Review: Green Arrow Volume 6 - Broken

When Richard Dragon launches a campaign to destroy Green Arrow, he ignites a crime wave and goes after the emerald-clad vigilante’s closest allies. To stop him, Green Arrow reluctantly teams up with his half-sister Emiko and must mend fences with his one-time associate John Diggle.

Green Arrow Volume 6: Broken collects issues 32-34 of Green Arrow, along with Green Arrow: Futures End #1 and material from Secret Origins #4. It is written by Jeff Lemire, with art by Andrea Sorrentino.

The bulk of this collection is comprised of the three-part “Broken,” which closes out Jeff Lemire’s near faultless run on Green Arrow. In this story, Lemire begins wrapping up the loose ends of his tenure on the book. This includes defining Oliver’s relationship with Emiko, closing the schism between Oliver and Dig, Naomi accepting her feelings for Fyff, and Green Arrow finally dismantling Richard Dragon’s criminal operations. In these three short issues, Lemire packs in tons of action and a surprising amount of character development. He also treats readers to more Killer Moth, Red Dart and Brick. “Broken” is highly enjoyable and is a smartly-written conclusion to Lemire’s run.

Green Arrow: Futures End #1, which is the final story of this collection, takes place five years in the future and sees Emiko taking Oliver’s place as Green Arrow. It’s a really neat sneak peek into what could happen in the future and I especially loved seeing that Naomi takes up the fight as a vigilante named Dart (using Red Dart’s arsenal, of course). In a way, the issue is reminiscent of the way in which Marc Andreyko ended his run on Manhunter. It also speaks to Lemire’s talent as a writer that, even five years in the future, I’m still enthralled by the world he’s created and that I want to see more.

Andrea Sorrentino continues to be the perfect compliment to Lemire’s writing. His art is stylish and slick, but also quite gritty. It adds a sense of realism to this world, while also elevating the book’s appearance above being just another comic book title. Even though I wish Sorrentino’s characters were more expressive, the dynamic panels and creative way in which he composes his pages more than make up for this. That said, I do wish Lemire had used Katana more… since she’s the coolest looking character Sorrentino illustrates.

Jeff Lemire’s run on Green Arrow is one of my favourites from the New 52. It’s smart, it’s slick and it’s incredibly addictive. Broken serves as a beautiful conclusion and it’s great that Lemire was given the opportunity to do so, rather than merely being ousted before he could tie up his loose ends. While I do wish that Lemire had been on the book for far longer (perhaps at least for a couple more arcs), I still absolutely adore everything about what he did. For fans of CW’s Arrow, this run is sure to please as it’s one of the best you’ll ever encounter for the Emerald Archer.

RATING: A-