Ollie Watch: March 12- Late edition

Out March 12th- Green Arrow/Black Canary #6- Learn what happens after Connor's mysterious kidnapping!

(Sorry for the tardiness, this came out while I was away on business)

Dossier:: Connor Hawke

Name: Connor Hawke

Alias: Green Arrow II

First Appearance: Green Arrow vol. 2 #0

Dossier: Connor Hawke, son of Oliver Queen, first appeared in a special #0 issue of Green Arrow vol. 2. Ollie's son from a youthful tryst, Connor first meets his father (although he doesn't know who he is at the time) while Oliver is seeking refuge from the world at an Eastern Ashram. The two bond, and Ollie teaches the young man what he knows about archery (a lot).

Years (months, weeks? Comic book time is subjective) later, Oliver Queen dies in an explosion. Connor decides to take up the mantle of The Green Arrow, and in the meantime learns of his true relationship with Ollie. Connor would star in the Green Arrow monthly from Ollie's death until the series' cancellation.

Connor also worked a stint in the Justice League, starting in JLA #8. IN his first appearance, he singlehandedly saves the League from the villainous Key. His arrows are destroyed early in the fight, forcing him to use his dad's trick arrows (much to his chagrin). He remains with the League for some time, but eventually leaves as he feels he has no place, as a simple archer, with the cosmically powered JLA.

When Ollie is brought back to life by Hal Jordan, Connor leaves the ashram once again to help his father defeat the dastardly Stanley Dover. Connor was the only person able to enter the building, as only someone related to the people inside (Mia, Ollie, and Stanley) could bypass the mystical barrier erected over the building by the devious mage. Overwhelmed by the demons summoned by Dover, Connor would have fallen had not Oliver Queen's soul (until then happy in heaven) elected to return to his resurrected body to save him.

After this incident, Connor moves in with his dad and serves as a supporting character for the remaining run of the third Green Arrow series. Recently, in the pages of Green Arrow/Black Canary, Connor was shot in the chest by a mysterious gunman and left in a vegetative state. As if that weren't enough, he was recently kidnapped by persons unknown.

Spotlight:: Green Arrow and Black Canary #4

Issue: Green Arrow and Black Canary #4

Title: Please Play Where Daddy Can See You

Credits: Judd Winick (script) Cliff Chiang (cover, pencils) Trish Mulvihill (colors)

Synopsis: When we last left our intrepid band, they were fleeing Paradise Island after having rescued Oliver Queen from the clutches of the Amazons. Before the victory celebrations could begin, a shot rang out, hitting Connor Hawke in the chest. As the issue opens, Ollie manages to keep his head long enough to summon Superman, who carries Connor off to the hospital at super-speed.

Connor is in surgery, but that isn't good enough for Ollie. He screams for someone else until he finally arrives: Hal Jordan. Ollie unceremoniously orders him into the operating room to save his son. Hal manages to calm Ollie down a bit and promises to do everything he can. Hours pass, and finally Green Lantern returns with news: his ring was able to fully heal Connor's body, but the bullet had some kind of poison on it which had destroyed Connor's brain. His body was fine, but Connor was now effectively brain dead. The issue ends with Ollie comforting his son, telling him that "Daddy's right here."


Thoughts: Well, first off, I'm kinda bummed that Connor is a vegetable now, because I really like his character. As for the rest of the issue, I liked it. I really think that Winick got Ollie's reaction down to a tee: angry, inconsolable, and uncompromising. I also liked the bit where Black Lightning expresses his concern about the fact that Green Arrow is shouting people's real first names, in public. It's about damn time someone pointed out that that's a bad idea. I'm anxious to see where Winick is going with this, as there's a kidnapping coning up, and a mysterious kidnapping+crippled/dead person usually = Ra's Al Ghul, and I loves me some Ra's.

Overview/Review: Green Arrow/Black Canary #2

Well kids, I finally had time to read issue #2 of the new GA series Green Arrow/Black Canary. This issue sees our hero still trapped on Paradise Island, surrounded by unfriendly Amazons. After a failed (nude) escape attempt, Ollie resigns himself to wait for rescue.

As if on cue, Black Canary and Speedy arrive on a yacht and are greeted on the dock by Hippolyta and another group of Amazons. After beating the ever loving crap out of a particularly mouthy Amazon (who insults Mia for being "unclean"), Dinah pretends to consider the offer the Amazons made her in the previous issue.

