#18 The Fall of Green Arrow

Bad stories spawn bad follow-ups. So here we are, this month I’ll be dealing with the two follow-up stories of Justice League: Cry for Justice (and Superboy #0, man I'm doing a lot of comics this month).  And oh man, do the both suck. We’ll be tackling the story of the fate of Green Arrow first, because it’s the better of the two. Not saying it’s any good, it isn’t, but…

So after the events of Cry for Justice, a lot was up in the air about the fate of Green Arrow (Oliver Queen and Red Arrow (Roy Harper) the two who had been most affected by the book. The concluding stories from the Green Arrow book (which was relaunched shortly afterwards under the “Brightest Day” moniker) and the one-shot Justice League: Rise and Fall special dealt with Green Arrow’s fate, setting up he’d be in the relaunched title.

J T Krul was the writer, the same guy who’s responsible for making the Teen Titans (before Scott Lobdell decided to sh*t all over them with the relaunch) good again after the awful run of Felcia D Henderson. What I’m saying is JT Krul is usually a good writer. But anything related to Cry for Justice turns to sh*t, so let’s see exactly what we have here.

So, to recap cry for Justice. The super-smart villain Prometheus used stolen technology and blackmail material on every supervillain he could find to create teleport bombs in major DC cities. He played the Justice League to get aboard the watchtower because he needed a supercomputer and something to harness solar energy. Turns out the teleport part of the bombs was sh*t and they just blew up cities, something which in his own words “any monkey could do” after kicking everyone’s asses in a laughably unrealistic fashion, not killing anyone in the process, but succeeding to chop off the arm of Roy Harper, he’s captured. He bargains for his release (after all that trouble) offering to disarm the rest of the bombs. The one in Star City had already blown up, killing hundreds, if not thousands (we find out in this nearly 100,000 people) including Roy’s daughter: Lian Harper.

My name is Green Arrow, and I stand in front of a cast mostly not in the issues

Most of this is explained in the issue anyway, so I won’t continue this recap. So: Justice League: Rise and Fall special. We start with Green Arrow wailing on the Electrocutioner, thinking that he’s going to kill him. We flash back to him in Prometheus’ layer. Apparently Prometheus and his super-smart helmet didn’t foresee that Green Arrow, the guy with a bow and arrow as his main weapon would fire said arrow as a kill shot and so made no effort to block it whatsoever. Nope, it’s still bullsh*t, next scene.

He left Prometheus at his hideout and goes to hospital to see Roy. He’s silent, feeling sorry that everything has been taken from Roy. Ollie says that he needs to return to Star City, he claims he wants to help the police containing the rioting and such that has happened since the event claiming nearly 100,000 people (remember this) Batman, who Oliver still struggles to call Batman because this is Dick Grayson (long story short, Batman was trapped in time after Final Crisis) suggest Ollie stays here while the others help the police. But Green Lantern thinks it’s better for him to stay closer to home whilst they search for Prometheus.

We change perspective to Black Canary, for a scene that’s really rather pointless. Basically rather than helping those trapped or in need in the city, Oliver’s punching criminals with her and seems to want to do it along.

We now have another change of perspective (the last one lasted 2 pages) this one is from the perspective of Wally West aka the Flash. He knew the Rogues wouldn’t be involved in planting the bomb because there’s no money in it. OH COME ON WALLY, YOU’VE FOUGHT THE ROGUES BEFORE. YOU KNOW THEIR CODE OF HONOUR WOULD PREVENT THEM DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS (they don't kill innocent women or children). That’s why they didn’t involve themselves with the Secret Society during Final Crisis, and why they refused to team up with the crime syndicate in Forever Evil (leading to consequences). But… I digress. He’s after another villain, Razor, who would be the bomber.

He wears a suit that prevents people from hitting, except in the face, kind of an easy target, as proven by Wally, and then a kick by Batman. What’s the point of wearing a stupid suit, if you such a big weak spot? Anyway, Bruce and Wally talk about their time as Titans and Dick wonders whether their luck will eventually run out. (Well, Dick, you luck nearly ran out an Infinite Crisis, and again in Forever evil, I think the bat-log is the biggest character shield you can get)

We cut to yet another change of perspective, this time to Green Lantern and Barry Allen, the other Flash (yeah, he was revived in final crisis). They travel to Opal City to meet with the Shade. He’s an anti-hero/villain that appeared in Cry for Justice. His role was entirely pointless. Needless to say, what happens here seems out of character for him. Also out of character is Barry Allen, the eternal optimist, suspecting the guy who helped stop Prometheus of harbouring him. Yeah, that’s totally how that works.

Anyway, they meet and The Shade reveals that Prometheus was hiding in the Ghost Zone or something, he takes them there saying that he didn’t want to touch the “crime scene” and reveals that he took Green Arrow there to kill Prometheus. Well, that’s one question answered, but here’s some more: why did you take them there? Why call it a crime scene? Why do you care? Shade, you’re an anti-hero. You kill villains all the time. This villain killed nearly 100,000 people. Why are you judging him?

