I, like most everyone else, was shocked and disappointed last month when I heard the terrible news that Jeff Lemire was bringing an end to his Green Arrow run early, ending the story with this issue. Yes, after all of these terrific stories and enjoyable times, the fun is coming to an end. Well, we’ve come this far, we might as well see how it all ends. Is it good?
Green Arrow #34 (DC Comics)
This is it. The confrontation with Richard Dragon. Green Arrow and Diggle have been beaten hard and are not 100%, but that’s not going to stop them. They’ll do everything they can to stop this madman, even if it kills them. Meanwhile, Arrow’s team has run into a bit of trouble themselves.
Thank god these goons are very slow on the draw.
A lot of the books I’ve been reading recently have been drawing to a close in various ways (the end of a creative team’s run, or books just ending in general) and the results have been mixed to say the least. However, of all these comics, Jeff Lemire manages to bring his run to the most satisfying and enjoyable conclusion. Sure, some parts feel a tad rushed and there’s a loose thread or two when all is said and done, but there’s really not that much of either and it doesn’t cause a problem. Heck, I would compare the ending of this book to Baccano’s ending or the ending for Stephanie Brown’s Batgirl book. While these stories have reached an “end,” the characters’ lives and their adventures will continue on in a sense.
Without getting into much more about the story itself, let’s turn to the writing aspect of the book. It’s well done like you would expect it to be. Like I stated, some minor parts feel a tad rushed, but neither the storytelling nor the pacing ever suffers for it. It remains easy to follow with plenty of excitement and energy to be found, while the pacing is tight and quick with it always keeping the scenes moving and going. There is definitely no padding or decompression in this comic at all because of that. The characterization is still solid, with a bit of growth from Oliver and Emiko at towards the end (maybe a bit more depth with Dragon would have been better as well). The dialogue and narration are decent, with a tiny bit of cheese but also humor on occasion. All in all, the writing for this issue and also the entire run has been ultimately great.
Hopefully they stopped on the right floor or this just got embarrassing.
The artwork… what is there left to say about it? It’s utterly incredible and easily remains some of the best artwork in the business (ranks above most of the artists nominated Eisner this year in my opinion). The characters are well drawn and expressive, the action is intense and very well laid out, the layouts themselves are enjoyable and fun to see (really like the double page spreads for this issue), the coloring is absolutely gorgeous and really sells a lot of the scenes and action in the book, and it always feels like there is so much to take in when looking at it. There’s not much else left to say about it, but the artwork is fantastic and always has been fantastic. Shame we’ll probably not be seeing it again every month anymore come October.
Just so badass.
Is It Good?
Green Arrow #34 was a fantastic issue and a solid finale to one of the best superhero runs I have read in a very long time. The writing was solid, the characters were enjoyable, the action and energy was phenomenal, the artwork a wonder to see, and it closed on a very satisfying ending to top it all off. Wherever Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino end up next after this, I’ll be there.
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