It’s an Emerald Sunday for Subway Shorts, as we check in with the Green Lanterns and Green Arrow. One wraps up a story arc while the other is digging in deeper.
Green Lanterns 5
Written by Sam Humphries
Pencils by Robson Rocha
Inks by Jay Leisten
I’m really trying to get through the first storyline here before I make a decision on whether to keep going with this book, but man, they are making it tough for me. The first five issues of this book have been nothing but “I’m Jessica Cruz, I’m a Green Lantern, but I can’t make a construct and I don’t know why I’m a Green Lantern,” and “I’m Simon Baz and I hate my idiot rookie partner. Oh and why do I have secret abilities?”
Two rookie Green Lanterns, one of whom can’t even make a construct (but she can shoot energy blasts out, thankfully) are expected to hold off the entirety of the Red Lantern army? Calling that a bad idea is an understatement and, after this issue, really, both of them should be dead. I’m really not interested in reading a book about incompetent heroes who don’t get along. Any of the interest I may have had in the characters when Geoff Johns created them has long since faded.
I really do hope the Red Lanterns win in the next issue. Just get rid of both of these characters. Since they’re both in the Bryan Hitch-written Justice League book, I know that won’t happen, but a guy can dream, right?
Green Arrow 5
Written by Benjamin Percy
Art by Juan E. Ferreyra
And over in the middle of the ocean, Team Arrow bucks the 6-issue story arc trend by ending the first Rebirth story, “The Death and Life of Oliver Queen” after five issues. The end of the arc gives us an idea of the direction of the book going forward. Oliver still lost his fortune, he pretty much got rid of the team he had during the New 52 when he lost the fortune, but now he has a whole team – Black Canary, John Diggle and his sister, Emi. We’re somewhat lining up with the TV show, but I’m not holding my breath for a return from Felicity Smoak, briefly seen during the New 52 run.
The title of the story was a bit misleading, though, since Green Arrow declares that Oliver Queen is dead when he couldn’t recover his fortune by the end of the mission to rescue Black Canary. Not only that, but the final page of the issue implies that even the Green Arrow will be out of the picture for a while, given where he ended up after the Ninth Circle’s headquarters, The Inferno, went down. The solicits for the next issue follow sister Emi to Japan, so I’m guessing Oliver getting back to the mainland will be more of a subplot.
As we finish up the arc, I had been mostly impressed with the art by Juan E. Ferreyra, who also provided pencils inks and colors for issues 3 and 4, but I felt like the art here was a little uneven while still fitting the mood of the story quite well. I hope to see more from this guy in the future, as someone else is listed as the artist on the next issue. Doing issues every two weeks, I’m sure, can take its toll on an artist.