We change perspective back to Green Arrow and Black Canary, who have tracked down the Electrocutioner, basically it’s the same scene from earlier. Before Oliver can lay the finishing blow, Black Canary tackles him and he eventually reveals to her that he killed Prometheus. Green Lantern and Barry Allen soon arrive with the body. Barry argues about justice over vengeance but Green Arrow reminds him that he once snapped the Reverse Flash’s neck (Barry Allen: hypocrite) they also point out that helmet is missing, in a plot point that will never be brought up again (also, how is crime scene untouched if the helmet is missing?)

Barry does bring up that he did stand trial for his actions and he did what he did to protect someone he loved. I argue that Prometheus actually succeeded in his intent. He maimed Roy, killed Lian and, in case you need reminding, nearly 100,000 others as well. Back to the comic, Ollie takes the key that Prometheus hand on him and disappears. Flash says they need to find before he kills again. OK, I like you’re writing, but you can’t write Barry Allen for sh*t. 

Added bit: I'm not entirely sure when in the book this is first mentioned. But Barry Allen keeps insisting that Green Arrow hid the body. NO HE DID NOT!! HE LEFT THE BODY WHERE IT WAS, THAT'S NOT THE SAME AS HIDING IT!

Our issue ends on a 3-page article called “Helpless heroes” which I could comment on but in a story that’s based on sequential art, I don’t feel I should need to read this much text.

Cover with nothing to do with issue

That was essentially the prequel to the main story, which is the story that concluded the Green Arrow title before its relauch.  Green Arrow #31. We open with 5 pages of Green Arrow brooding about how everything he has done and bla bla bla, I’m going to skip this because it’s really boring. He’s confronted by the same heroes he confronted before (how did they all manage to track him down? He disappeared in the last issue) Green Lantern gives his speech about how he knows where he’s coming from, given his own devastation with Coast City, but reminds him of his own history and that it's not the road you'd like to take. (See, this is how you write Green Lantern, James Robinson)

Green Arrow says it’s too late and stuns Hal with a flash grenade arrow, the Flash tries to take away his quiver but Ollie shocks him off with electricity. He runs with Black Canary giving chase, they fight with Black Canary lecturing on how he’s so selfish for murdering Prometheus. Give me a break, aside from Roy Harper, who I’ll get to in the next rage review, who does it effect? Green Arrow uses a glue arrow to incapacitate Dinah, whilst he gets away. The search continues with Green Arrow searching for the Electrocutioner. Who in the last story was beaten nigh to death and I assume should be in prison. How hard is it remembering stuff you wrote Krul?!

Anyway, on his way he encounters he encounters police acting like a guerilla force to the starving people of the city. He intervenes, but then encounters Nudocerda, the Police Commissioner who is serving as an adviser to the interim Mayor (I assume also a major supporting character from the Green Arrow books, but I never read them) basically meaning he’s in charge of the city. Green Arrow leaves to continue his search (hey Nudocerda, Ollie just assaulted police officers, you have grounds to arrest him) and he encounters his son, Connor Hawke, fighting off some thugs. Green Arrow joins in thinking about how in sync they are, a fact I laugh at seeing as in one panel, it looks like a knife is stuck in Connor’s leg. That’s teamwork for you.

I don’t know a lot about Connor Hawke. I’ve read maybe 3 issues with the character actually existing, I’m not an avid Green Arrow reader, so here’s the Wikipedia version. Connor Hawke is the son of Green Arrow and a mystery woman. They first encountered one another at a monestary, Ollie had come seeking penance for being forced to kill Hal Jordan to end the threat of Parallax (long story there, but referenced earlier) anyway they began bonding and eventually Connor comes out as Ollie’s sidekick. Ollie soon learns about Connor being his son, but is ‘killed’ and Connor briefly takes his place.

Eventually Oliver returned from the dead but all was not looking good for Connor. He was taken captive by the Amazons then shot by the League of Assassins under the influence of Shado (who is nothing like her counterpart in Arrow) his life is saved but thanks to a neuro-toxin on the bullet for some time he remains in a vegetative state. Oliver remembers that he abandoned the kid as a child, and wishes to confess, only to find out, whilst he’s in that state that Connor knew and had forgiven him for it. (Remember this)

He is kidnapped by long-time Captain Marvel villain Doctor Sivana, who believed that he could use him as a mindless puppet but in doing so somehow brought him out of his coma, all be it with some memory relapses. Apparently his DNA was spliced with Plastic Man’s or something… Anyway, thanks to events in Blackest Night his memory has somehow been restored… And so we get to this scene.

Connor can’t forgive him this time. Nice… Let’s make his character weaker for the sake of isolating Green Arrow from everyone he cares about. This is pretty much the last time we see the character before the reboot too. Pity he had to go out on a such a poor moment. So, Green Arrow finds his way into the sewers, where he talks to Mia, Speedy, whose origin I will not be going into. She’s Roy’s replacement and she’s HIV positive and that’s all I know. She was also babysitting Lian during the attack that resulted to her death. So naturally she’s kidnapped the Electrocutioner and has an arrow stuck to his head, asking Ollie to let her kill him.

