Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Arrow Vol. 1 by Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, & Mike Grell - Ashley's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from DC Comics on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Title: Arrow Vol. 1
Author: Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Mark Grell (Illustrator)
Year Published: 2013

Synopsis: Spinning off directly from the hit CW television series ARROW comes the Emerald Archerer in these digital-first adventures! Show creators Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim team with some of the industry's best artists, including Mike Grell (GREEN ARROW: THE LONGBOW HUNTERS), Phil Hester (GREEN ARROW: QUIVER) and others to fill in the gaps between episodes of one of TV's hottest new series.

Collects Arrow #1-6 and #1 Special edition


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Review: I was really excited when I saw that there was a comic series that was a direct spin-off of the CW television show, ARROW. I love the show, and have been anxiously waiting for its return this fall, and figured this would be enough to tide me over until then. I hoped that it would delve a little more into the background of some of the minor characters and give more context for the show. 

Although we do see some of the more notable characters (Moira, Laurel, Tommy, Diggle, etc), we don't really learn too much more about them. This collection gives a little background on characters like the white haired woman in the Triad, but kind of just throws the others in assuming you already know them well enough. It made it a little confusing at times, because I couldn't really tell who was supposed to be who or what was going on.

It was fun to see some of Oliver's other adventures, and to see him take on some villains that probably wouldn't have been "bad" enough to cover in the show. Or who do things that might be considered inappropriate for cable television (like human trafficking, etc). We don't learn too much about these bad guys, but Ollie sometimes has to be pretty creative to defeat them, and I think his martial arts skills are translated very well into pictures. 

This comic, like the show, is dark and gritty. I think the two are very reflective of each other, and I enjoyed that the comic was in the same style as the show. It helped to get into the world quickly, and allowed for fewer explanations as to what was happening. So if you've watched  the show, I would definitely recommend these comics. If you're looking to get into the world of ARROW though, I would suggest starting with the show and then going to the comics. And I would definitely not recommend these for a younger audience. A 3/5 from me.


--Ashley

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