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Last month’s Green Arrow #17 completely upended the status quo for everyone’s favorite emerald archer. With issue #18, Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino set about rebuilding Oliver’s life by introducing some new supporting players, a deadly new enemy, and a mystery that extends back to Ollie’s time on the island where Green Arrow was born.

The events of issue #17 took place very quickly, so it makes sense that Lemire would want to slow things down a bit in his second issue on the title. Oliver does some detective work, with the help of the mysterious Magus, a man who may have a connection to Oliver’s father. He also recruits a new tech guy, with his previous support network having been eliminated last month. Meanwhile we learn a bit more about Komodo, the man responsible for framing Oliver for murder.

Lemire doesn’t include a lot of action in this issue, but he does keep things moving. The story jumps back and forth between ongoing scenes in a way that helps raise the tension on some already stressful goings-on. The Komodo scenes are easily the most intense of the issue, with a few twists along the way that the reader will not see coming. There’s a bit of a swerve from last issue that’s revealed here and then almost immediately undone, which felt questionable, but also highlighted the fact that looks can be deceiving and that anything can happen here. A Green Arrow who is on the run from the authorities is not necessarily a new thing, but showing Ollie out to prove his innocence adds a nice The Fugitive vibe to things.

The art by Andrea Sorrentino is very strong. His use of shadows in particular is extremely effective, particularly in contrast to the opening framing sequence of Oliver in the desert. Oliver spends a lot of time in the issue sneaking around in the shadows, and Komodo more or less lives in them. The effect is to ground the whole story in a grungy real world. The color by Marcelo Maiolo helps highlight the shadows. Maiolo also does some interesting things with alternating colors in sequential panels. Ultimately the book feels less like a superhero book and more like a crime comic, and it works really well given the story that’s being told.

Green Arrow #18 is a strong second issue to Lemire and Sorrentino’s run on the title. Their interest in developing Ollie’s time on the island and the character of Ollie’s father are both pretty heavily influenced by the success of the Arrow TV show. It’s a wise move to bring those elements in here, as they add some nice extra depth to our hero. Between the events of his present and the secrets of his past, Green Arrow is in for a rough time for the foreseeable future. Lemire and Sorrentino are clearly just getting warmed up.

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