One of Jeff Lemire’s strength as a writer lies in his ability to bring characters to life in a way that rings true with our own lives, He is able to tap into an aspect of an outlandishness figure such as a dude that dresses in green armor and shoots boxing glove arrows (well ok, maybe not boxing glove arrows but you get my meaning) and instill in him a sense of urgency and earnestness that in turn resonates within us and causes us to invest ourselves in this comic. I am no longer just reading Green Arrow for the sake of reading Green Arrow. I am now reading Green Arrow because I feel I have finally gotten to know Oliver Queen and in doling so want to follow his adventures and trials and battles.

Lemire has taken Green Arrow in just 4 issues to a place that I can’t remember the emerald archer ever being – that place being one of belonging. Green Arrow has found his place in the DC Universe and what a cool place it is.

Much like Azzarello’s Wonder Woman, Lemire’s Green Arrow feels removed from the other goings on in the DCU – stuff like The Trinity War and other events that are playing out seem to have no effect on the story being told here – and that is what I like. I like a book that is self contained and doesn’t spill over into countless other books (Swamp Thing and Animal Man I’m looking at your Rotworld asses).

Unfortunately one of the favorite comics at the moment Snyder’s Batman suffers greatly from the problem and it is the one thing that I wish DC would stop doing, but Batman is their cash cow and the more crossovers the better.

I don’t see any crossovers in Green Arrow’s future and that is a good thing. I hope Jeff can continue to tell this story uninterrupted and I also hope that artist Andrea Sorrentino stays around for a long time. It’s amazing what a great artist can bring to a story and take it to another level that the writer may not have originally envisioned. As you know Lemire is an artist as well as a writer, and if you read his fantastic graphic novel “The Under Water Welder” you know his style is completely different then that of Sorrentino’s. But it is Sorrentino’s work that is desperately needed to bring this title to the top of the pack. Lemire may draft in his minds eye what the scenes should look like while he is writing the scripts but it is Sorrentino that elevates those scripts beyond those imaginings.

Together this team as made Green Arrow an absolute must read.