Don’t kill me, but…

I’m dreading what happens to my beloved Green Arrow/Black Canary when writer Judd Winick leaves after issue #14, which is out this week. I know his style of writing doesn’t sit well with many comic book readers, but I personally love the way it fits with the Green Arrow family. They are, after all, a bunch of smart @$$ characters, and Winick seems to excel when writing them.

Let’s back-track for a moment. I just started getting my comics from DCBS, but right now I’m only getting them once a month (which is changing soon because I can’t handle only reading comics every four weeks) and just got issue #13 in the mail this past week, even though it’s been almost a month since it was released. It ended up in the middle of my pile—which was quite large, in my opinion—but the minute I read it I realized I should have maybe saved it for last except for all the New Krypton books I had to read.

The books toward the bottom of my read pile are usually my favorites and the ones I think are the best right now. Still being new to the concept of having a pull list and everything that goes along with it, the books I read tend to rotate in and out as I figure out what I enjoy the most. But GA/BC? That book has been on my pull list from the very beginning, and I have never even considered bumping it from my list. It really is that good.

Sure, the hunt for Connor Hawke seemed to go on FOREVER, but it was entertaining at times. After all, the search gave us Dodger. I’m looking forward to seeing where he could possibly fit into the DCU in the coming months and if the writers will take advantage of the character and everything he has going for him. I mean, here’s a guy from across the pond in his early 20s, has a thing for Mia, and seems to have seen the light when it comes to fighting for the good guys. Ollie and Dinah probably couldn’t have found Connor if not for Dodger, so I hope he doesn’t get shipped off someplace never to be heard from again. From the sound of it, Mia isn’t going to be seen as much in GA/BC now that Connor is safe so she might find her way back to the Teen Titans with Dodger following behind her.

I’m also interested to see where they take the whole situation with Connor. Apparently he has no memory of being a crime fighter in addition to his newfound invulnerability. If I dropped a knife on my foot, I’m pretty sure that I would be in some extraordinary pain. Ollie and Dinah even looked like they were feeling his pain. Too bad he wasn’t feeling it. The upcoming solicitations promise that we’ll be amazed at what he can do now, and that it’s an after effect of his abduction by the League of Assassins. I wonder if he’s been changed so much that he finds himself on the wrong side of the law. It might make for some interesting storytelling if Green Arrow and Black Canary’s newest and worst villain is the person who knows them best.

By Mandy Stegall