I LOVE COMICS, PART TWENTY_THREE

 I’ve been numbering my entries, picking up where I left off with the 2,021 COMIC BOOK QUARANTINE ODYSSEY.  I’m curious to see how long it takes me to read that many comics. I want the results to be realistic so I’m not going to binge read unless I happen to be in the mood.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t end up reading some comics, so we’ll see how long this takes. The journey began with the 1,000 Comics Challenge on approximately March 15, 2020.

 

More picks from the Comic Bricks . . . . .

#442, #443  GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #11-12 (DC, 2008) After finishing the Green Arrow:Quiver storyline, I was ready for more. So, I assembled all the issues I picked up from various comic brick purchases at Captain Blue Hen and put them in order.  While I was feeling nostalgic for the Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams Green Arrow/Green Lantern books, as well as the runs of Mike Grell and Chuck Dixon on the books  - - I don’t have those in my collection and had to settle for these.

    

  Issues #11 & #12 are Parts 3 & 4 of the A League Of Their Own storyline, and feature a whole bunch of characters: Green Arrow, Black Canary, Batman, Plastic Man, and two superheroes I don’t recognize who don’t even get called out by name. On the opposing side are Ra’s al Ghul, Shado, Dr. Sivana, the Vanyites, and a group of unidentified villains. A fake Ra’s al Ghul has created a splinter group from the League Of Assassins - - the Shadow League and charged them with killing Green Arrow. Dr. Sivana has captured a wounded Connor Hawke and the young son of Shado and is experimenting on them. Fast-paced and fun from Judd Winick and Mike Norton.  THREE STARS.

#444, #445 GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #13-14 (DC, 2008-2009) 

Judd Winick ends his longish tenure (five years?) scripting Green Arrow books with these two issues which deal with the aftermath of the battle with Dr. Sivana.

 Connor is recovering, but unconscious. Mia/Speedy and the British superhero Dodger get romantic up to a point (she’s HIV-positive). When Connor revives, he’s super-hungry, and has forgotten he’s a vegetarian. He’s got significant memory lapses (sounds familiar). He’s also lost his archery abilities but retains his fighting skills. And with newfound healing abilities and a higher pain threshold (side effects of Sivana’s tampering) he single-handedly puts down a gang of drug dealers. THREE STARS.

#446, #447, #448, #449, #450  GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #15, #18, #20-22 (DC, 2009) I guess new writer Andrew Kreisberg didn’t want to deal with too many characters, so in the very first issue of his run both Connor and Mia move out of the Queen home to do their own thing somewhere else. 

A variety of villains cross paths with the main players over the course of these issues Please note: I do not have a consecutive run of issues): Dregz, Vertigo, Big Game, Death Dealer, Vengenace, Slingshot, Brick, Merlyn, and a manic (like Harley Quinn) redhead with a skimpy green costume and a fixation on Green Arrow. There’s an interesting new villain, Dischord, who blankets Star City in silence and triggers quiet riots. 

But the main thread running through these issues is the strained relationship between Ollie and Dinah. She thinks he’s developing ultra-violent tendencies and seems unable to restrain himself or his anger regardless of how big a threat is in front of him. They seek out various marriage counselors, and some of these encounters are quite funny. The backstory/origin of Black Canary also plays out in flashbacks. It’s the first time I’ve learned of how she obtained her powers. Overall, these issues didn’t excite me so much. Pretty average superhero fare. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.