Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol. 2 #8

Issue: Green Arrow vol. 2 #8

Title: The Powderhorn Trail

Credits: Mike Grell (scripts) Paris Cullins, Gary Martin, Dick Giordano (art)

Cover Date: September, 1988

Synopsis: As Ollie arrives in Anchorage, he finally gets a chance to investigate the strange powder he found in Dinah's trunk. He tastes it and determines that its not coke, but he still has no idea what it might be.

Climbing back in the trunk, he hitches a ride to a chop shop, where the stolen cars are repainted (Dinah's gets painted yellow!). He sticks around long enough to trail one of the mechanics to a bar, where he captures him and takes him tp the police.

Larry, the mechanic, spills what he knows, which isn't much. Whatever the powder is, it is to be transported to "the meet-up" very soon. Ollie and the police figure out that there's a Tong connection to this mess. The car theft ring transports the goods, its the Tong who profit.

Ollie and the cops finally figure out how the meet-up will occur: namely that one of the sledders competing in the Iditarod is transporting the goods, and he'll meet up with his clients out on an isolated bit of Tundra.

Ollie, a customs officer, and the police ambush the meet-up, capturing everyone there. It turns out the strange powder at the center of the story is powdered rhinoceros horn, which fetches a pretty price in China.

With everyone under arrest, Ollie wonders what will happen to the sled dogs. There's no room for them in the chopper, so Ollie volunteers to take them back. MUSH!

Thoughts: From the surprise McGuffin to the site of Ollie running a dog sled team, there's a lot to get excited about. I like that for the most part, Ollie was using his brain here. He only fires a few arrows, mostly relying on his wit and deductive skills. That's a side of Ollie that I feel is important and often overlooked.

1 comment:

rob! said...

that's a great cover.