- Written by Benjamin Percy
- Pencils by Otto Schmidt
- Cover by Juan E. Ferreyra
“THE DEATH AND LIFE OF OLIVER QUEEN” Chapter Two “Erasure”
In #2, Green Arrow is betrayed, broken and left for dead. He wakes up in a world where the once-wealthy Oliver Queen has no resources and only the faintest clue what’s happened to him. Meanwhile, in a distant land, an old ally begins a quest to help the Emerald Archer in his darkest hour.
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Previous issue ‘The End’ (reviewed here) was a beyond stunning introduction to the new ‘Green Arrow’ status quo. It was packed with character but never bogged down by it. It setup a story and moved it along all in the space of one issue. Follow-up ‘Erasure’ continues to move the story along at a fast pace whilst allowing other characters in the series to take the fore.
There’s a stark contract between the stories in the first two issues also. ‘The End’ reset the scene and status quo following New 52 then ‘Erasure’ broke it all back down. This is definitely the death part of ‘The Death and Life of Oliver Queen’.
There less lightness to ‘Erasure’ with most of the story taking place at night. Where ‘The End’ started in the light and moved towards the darkness ‘Erasure’ bobs back and fourth between the two. Oliver’s struggles and an unexpected betrayal (or is it?) form the crux of the story and really seek to push the character towards his limits.
In terms of character the newly reformed pairing of Green Arrow and Black Canary is separated but there’s still chance to explore how these two characters impact on each others lives. I really hope Canary will be sticking around in this series because making ‘Green Arrow’ a buddy series is so far bringing a new sense of adventure. Supporting players like Emiko get more of a chance to flex their muscles as ‘Erasure’ works to establish the secondary characters in the ‘Green Arrow: Rebirth’ world. There are a lot of characters crammed in to this issue but at no point does it feel overstuffed.
Percy continues on from a strong start with a very solid follow-up story that is both self contained and pushes onwards with the arc. The character voices remain consistent and despite stripping so much away from Oliver Queen it still ends on a note of hope.
Otto Schmidt continues to make this one of the best looking series in the DC Universe. Right now I can’t find fault at all. I’m completely in love with the uniqueness that he’s brought to ‘Green Arrow’. It’s already feeling like the ‘Green Arrow’ equivalent of the Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo pairing on ‘Batman’. There I said it!
Once again there’s stark contract in the colour palettes between night and day scenes which help separate Oliver Queen from the Green Arrow. Despite the heavy use of murky blues and greens during those night scenes the striking Green Arrow costume never fails to stand out.
Verdict
Another brilliant piece of the puzzle that is ‘The Death and Life of Oliver Queen’. Building off the landing pad of ‘The End’, ‘Erasure’ boasts a huge cast of characters, a lot of emotion and still plenty of action.
5 stars
