Is Oliver Queen Redeemable? Tony Bedard answers.

Anyone who knows me at all knows I'm a Green Arrow fan, big time. Oliver Queen is loud, proud, and idealistic. He's also obnoxious, over-zealous, and cocky. For the past five years, fans of this DC Comics character have had nothing to be a fan of.

Oliver walked out on his infant son and lied about it for years. Oliver participated in erasing Batman's memory and lied about it for years. He rekindled an old love, and subsequently cheated on her shortly after. Apparently still sexually unsatisfied, he proceeded to have sex with a fellow hero's wife. He scammed illegal stocks. He was ousted from his mayorship for a scandal. He failed to create a new Justice League when the old one was abandoned. He was defeated in almost every battle in his own title for half a decade. He allowed the city he was protecting to be destroyed. He followed dead lead, after dead lead thanks to a two year, yet unfinished story written by Judd Winick.

Oliver is the crapper. He went from being a proud, idealistic champion of the poor and disenfranchised, to a floating turd in the corner of the DC Comics Universe. Most fans were ready to see him get flushed. Again. You see, DC killed him off once before. I guess they didn't like the direction the character was going. (As if the current scene is much improved). DC never raised Ollie from the dead. They propped up his corpse and started throwing darts at it.

But just as fans were ready to pull the lever, along comes Tony Bedard (and Andy Diggle, but that comes in another blog). Bedard recently completed his four part story arc: Black Canary. The Black Canary is Oliver's lover returned yet again to her wayward and cheating man. It was a good story-- if you are a Green Arrow fan.

Backstory

Green Arrow completed writer Judd Winick's miserable run of stories by asking Black Canary to marry him. Fans wondered why any woman would ever return to such a louse of a man. Readers who know Oliver Queen prior to 2003 know exactly why she'd love him. But in a shallow attempt to redeem the character assassination heaped on Oliver's head over the last half decade, DC Comics gave fans a whiner baby Ollie who begs for his woman's life on bended knee, while the villain rests a fully erect sword in Black Canary's mouth (the symbolism was beyond insulting... and I'm not even a Dinah fan). Less severe, but also insulting was the cowering Green Arrow begging for mercy.

Obviously the current staff at DC Comics, and especially Judd Winick, don't understand Green Arrow or Oliver Queen. Thanks to a 12-million dollar ex-machina plot ending, replete with magic Justice League evaporation buttons, Ollie and Dinah live to see another day. That made for the fourth time Green Arrow had to be rescued in his own title during Mr. Winick's tenure on the Green Arrow title. Insulting, but par for the course. I actually believed that Judd would have Ollie save the day, to make up for his miserable run, but instead I got served a cry-baby Ollie who could nothing but sit and watch a villain molest his lover's mouth with a shiny sword.

Oliver proposed shortly after the rescue, and Dinah needed time to think it over. What woman would even consider it after such a manly display while she was victimized? Not to mention the cheating, the lying, the stealing, and the utter impotence that DC has allowed Oliver Queen to become... but

Enter Tony Bedard

The Black Canary mini (which in all reality should have been about Dinah with that title) gave readers a glimmer of hope in the cesspool of Oliver Queen's life. Ollie is patient in awaiting Dinah's answer. He befriends the little girl (named Sin) that Dinah has taken under her wing to raise in order to protect her from a life a violence. Ollie's old qualities begin to glimmer in issue #2 -- he is humorous, passionate, and hopeful. So much so that even a child raised in violence finds a way to love him. Dinah jokingly chalks it up to the girl being a bad judge of character.

Apparently a plot has been hatched to reclaim the young girl (a martial arts prodigy) and replace her in the League of Assassins and their future leader. Dinah is set up by her ex-husband who is being paid off by Merlyn, one of the few rogues in Green Arrow history that has had any staying power. The plan is to place Sin in a school thereby making Dinah feel safe before launching a kidnapping attempt.

