Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: James Robinson
Artist(s): Mauro Cascioli, Scott Clark, & Ibraim Roberson
Cover: Mauro Cascioli
Minor Spoilers ahead!
“Final Justice”: When Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Green Arrow left the Justice League to pursue a different type of justice, I’m pretty sure they never thought it would end like this. Star City is being destroyed, Ollie’s (Green Arrow’s) granddaughter is killed in the destruction, Red Arrow is missing an arm, and countless others are dying. All of this at the hands of Prometheus who has had them dancing to his tune the entire time. He’s anticipated every move and accounted for the heroes’ various powers and abilities, which is why he is still smiling after being captured by the various members of the Justice League.
With all the chaos going on, all of the heroes are making a mad dash to save anyone they can while attempting to locate and disarm the devices that Prometheus is using to cause the destruction. However, it becomes quite obvious that he’s got them all backed into a corner after their attempts backfire time and time again, so he offers them a deal: Let him go and he’ll gladly hand over the codes to neutralize the machines. Some members see the bigger picture and want him released for the codes, and others think they can still save the city without having to let Prometheus go. Finally Green Arrow makes the call to trade the codes for Prometheus’s freedom, and when it’s all said and done, Star City is in shambles and ninety-thousand are dead. Some time has passed and Prometheus is pondering another attack since the heroes are recovering from Blackest Night, when he notices an intruder; but before he can do anything about it, well, “justice” has been served.
This series did start off well and for the most part kept a bit of mystery for a couple of issues, but due to spoilers way too soon in other books, all of that mystery and joy was sucked out way back in November of 2009. There were still a few surprises, but they didn’t hold the same punch, and other events seemed to be for shock value to make up for the spoilers. I guess Robinson figured he had to go all out to push Green Arrow over the edge to set up what’s going on in the main Justice League title as well as the upcoming Green Arrow books. So basically Green Arrow has gone off the deep end (again) and will now do things his way (again), which will probably piss off his team and end up alienating himself for a bit…and we got to see a bit of that in this issue. I really don’t mind a “darker” Ollie, I just wish it didn’t have to come at the expense of other characters or a good story.
Now, you would assume that since Cascioli has been doing a great job visually that we would just get more of the same right? I mean just look at that first page right there where he truly captures a pissed off Green Arrow. You actually feel like he would kill Prometheus right then and there if Green Lantern and Flash weren’t holding him back. Well after you turn the page, it’s pretty much downhill from there because between Scott Clark and Ibraim Roberson, I’m not sure who to blame for the bulk of the interiors as I’m not too familiar with their styles. I can tell you that between the long torsos of every character, the super skinny (damn near skeletal) female characters, and the horrendous coloring, I was not impressed. Towards the climax the art does pick up, and then for the finale we are treated to a couple more pages of Cascioli’s art to finish with a bang. Well it was more of a pop, because again due to spoilers months ago there was no real big surprise ending.
This is yet another book that started off pretty well, but in the end succumbs to maybe the greatest villain of all: human error. And after going back and reading the series in its entirety, I’m wondering why it took seven issues to drive Green Arrow over the edge, because honestly it could have been done in one issue. But then again, where’s the fun (profit) in that?
Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
Sounds like they had some Re-born Cap issues. lol
Pretty much man, it was just a pain to read a book where references were made in issues that hadn’t even happened yet. I think the fact that it was goin’ on at the same time the Reborn fiasco was happening just annoyed me more. But like I said in the review I think this could have been done in one issue…maybe two, but seven issues seemed a little much after reading it again.
Oof. Harsh.
I think I’m in the minority in that I really dug this series. The action was great, the art was cool, and the whole premise of the series made sense. I just wish Hal would have backed Ollie up more when he wanted to deliver his own form of Justice since, well, he was the guy who started the whole thing in the first place.
But those last two pages were f-ing awesome.
It seems as if it was just done to push Ollie over the edge and yes the reasons are valid but it seems like it was dragged out. I’m not saying that Robinson had a bad story just for what came out of it, it could have been shorter and I think it would have been better for these guys to lead an actual team and not end right back up on the regular Justice League roster. Putting them back makes that little speech Hal and Ollie made and Ollie’s choice to not back his WIFE a waste.
I liked the art when it was Cascioli but you mean to tell me that you actually enjoyed the fill in artists? Everything seemed flat and all of the women had the same ugly shape just a different color palette. Those last two pages plus the first page are the best in the entire book, now where is the balance in that when you compare it to the amount of pages in the entire book. I know the 2 artists were probably brought in for time constraints but I was actually pissed after I turned that first page. It was like seeing a woman who looks great with her back turned to you but when she turns around it’s a disaster!
Hal backed Ollie as much as he could if you think about it man. He didn’t sign on to murder and that’s the difference between the two at this point. Yeah he started the “team” but I don’t think he was prepared to go the distance and now he’ll probably feel responsible for what’s going on with Ollie. Plus Hal has been down that road before and he’s determined to not go through it again.
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