to New Jersey... and it's a brand-spankin'-new, state of the art, actual headquarters. How nice.
While the Titans check out their new digs, we pop over to New York City Hall, where a man reporting that Deathstroke failed to assassinate the President (yeah...), is then assassinated himself! By... the Crimelord people.
Back in Sarge Steel's office, we see that... hey waitaminute, that fella from the beginning was Nightwing all along?! I... I don't know what's real anymore. Okay, okay... of course it was Nightwing all along. We learn here that he's decided to leave the Titans because an editor wanted him back in the Bat-Bo uh, I mean, he's taking a "well-deserved vacation".
We close out by popping into space and checking in with our soon-to-be newest Titan... Kyle Rayner?!
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Yeah... not a lot to like here. And it's almost as though the creative team knew that... because so much of this feels "phoned in". Dialogue is tropey, storytelling is convenient, the art... it's kinda weak... and the fact that we had three inkers might suggest that actually getting this book done and on shelves wasn't anybody's tippy-top priority.
As such... I'm struggling for things to say.
I guess we can talk about this "new look" Changeling. His shapeshifting powers are... a fair amount, I dunno "darker" during this time. It makes for some pretty gruesome images... but, not images I really care to pore over. We could mention that Gar seems rather annoyed by being surrounded by these newbies. Not sure if that's just him maturing... or, something else. Hell, maybe both, maybe neither! I hope it's not "maturity" though, because I want to believe that Marv would be a bit more subtle.
The team seems to report to Sarge Steel... which is to say, they report to the United States Government. Hate that. I hate that anytime a team does that. I get the chills thinking about how many Marvel superhero books I'd cracked open in the past decade that all opened with frickin' S.H.I.E.L.D.! I'm never a fan of this sort of thing... and, something's tellin' me New Titans won't be any different.
Overall... this wasn't very good. Actually, I think I'd go so far as to suggest that it was bad... and you probably shouldn't read it. Nobody at DC seemed to care... so why should we?
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Letters Page (featuring this fella):
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