Of course, this is all a diversion. While Mia and Dinah distract the main body of Amazons, Connor sneaks into the area where Ollie is being held and takes out his guards in a flurry of poisoned (but non-lethal) blowdarts. After lending GA his underwear (an event which Ollie firmly states they will never speak of again) Ollie and Connor make a run for the coast. Of course, Ollie was expecting to run to the waiting Justice League and is not happy with Connor when he finds out that he came alone.

The discussion is cut short, however, when the Amazons again catch Ollie in the act of running off. The issue ends with an ultimatum from Hippolyta (Dinah must chose to stay with them before the day is finished) and Connor and Ollie surrounded by angry warrior women.

Overall, I liked this issue more than I liked the previous one. Dinah comes off as much stronger and more collected in this issue, plus Mia actually gets more than one line. Dinah pummeling the Amazon over her insults was also gratifying. People tend to forget that BA is one of the DCU's most accomplished martial artists, and just because you live in a mythical land full of lady warriors doesn't mean you're better in a fight than a superhero. Ollie was also in particularly good form with multiple funny one liners. And of course, the scene where we find out that Connor lent Ollie his underwear is hilarious.

Score: 3.5/5 Boxing Glove Arrows

Overview/Review: Green Arrow/Black Canary #1

Well cats and kittens, Green Arrow's last series may have ended at #75, but he's back baby (sort of!). While it would be incorrect to say that GA's last was canceled this is the first regular gig he's had in several months. We've had a series of 1 shots in response to the indecent proposal (to Black Canary) that occurred at the end of Green Arrow. The events of THOSE issues have lead directly into this one.

As everyone knows by now, Dinah and Ollie's wedding night did not turn out very well at all. The end of the JLA Wedding Special had Ollie trying to stab Dinah to death and getting himself perforated for his troubles. This issue follows directly after.

While the cover implies that we should be surprised by the team on the cover, I don't see how anyone could be (especially since the cover image was avaiable online several months before this ish was released.) Obviously, with Ollie dead, the titular Green Arrow is his son, Connor Hawke.

Most of the issue consists of GA's supporting cast dealing with his death. Dinah is pursuing Star City's criminals with reckless abandon and extreme force. Connor and Mia are doing their best to keep things together while also dealing with Dinah's increasingly erratic behavior and her disturbing instance that Ollie is not dead.

Various other characters and heroes in the DC universe try to help Dinah deal with her grief and find closure, including the Amazon community on Paradise Island. All of them encourage Dinah to move on, until a certain Caped Crusader shows up and deems the entire situation nonsensical. Bats concludes that none of Ollie's enemies would have arranged his death and then failed to take credit, and that he knew nothing important enough to warrant an anonymous death (Bats checked...somehow).

After a rather gruesome autopsy, we find out that the body we'd taken for Ollie (which has so far passed test available to the League) turns out to be none other than evil shapeshifter Everyman, late of Luthor's Infinity Inc. and recently seen in company with the Amazons. Dinah realizes, in retrospect, that Athena and the Amazon's offer to come away with them was a bit fishy, leading to the final scene, which has our friend Ollie in a cage covered in cuts and bruises, and surrounded by Amazon warriors. With a truly classic Oliver Queen one-liner, the issue ends.

My feelings on this particular issue are mixed. I wouldn't have minded a regular series starring Dinah and Connor, but on the other hand, I'm immensely relieved that Ollie has escaped (or gotten better from) death once again. I'm having trouble seeing where this series will go once Dinah and the gang free Ollie from Amazon custody. Certainly it seems unlikely that they'll settle down together and live happily ever after, so there will have to be some further conflict. Perhaps they'll separate on the grounds that their relationship, coupled with their careers, would be far too hazardous for both of them. After all, look where its gotten them at this point!

I'm also torn on the character portrayals. While I found Connor's characterization spot on (sensitive, trying to keep conflict to a minimum while easing Dinah's pain) I think Dinah's was way off. I know she just lost her husband (by her own hand) but I think Dinah is one of those people who would take a loss like that in stride, especially since this isn't the first time Ollie has gone and died on her. Couple that with the fact that she was acting a bit loony tunes through most of the issue, and I think the writers missed the mark a bit. Perhaps she'll redeem herself in future issues (#2 is out, and will be reviewed once I've read it).

Overall, I liked it, and I have high hopes that this will become an even more interesting book once half of its title cast gets more than one panel!

Score: 3/5 Boxing Glove Arrows (I need to get a graphic for that!)

PS: Something I've been wondering. Did Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance get married, or did Green Arrow and Black Canary? There's an important distinction there, since the latter two don't legally exist...