Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Green Arrow and Black Canary #12
DC Comics
Winick, Norton & Faucher

Well at least we wrap the arc involving Connor. The plot had a lot of layers and was complicated, but it felt like we were doing circles for issue after issue only to have everything dumped on us in a short time. The issue wasn’t bad, but it just felt like such a rush to wrap up and it kind of had a co-op type ending.

So there isn’t much of a way to talk about the issue without spoiling it, so this is your warning.

Shado was behind the fake league of assassins who shot Connor but they were supposed to be killing Oliver. Why? Well, because the real villain was Sivana. Ollie’s other illegitimate son (with Shado) was dying and Shado sought out Sivana for help. His fee was the death of Green Arrow. Over the botched attempt, Sivana settled on Connor and Plastic Man.

While it isn’t fully obvious why Sivana wanted Connor, he wanted Plastic Man to make an army of ninjas made of the same material that Plas is. The issue has a quick escape for Sivana and a reunion of Ollie and Connor.

The best part about the comic was the artwork. You could actually see the rage of Ollie and the others in the heated arguments. Also, the addition of Plastic Man helped to make more animation in the faces. The action scenes also added some solid entertainment.

The comic had a nice pace to it, but was it a rush to wrap up? I liked the layered approach to the plot, but for which angle? Ollie wants to find his son. He investigates. Batman helps out a lot and they figure out where Connor is. But everything unraveled so quickly in this issue while the scraping of the surface took four or five issues. The shift in gears for this issue was a distraction for me personally.

The comic is not at all new reader friendly. With no recap page you’d be hard pressed to know who half of the random faces are in this comic. I didn’t even realize Batman was still with them until half way through the comic.

Generally speaking, this issue gives some action and a fast plot conclusion which is satisfying, but the overall arc provided one speed and this issue multiplies it ten fold. I’m glad this arc is over and this issue at least gives a good read, but it left room for more. I lightly recommend it.

3 out of 5 geek goggles