Book Review for Comic Book Club for March: Green Arrow: Year One

Book: Green Arrow: Year One (issues #1-6) by Andy Diggle with illustrations by Jock, color by David Baron and letters by Jared K. Fletcher

Edition: Trade Paperback

Description:

Oliver Queen is a frivolous playboy with little care for anyone or anything — apparently even himself. But when he's double-crossed and marooned on a jungle island, he finds that he does care about something: justice!




Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Green Arrow: Year One is a well-written action packed retelling of the origin story of Green Arrow. It follows as Oliver Queen a rich and spoiled guy who was doing nothing but wasting his life on empty pursuits. After becoming a drunken embarrassment at a charity auction, Oliver wanted to spend some time away on his yacht, the Pacific Queen. However Oliver's much needed time to regroup was short-lived after his associate, Hackett double-crossed him and left him for dead.

But death wasn't in the cards just yet because Oliver washed up on an island and he was going to have to quickly figure out how to survive. Since, he was stranded on the island, his archery skills would come in handy and even more so once he found out the island hid a dangerous secret.

The illustrations have a very fast-paced, action feel and combined with the writing it really tells an interesting story. New comic book and Green Arrow fans may want to give Green Arrow: Year One a read because not only is this a good and exciting story it gives new fans an introduction to the character. This story showed how Oliver's time on the island gave him a new sense of purpose. He was changing from being a narcissist into someone who cares about others and what's happening in the world. Because when he stumbled upon a big drug operation connected to his former associate Hackett and the deadly Queenpin Chien Na-Wei, it was going to be up to him to try to stop the people in charge. While also trying to help a new friend and the others on the island who were being enslaved and forced to work for Chien Na-Wei.

This was a good read and I really enjoyed seeing Oliver on his path to becoming a hero.