Green Arrow #34

By Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino & Marcelo Maiolo

Over the course of their critically acclaimed run on Green Arrow, the creative team of Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, and Marcelo Maiolo have accomplished a great deal with the character. This has certainly been one of the most memorable takes on the emerald archer and they go out with a bang in issue #34.

Being the last issue of their phenomenal run, there were high expectations for this final installment. While there wasn’t necessarily a huge mystery or anything that required resolution at this point in the plot, this allowed for a very clean ending that wrapped everything up in a satisfying way while still leaving a lot of exciting elements to look forward to for those who are sticking around for the next creative team. This was an absolutely epic finale that was full of action and excitement. Jeff Lemire continues to script excellent character-driven moments that always feel sincere. The dialogue throughout is very well-written, as usual, without detracting from the flow of the action. The interactions involving Emiko are, again, particularly enjoyable and having her stick around as part of the team will likely draw more readers into the next phase of Green Arrow.

Andrea Sorrentino and Marcelo Maiolo continued to outdo themselves as the series progressed, and the visuals throughout the final issue were absolutely incredible. The attention to detail and realism in Sorrentino’s illustrations are always impressive, and his signature “highlight” paneling-within-paneling to emphasize certain features of various panels goes beyond expectations in Green Arrow #34. This was especially prominent in the multi-panel two-page spread as Dragon assesses his enemies and details regarding their weaknesses are provided. The action in particular was astonishingly well-illustrated and felt epic and cinematic throughout the book. The overall pace and flow of the conflict was executed with perfection. Of course, Maiolo’s colors are among the best out there right now and every panel in this issue is enhanced by his work. Both the realism of the images and the tone of the story are conveyed even more clearly with the addition of Maiolo, and the palette swaps employed throughout the “highlight” paneling and the especially aggressive images make this book even more cinematic.

Overall, this was just an excellent finish for this creative team. Arrow and company come out on top and there are plenty of exciting new directions left open for the next team. The writing in issue #34 was highly enjoyable throughout and provided a more than satisfying conclusion, while the visuals in this book are a phenomenon all their own. This is a very cohesive package of visual storytelling that really let this period of the character go out triumphant and with a lot of noise. Congratulations to Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, and Marcelo Maiolo for an amazing run.