Green Lantern: Revenge of The Green Lanterns Graphic Novel review.

Green Lantern Revenge of the Green Lanterns is the second collection of Geoff Johns relaunched 2005 Green Lantern series putting Hal Jordan once again back on the forefront of the Green Lantern title. In the this volume Hal teams up with old pal Oliver Queen/Green Arrowand later Batman before the main story of the book, the One Year Later event where Hal discovers the fellow Corps members he left for dead are alive. Collects Green Lantern #7 - 13 with art by Carlos Pacheco, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis. 

Following Hal from the events of his resurrection and in the Green Lantern mini series Rebirth and the first volume of the series No Fear where Hal re-establishes his life in Coast City and as pilot while facing off with enhanced versions of the Manhunter Androids, Shark and Hector Hammond.

While Volume One: No Fear takes time to establishes Hal Jordan as Green Lantern once again on earth, this follow up dives straight into the action with three different stories. Classic team up of Green Lantern and Green Arrow open the collection for the two part story "A Perfect Life". Crossing over with the events of Infinite Crisis, Hal and Oliver take on the son of world conquer Mongul, here to finish his father's quest of conquering earth and subjects the duo the effects of the Black Mercy, a parasitic vine attaching itself to its victim giving them their vision of a perfect life while slowly killing them. It was a joy to see this concept that was first created for Alan Moore's Superman story, For The Man Who Has Everything in Superman Annual #1 in 1985.

"Branded", the second story is another team up with none other than the Dark Knight himself as the pair track down the hit man with the ability to make his tattoos come to life. Batman calls Hal for assistance while using the opportunity to test him and reconcile their differences. It was a good short story one that was crafted well to bring these two very different heroes together for a villain that they were well matched for while the two mend their relationship.

After those two fun team up stories we get to the real draw of the book, Revenge of the Green Lanterns. With issue #10 as part of DC Comics One Year Later event all titles jumped ahead one year after the events of Infinite Crisis. The story is interesting as Hal must face the consequences of leaving his fellow Lantern's for dead during the events of Emerald Twilight, the mid nineties story arc that led up to Hal's death. In that story Coast City had been destroyed by Cyborg Superman and Mongul. Hal tries to use his powers to rebuild his hometown but the Guardians of the Universe, the leaders and founders of the Green Lantern Corps who reside on the planet Oa forbid the act. Enraged Hal travels to Oa to and is confronted with several fellow Green Lanterns whom he stole the rings from and left for dead in space. Hal later went on to kill other members of the Corps and becoming a villain.

On the discovery that one of the Lanterns he left for dead is survived Hal and Green Lantern Guy Gardner led an a rescue mission to find these Lost Lanterns. Hal deals with the outcome from fellow corps members who hate him for all that he has done, once destroying the Green Lanterns Corps. Hal has a lot to overcome since being reinstated as a member and to make up for past actions he seeks to led the rescue mission to help redeem himself and save those he thought he had killed. Hal has to come face to face with those he's left for dead in the past and no wants to rescue. There's tension in this final story arc of the collection is action packed and exciting with great art by Ivan Reis. At this early stage in the series writer Geoff Johns is building towards the second of what's known as his Green Lantern Trilogy; The Sinestro Corps War. I've read several trades of his run on the series and this volume makes me want to get into more of Green Lantern run.

Revenge of Green Lanterns is an exciting and thrilling follow up to the previous collection No Fear. This includes a better series of stories, but then Green Lantern Volume 1 followed Rebirth which had a lot to live up to. This second volume consists of a central theme of more personal stories as Hal dreams of his perfect life that can never happen and reaching out to Batman on an emotional level. But Hal's biggest challenge is to confront the consequences of his actions of the past, rescuing those he left for dead who can never forgive him, it's hard hitting. I've been really getting more into Green Lantern recently and this book was a great read. I feel that's a great Green Lantern book in-between the massive epics of the John's Green Lantern series. This was great and well worth checking out. It was a book I was very interested and intrigued by about a year ago and it was definitely worth it.

Green Arrow Sounds of Violence Review.

Sounds of Violence is the sequel to the previous ten issue story arc Quiver. Writer Kevin Smith follows up his critical and popular success that resurrected the legendary hero. This next chapter is a harrowing tale with a brand new villain. It is the second and final part of Smith's run on Green Arrow with art again by Phil Hester and Ande Parks. Oliver Queen/Green Arrow is adjusting to his new life and his focus is his family. new bizarre serial killer stalks the streets hunting costumed heroes. Collects Green Arrow #11-15.

After the massive story that revived the original Green Arrow, re-establishing him as a more popular character. Smith had one more story to tell, that of a serial killer known as Onomatopoeia that is stalking costumed heroes, just as Oliver adapts to his new life with his family, his son Conor Hawke, his ex-girlfriend Dinah Lance and his new ward Mia Dearden are now his focus in his new life. He is getting to know his son Connor better and attempts to patch things up with Dinah Lance/Black Canary while Mia fantasies and wants to become Green Arrow's new sidekick, the new Speedy but Oliver's has deep reservations. He explains how things are so much more different in the old days when most superhero's had teenage sidekicks. His reluctance mirrors the upcoming threat.

