Green Arrow: Stranded

The Green Arrow origin story gets another revamp. Oliver Queen and his father are returning from a safari in Zimbabwe in a private plane with one of the father's business partners and his son when a storm causes a plane crash on a desert island. Unlike other versions, Oliver is not the sole survivor, and in addition to man vs. nature, we get a little man vs. man, and a lot of conversations about relationships.

Intended for children, this story is one of those that insults even that audience's intelligence. It's very dramatic revealing who lives after the plane crash, but not even a sentence or panel is wasted on those who don't. Oliver is depicted with a refusal to kill that comes and goes depending on the dramatic needs of the story and show more despite being a meat eater. He kills a snake without hesitation, but endangers others and almost dies multiple times to avoid killing a wild boar which just conveniently falls over dead when the author is done with it. The most dramatic arrow shot of the book is revealed to be a totally unnecessary one that travels all of three feet.

It's hard to imagine any of this would lead Oliver to becoming a superhero.

Very dumb and very disposable. show less

Not bad. I thought the artwork was charming. I agree with another reviewer who said the stakes felt low. Even if they were, I did not feel any sense of urgency. In addition, there's a character conflict between Ollie and his dad's friend's son that literally gets resolved in 2 -3 panels.

Something that's different with this Green Arrow is that Ollie is very opposed to killing any living being, human or animal. This boy was acting so scared to shoot an arrow, but great that he could hold fast to his beliefs.

Overall, this was a serviceable tale.

2.5