Green Arrow (1988-1998) Vol. 2: Here There Be Dragons (Green Arrow- Graphic Novel)

Mike Grell and team at their best in this gritty series punctuated by the return of Shado! The artistic team of Hannigan and Lacquement add a lush and vivid life to Grell’s writings.

Series is still going strong, really enjoy the first volume and the original mini series that launched the new direction. If you did enjoy the previous volume keep reading. The artwork takes a dip but to be fair the mini series set a newer high bar, I couldn’t imagine that that could be kept in a monthly series. Although the art was a step down it didn’t take away from the story. I’ll see how long the quality lasts. And start volume 3

Oliver and Dinah's relationship and the gritty take on the idealistic character make for great reading. As usual the periodic return of Shado to Oliver's life make some of the best Green Arrow storylines. Something they missed out on when making Arrow, the producers of which are obviously familiar with these stories.

The story with Shado was quite good. Even though this story is a bit old, I think it still holds up today. I love the Green Arrow and this probably the best version of the character I've ever come across.

This volume continues the excellent mike grill run and is recommended to all current fans of Arrow and fans of Green Arrow.

Perfect

Great book

This volume continues the tone set in Longbow Hunters and Volume 1 (Hunter's Moon), meaning that its very gritty and realistic. Oliver Queen in this series is certainly forced to dirty his hands somewhat, fighting criminals, gangs, and racists 100% of the time, in place of the usual brightly colored supervillains. Something that i've failed to mention in my reviews of the prior two volumes would have to be the presence of Black Canary. Longbow Hunter featured her being brutally tortured and psychologically scarred. Yet instead of crimbling in on herself and remaning a victim, she, with the support of Oliver, sought therapy for what had happened to her and managed to overcome it. Little things like that in this series just give it a far more adult tone than say Superman or Batman & Robin. While Oliver is operating on his own as Green Arrow throughout the series, Dinah tends to serve more of a supportive role, but still has her own character arc as well. Hunter's Moon featured her getting over her torture, and even taking part in a small bit of solo-heroics, and this volume continues that by having her immediately set out on her own to do some investigative work, while Oliver is away handling his own adventure. Her story is slower paced than Oliver's, being drawn out over multiple issues that are collected in different volumes, but all-together what happened to her is handled fairly tastefully, not being something that is simply brushed away within a few issues.The first story in this issue features Oliver dealing with a stolen car while he is taking a vacation, with the vacation itself partially serving to help him look for leads on a completely seperate case, but ends up leading back to the original case he was working on anyways, and ends with Oliver riding off into the snowy night on a dogsled. The second story is much more exciting in my opinion, though the first isn't bad either, and features the return of the female archer Shado, and what would go on to be one of the most controversial moments in Green Arrow history: Oliver Queen's rape at her hands. While the rape itself takes place within these issues, it is only hinted at and implied, with conformation coming later from Shado's own mouth. At the same time, in this story we finally see that the events of that happened to Dinah in Longbow Hunter left there own unique scars on Oliver as well, specifically the fact that he chose to kill a man when he didn't actually have to. This all leads to a crucial exploration of Oliver's character, one which would be picked up many years later by another writer. While he is taking on the role of Hunter in this series, Oliver Queen remains a Hero, and killing for him should be just as shocking as it would be for either Batman or Superman. It is therefore an excellent mark of Mr. Grell's writing talent that this issue isn't dropped, just like Dinah's isn't.Another issue that remains important throughout is Oliver's advancing age. Longbow Hunter features him asking Dinah to have children with him, which she declines due to the kind of lives they both lead. This issue features Oliver discovering Birth Control Pills in their medicine cabinet. This happens without any word from Oliver, and he is shown discovering it when Dinah is in another room, but speaking directly to him. It's a very subtle reminder of this issue and the past conversation, without directly confronting it once more. It also takes place on Oliver's 44th birthday no less, driving home the point of his age even further. Really there are a lot of scenes like this throughout the series, where facial expressions and movements are far more important than the words that may or may not appear. At the same time, the dialogue is solid as well. It's easy to see that Oliver and Dinah are in love with each other, and in turn easy to see Shado and Oliver's fascination with each other. One of the funniest moments in comic book history happens in this very volume. Oliver trying Shado's bow and completely missing the mark, and exclaiming "What???" I imagine that for an expert shot like him it's truly shocking to miss.This volume remains just as good as the previous two in Grell's run, if not better. And it comes with my highest recommendation.

This is the second in the series of collections of Mike Grells run on Green Arrow which followed the Longbow Hunters (my personal favourite take on the character).This series takes Oliver back to Alaska investigating a crime network which brings him in conflict with Yakuza and back into contact with the lethal Shado.As a huge fan of The Longbow Hunters I really loved this, it built on events from there and has major consequences for Oliver going forward. Brilliantly written and drawn it's one to collect for all fans of Green Arrow.

Great condition

great

Mike Grell foi um dos melhores artistas a trabalhar com o Arqueiro Verde. Ele mostra o Oliver envelhecendo, querendo ter uma vida normal, mas ao mesmo tempo, tendo que lidar com suas responsabilidades como Arqueiro Verde. O arco da Shado que está neste volume é excelente!

Great plot line, excellent artwork. Mike Grell’s Green Arrow stories are really unputdownable. Glad to have them in Kindle Unlimited