Oliver and his closet loved ones are a potential targets for a enigmatic serial killer stalking non super-powered costumed heroes. Keeping consistent with the Mike Grell days, when his family is threatened, Green Arrow responds with equivalent force. New character Onomatopoeia quickly establishes himself as a lethal adversary. He is a creepy and unsettling villain. He is as mysterious throughout the story as he first meet him, Smith never reveals much about he character. It maintains the focus on Oliver and his family. The villain later returned as a adversary for Batman in both Smith's limited series Batman: Cacophony and its sequel Batman: The Widening Gyre. The original painted covers by Matt Wagner from the series are featured here in all their glory. While the last volume featured a miniature cover gallery on back few pages this book features each cover of the collected issues on a full page.The Kevin Smith 15 issue Green Arrow run has recently been released in as a Absolute Edition, a larger over-sized volume with bonus material.

Both Quiver and The Sounds of Violence were the ­final Green Arrow book's I was interested in, getting into the classic Green Arrow stories of the last few decades before or if I ever make the move to modern New 52 Green Arrow stories. I'm a huge fan of the Arrow TV series as a contemporary telling of stories featuring the Emerald Archer.

Sounds of Violence second Green Arrow Kevin Smith back into print that's a shorter read but is still an exciting story of Smith's acclaimed work on the character that's a bit more open and an accessible story. Green Arrow has seen a resurgence in popularity in last few years and Smith's is one of the many great runs on the character's long history. Smith revived Green Arrow in 2001 in the Quiver story line and this follow up puts new focus to what Oliver Queen's new life is all about family. This establishing of the family theme carried onto the next story arc when thriller novelist Brad Meltzer took over the series for a story that involved a member of Oliver's family that was absent in this story, his first ward Roy Harper/Arsenal spending time on together on road trip in the story Archer's Quest.

Sounds of Violence is less heavy on the dialogue than the Quiver story arc and it maintains the same tone and has more action. Its more adult than a lot of superhero comics with its darker themes and emotional and intense moments of drama breaking the usual mold in many ways. Sounds of Violence is a great story and follow up to Quiver, sharp, funny and chilling and with moments of tremendous tension at times.

Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection Graphic Novel Review

Hey readers,

Here is my next review. So after I read the epic Ra's al Ghul origin story by Dennis O' Neil in my previous review I got into the series that the writer is best known for with regular collaborator artist Neal Adams.

Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Dennis O’ Neil and Neal Adams is the famous and highly acclaimed 70’s era stories of Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen as the “Hard Travelling Heroes”. Green Lantern and Green Arrow travel across America encountering and tackling issues thus bringing real relevance to comics for the first time. The mismatched pair dealt with social issues like racism, bigotry, cults, drugs and pollution all combined with the superhero elements of comic book storytelling of the 70’s. Most famous of these was the story of drug addiction, the two part story revealed Green Arrow’s teenage sidekick to be one of the drug addicts in the high point of this series. This new 2012 edition collects the complete run of O’ Neil and Adam landmark run of their trailblazing series. This volume collects Green Lantern #76-87 & 89 and stories from The Flash #217-219 & 226.

Green Lantern and Green Arrow are two of my newly favourited heroes, its great to have both in a single collection of their classic interpretations after I've read the modern renditions of both. Now that I’m up to date on the best graphic novels of Green Lantern and Green Arrow its interesting to get into classic interpretations of the heroes in the series that first set standards in comics excellence.From the first tale, Green Lantern #76 “No Evil Shall Escape My Sight” you realise that this comic book run is unlike anything else from that time whilst still remaining relevant today. In the first story Hal Jordan stops an unruly teen harassing a well dressed business man. The Green Lantern sends the boy off to jail while helping the man and he feels that he has done the right thing. Green Arrow however decrees his handling of the situation pointing out that the business man is a fat cat landlord who owns the apartment building where the teenager lives with and cares for his elderly grandmother. The landlord plans to tear it down to make way and to make more money with a car parking complex. Both heroes take different approaches in trying to convince the the man not to go through with his plans, Green Lantern tries to work within the system while Green Arrow seeks to address the problem head on. O’Neil and Adams re-imagined the archer nearly thirty years after he was created and though Green Lantern is one of the most sci-fi heavy characters in the DC Universe, O'Neil created a way to ground him and tell stories that were socially relevant and held a powerful message. Hal Jordan who often quotes his Green Lantern oath that has new meaning for him as “evil shall escape my sight” now has an altered meaning for him in his ten year comic’s career. No longer black and white but shades of gray. Hal has always worked within the justice system but now learns that sometimes that it is harder and more difficult than before as the law isn't always the best solution to the problems faced, he becomes more socially conscious. This first issue speaks volumes to what kind of tales are expected with this series.