The plan works, and in issue #3 we see Oliver trying to persuade Dinah into calling in the Justice League for assistance. Dinah wipes the floor with Oliver and runs off to face the baddies solo. Meanwhile, Oliver and his new ward (an HIV-infected, former prostitute) hatch a plan to keep the League of Assassins off their backs for good. They intend to fake the death of Sin, and escort her out of the country to the monastery where Oliver Queen and his son received training.

In issue #4, we see the plan in its entirety. Oliver fakes Sin's death by shooting a seemingly wayward arrow at the support cables that were lowering Sin to safety in an escape boat. Dinah is crushed and an onslaught of the enraged Canary begins, injuring everyone aboard, including Oliver.

When the dust settles, Dinah is shown throwing her engagement ring in the trash can. Ollie approaches and asks Dinah to read a letter, written by Sin in her knew home. She launches into a dialogue with Oliver about how selfish his life truly has become, but notes that he was willing to risk everything to get Sin to safety. She suggests that for once he wasn't doing something for Oliver, he was thinking of others. She digs the ring from the garbage and accepts.

What I thought... The PROS

1. It was a "five star" Green Arrow story in a Black Canary wrapping. Now that doesn't bother me at all, but I can see where the Canary fans might be disappointed. Black Canary has grown strong since leaving Oliver. She remade herself, earned the respect of her peers, and now heads the most powerful fighting force in the DC Comics Universe: the Justice League. Moving back to Oliver is a step back for her...

...but I suggest that it never had to be. It's a step backward for her because DC Comics allowed this once noble, thoughtful, and self-sacrificing emerald archer to be drug through the muck.

2. Green Arrow deserves a story like this. Canary fans get great stories month after month in Birds of Prey, thanks to a writer (Gail Simone) that actually loves her heroes more than her villains. Canary fans get to see their hero lead the Justice League-- they watch as she wields as much influence over the DC Comics Universe as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Green Arrow fans don't have squat. They have a miserable solo title that continually makes Oliver Queen the laughing stock of the DCU. Even writers in other titles cannot help but take pot shots at Oliver and his ruined character. I think he is sometimes mentioned just to get an extra laugh in these days.

3. Tony "gets" Green Arrow, at least much better than any of the last several writers that were allowed to use his name in a story. He reminds us what is worth loving about this slandered character.

4. The art is good, especially the fight sequences in the final issue.

5. Although I don't like Sin being removed from the family unit, fans can rejoice that Judd Winick will not have her at his disposal with the new series, Green Arrow / Black Canary.


What I Thought... THE CONS

1. Removing Sin from the new family unit takes away some potential development and interesting story dynamics that would be available to future writers.

2. The first few pages of this mini are a flashback. Oliver is shown to be a complete jerk in no uncertain terms. Nothing like what I've read of the old Green Arrow offerings. More like casting Judd Winick's idea of GA backward into history. It was a pretty disgusting start. Even so, the portrayal wasn't enough to keep this story arc from getting five full stars for me. The rest of Bedard's story silenced my inner critic.

3. Dinah's speech to Oliver in the final issue before she accepts the ring. I guess it had to happen, but I would remind Tony and readers, that Oliver has NEVER been all about himself until this past decade of writers began butchering him. You might could accuse him of being about the higher ideals at the expense of those closest to him, but you could never justify him caring only about himself. In fact, his mistake with Roy was about him caring too much about everyone else and wanting to help others so much that he neglected his responsibility to care for his ward.

Nothing in the CON section was enough to take away from the fun of this story arc. Of course, I'm a die-hard Green Arrow fan, so I could see no other way.

Is Oliver Queen redeemable? Tony Bedard answers...

YES!

He gives fans the best Green Arrow reading since Kevin Smith started writing. He shows us what is worth loving about Oliver Queen. He launches us forward in a hopeful direction....

Ooops. As I was waxing prophetic I forgot to mention: the title goes right back to Judd Winick. I guess I'll be reading other people's blogs to see what happens, because I've jumped ship on Winick's Green Arrow, after 30 long years of collecting all things Queen. It's really gotten that bad.

But between Bedard and Diggle, I got a great Green Arrow fix that hopefully will outlast Winick on the new title.