Another cover with nothing to do with the issue, this time even the tagline 'Wanted' is a lie

Green Arrow #32 tells the second and last part of the Fall of Green Arrow stuff, and this is where things go downhill. See, for all the cr*p I moan about from the last 2 issues, neither of them that bad (well, they were bad) but this one jumps the shark in how bad it is.

We open with Green Arrow surrendering himself to the Police; is the murder of Prometheus public knowledge now? When did that happen? It’s not like Prometheus’ body was found by the Police, it was found by the Justice League, in a realm that would usually be outside of any Police Department’s jurisdiction.

Anyway, he’s surrendering himself after hesitating to kill the Electrocutioner earlier and realising that he regrets killing Prometheus. Again, he killed nearly 100,000 people! And, although there seems to be evidence in the book to contrary, he’s not crazy. He would've received the death penalty for his actions. I would not lose too much sleep over it.

Anyway, Nudocerda unmasks him, revealing the face of former Mayor Oliver Queen to the world, and takes him into custody. In the Prison two guards debate over whether Oliver should be thanked or punished for killing Prometheus. Either way, he should not be in costume. Anyway, Ollie starts brooding again as Dinah pays him a visit, reminds them of their past trauma and breaks up with him. Oh and Oliver, this is not the first time you’ve killed somebody: stop acting like you’ve crossed the line and can never come back, you already have!

The trial is put on fast-track owing to the attention it was getting. I’m guessing that since Oliver surrendered himself to the police, he’s pleading guilty in this trial. And I don’t think the prosecutor would pass up an admission of murder. This trial should be straight down to sentencing.  Ollie sees some familiar faces in the audience, including Superman and Wonder Woman, neither of whom showed their faces in Cry for Justice. Ollie berates Superman for showing up now.

Queen takes to the stand and explains his case again. Admitting to murder and bla bla bla. And then the jury find him not guilty. Oh good lord! He’s admitted it, on several occasions, by finding him not guilty, it’s fairly obvious the jury have a conflict of interest regarding the destruction of Star City and shouldn’t be on the jury in the first place! But wait, it gets even better. The judge says he’s tempted to over-rule the Jury’s verdict.

I don’t know a lot about law, but this seems fishy to me. I know a judge can overturn a guilty verdict if there’s a lack of evidence given in court. He actually could claim the jury has a conflict of interest and order a retrial based on that. But he’s tempted, but he doesn’t. You know what he does? He decides to banish Oliver Queen from Star City. YOU CAN’T DO THAT!

Seriously. 1) You haven’t overturned the Jury’s verdict. Oliver has been found not guilty and is a free man, 2) you don’t have the legal authority to banish someone from the city, 3) this is really damned stupid 4) it doesn’t work, Oliver’s story takes place in the ruins of the destruction of Star City

Oliver has a brief chat with Green Lantern, abandoning Mia, but says he’ll be around, and that’s how the story ends.

With the stupidest trial since the Clone Saga!

This comic gives me rage issues!

I know the act of a hero killing someone is considered a major taboo in the DC Universe. But not everyone turned against Wonder Woman when she killed Maxwell Lord, who wasn’t responsible for the murder of 100,000 people. So why am I supposed to believe that everyone would turn against Green Arrow for this?

Barry Allen in every scene he’s in feels badly written. Barry has always been for better or worst an optimist, a guy who tries to see the best in people, even in the most dire of circumstances. Here he claims he never liked Green Arrow, he’s worried he’d kill again and becomes a hypocrite given his own history. At least Green Lantern is rational given his own experiences.

Then we have the artwork. The faces and character models look fine, it’s the backgrounds that are particularly head scratching, particularly in #31, the sky looks like you’ve taken a blue background and added some black paint splodges. I think it might be trying to represent some of the devastation but it’s not done very well.

The Rise and Fall special switched between perspectives too often and didn’t offer up a lot of plot progression. Some of the character moments were nice, but… Ultimately pointless. Even the supposed capture of the Electrocutioner was pointless because they were on hunt for him again in the next issue anyway. It also really didn’t do anything for the Rise of Arsenal, so why is it called the Rise and Fall special?

The trial is an absolute joke. The jury didn’t need to give their verdict because Oliver had already confessed. The jury voting not-guilty implies a major conflict of interest and despite not overturning the jury, the Judge passes sentence on Oliver anyway, something he cannot do! But I bring back to the initial problem. Do they even have the jurisdiction to prosecute him in the first place. The murder took place in a limbo dimension where the only Policeman to see the body untampered (minus the removal of the helmet, something never brought up again, ever) is Barry Allen, from the Central City Police Force who would’ve had to give away his secret identity to prove anything. After which he and Hal moved the body, meaning no-one else could’ve seen the "untampered" crime scene.

Rage Rating 100%

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Images used in this review are from Justice League: Rise and Fall Special and Green Arrow #31-32 and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use.