Green Arrow: Ann Nocenti, Judd Winick, Freddie Williams II, Rob Hunter, Rob Leigh, Tanya & Richard Horie, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Hi-Fi

So far these Zero Issues have been written by the series regular. In Green Arrow’s case, that’s been Ann Nocenti for a number of issues. Her name is on the cover for this ish #0, but the inside credits mention Judd Winick as writer…and there’s an absence of Ann’s credit. 

So…who wrote this issue? I’m going with Judd for a couple of reasons. For one, it’s better written. Sorry, Ann, but that’s why I left the series. Two, because I would think that the cover credits have more of a tendency to be printed “automatically” with people forgetting to change issue credits when it goes to print.

SO. This takes place years ago…and we’re not given a definite amount of time…which I like. Apparently, Ollie is 19 here. He’s on an oil rig because he’s botched up so many jobs that his father’s practically gift wrapped for him. This is to teach him a lesson, to keep him out of trouble. But this is Ollie. Trouble FOLLOWS him.

Here, we see that Ollie’s just learning how to shoot from a trainer. It makes sense that Ollie had some prior training before his “life event” that caused him to seriously take up the bow. Because if he hadn’t had those skills previously, what’s to stop him from learning a much EASIER weapon to wield while trying to survive in the wild, like knives or a sword (maybe made from sharp sticks or stones)? But right now, he sucks, and it’s kind of funny.

There’s this really weird false sense of lightheartedness in this ish. The whole time the main characters here are joking around and wishing for more scotch (a very important part of the story), it feels like there’s this really dark undertone. Something stirring. Waiting to strike. I can’t explain it, but it just felt like everyone had an agenda or something. Maybe I’m nuts.

This high-tech robber named Iron Eagle (though Ollie later calls him “Raven”…???) jumps onto the rig and plants explosives, aiming to steal millions of dollars in oil, like he’s been doing to other rigs. Ollie takes it upon himself to save the day. Always with the delusions of grandeur, Queen. Well, the good news is, he gets his first true, straight shot out of it. The bad news is…well…fire.

That’s when everything turns REALLY tragic and we’re treated to some of Ollie’s first real emotions.

Quite literally the BEST part of the issue comes when Ollie bails ROY HARPER out of jail and offers him a job. Roy, snarky as ever, makes an incredible cameo here…but it comes far too late, and then the issue’s over.

One of my favorites, Freddie Williams II handles the pencils this time, and he’s masterful at it. I’m really pleased with his work here. There are hints of that Captain Atom feel, but it’s definitely different (probably because people aren’t melting or morphing). Yes, call me a hypocrite for saying I don’t like lines all over people’s faces and stuff when John Romita Jr. does it, but I don’t know…just the way Freddie draws it, he knows when to go at it minimalist and when to go full throttle with it.

Green Arrow #0, the verdict: So, basically, Judd Winick needs to take over this book. And Freddie too. Now with him off of Captain Atom, I really hope Freddie moves over to this book. He did a great job of portraying Oliver at a younger age - whereas I’ve seen other books do that with their characters TERRIBLY - and did a good job of making Oliver shirtless practically the entire issue without making him OMG BULGING MUSCLES all the time. Winick’s story is interesting, but I was severely disappointed that we only saw Roy for a couple pages. I definitely wanted to know more about how he’s linked to Ollie in the DCnU, and we didn’t really get that in this “origin” story. Perhaps that’ll come from Red Hood and the Outlaws, since we already basically know Jason’s origins.

(Photo Source: ComicBook.com)