Faster than a DC Bullet: Project Star City, Part VII: Green Arrow: Heading into the Light

Comic trade paperback, 157 pages
Published 2006 (contents: 2005-06)
Borrowed from the library
Read September 2009

Green Arrow: Heading into the Light

Writers: Judd Winick, J. Calafiore
Pencillers: Tom Fowler, Ron Garney, Ron Lim, Paul Lee
Inkers: Dan Davis, Rodney Ramos, Bill Reinhold
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterers: Rob Leigh, Pat Brosseau, Phil Balsman, Jared K. Fletcher

I've occasionally wondered if there's such as thing as overdone continuity in comic books-- they are, after all, a continuous medium, so surely continuity is always par for the course? How fortunate for me, then, that Heading into the Light has seen fit to give me the answer. This story has two big continuity elements. The first is that it spins out of the events of Identity Crisis, a story I haven't read. But I soon will, I know what it's about, and it had just came out when this story ran. So that's fine. What's not fine is that the Big Bad behind this story turns out to be some guy called Merlyn. Who the heck's that? Who knows, because this story never bothers to reveal who this guy is or why he might be so ticked off at Green Arrow. I guess they have a vendetta of some sort, but nothing here sells it enough to make me care.

Also: people often complain that the problem with writing Superman is that he's too powerful, and he's out of his antagonists' league. But the problem with Green Arrow is that he's not powerful, and his antagonists are always out of his league. This is at least the third volume is a row where I've seen Green Arrow and company just receive beating after beating from some antagonist with a huge advantage over him. I'm getting tired of it. And Connor is fricking hospitalized yet again. Get a new deal, Winick.

This book is penciled by four different people, but specific credits aren't given to specific bits, so I have no way of telling who did the bit of the book where the art ceases to be dire. Also, I've no idea which part J. Calafiore wrote, but it seems odd that he could write any issue here, as this is a pretty tight story arc all the way through.