Writer Dennis O'Neil helped usher in a new era of social relevance for mainstream comics in the '70's, an era with far-reaching effects. It was during this period that one of the best known O'Neil and Adams stories appeared, in Green Lantern #85-86, when it was discovered that Green Arrow's ward Speedy was addicted to heroin. This remarkable two part story “Snowbirds Don’t Fly" & "They Say It’ll Kill Me ......But They Don’t Say When”  is a hard hitting realistic interpretation of a serious a issue. There is so much praise for this story that truly lives up the hype and is unlike anything I have ever read. The subject of drugs abuse, addiction and pushers are all covered here, as well as conveying an understanding of the addiction. It is serious storytelling and one that everyone should read, I cannot praise it enough, its the absolute highlight for the entire collection while being a very serious problem that is still relevant today, almost 30 years later. It was the first comic book story line to feature such a hard hitting topic that propelled comics to be taken more seriously and it is clear to see why it was award winning story. Recently I had watched a Green Arrow documentary online where artist Neil Adams discussed how the impact of this story had on how a drug user helped ditch the habit. The drug abuse problem was dramatized in an unusual and unprecedented way by showing Green Arrow's heretofore clean-cut boy companion Speedy turning into the heroin addict. Thus marking a major turning point in comics history while both being a terrific tales in their own right.

The collection is a fair mix of tales, although famous for social relevance and tackling issues some stories are less serious and are typical of the period that Green Lantern and Green Arrow come up against. Stories featuring our duo helping overthrow a tyrant with a army of robots under his control restoring the peaceful aliens to their rightful place, a young girl with physic powers and an attack of mythical creatures. Black Canary/Dinah Lance is featured prominently throughout the series. Another noteworthy and unmentioned aspect of this collection is the introduction of John Stewart as a Green Lantern, DC’s first black superhero. The cocky, stubborn and politically aware Stewart went on not only to break new ground for black superheroes, but who also became an integral part of the DC Universe in his own right and being the first Green Lantern many fans encountered in the Justice League animated series.

Great artwork provided by artist supreme Neal Adams, one of the best in the comic book industry. Showcasing my favorite classic art style his artwork was realistic, making these stories more three dimensional. The artwork, deftly handled by the great Neal Adams is the perfect marriage of theme and form within a graphic story. His realistic, measured and anatomically accurate style highlights the seriousness and rugged reality facing the characters.

Unfortunately the series didn't last as long as it deserved, it was ahead of its time and poor sales possibly down to it not being you typical superhero team up like readers would expect form a comic book title in those days. The series was cancelled but not before the creators gave us a powerful and befitting finale in issue #89, about a man and his ultimate desire to save himself and the world from pollution. Four months after the series was cancelled O'Neill and Adams's team up continued  with Green Lantern and Green Arrow appearing in back up stories of The Flash comics #217-219 and #226, also included here in this collection. A three part story revolving around Oliver dealing with a difficult time and the final of these mini stories is a fun read that brought a welcome smile to my face after the serious, mostly thought provoking and deep series.

This award winning series by Dennis O’ Neil and Neal Adams helped elevate the comic book medium to be taken more seriously. It is sad really that some of the issues from the 70’s which sounds like so long ago still exist today. O’Neil and Adams were commended by mainstream publications for advancing the comic book medium, foreshadowing the massive revolution that was to come in the 80's.

These superheroes went on to tackle issues of real world concerns, yes there is a few fun moments in stories that are a little more out there but the majority is solid reading. The collection begins and ends with powerful stories. Each reader will find some more powerful that others down to their own views. The series is unlike anything found in comics before or really since ,it doesn't get too heavy-handed though and it remains just as relevant today as it did three daces ago. Its the legacy that lives on as a fundamental building block of the modern DC Universe and comics in general. Whichever your preference this is a must for any Hal Jordan or Oliver Queen fan. In a time when many comics were insubstantial, Green Lantern and Green Arrow examined some tough issues in a combination of 70’s politics and finely tuned superhero storytelling.

Thanks for reading. I highly recommend checking out this stellar series. Next I'll be reviewing Flash: Rebirth. Now that its October TV shows of Green Arrow and The Flash aren't far away and I'm really looking forward to that. 

Bye for now

K

Arrow meme

Arrow Meme

So, I've really looking forward to the return of Arrow to SKY1 next week. My girlfriend finds loads of funny superhero related meme and tags me in it and I wanted to share this one just for laughs and the anticipation is building. I've four weeks of episodes to wait the featured episode "Heir to the Demon" 

ARROW Kill Count

ARROW Kill Count Info Graphic 

by Comic Book Resources.com

My Girlfriend found this online and thought it was very cool

Enjoy