soulofkhal

[soulofkhal]

Khal Reads: Green Arrow(1988) by Mike Grell

Discretion: This is my first Green Arrow run so I apologize if certain details already appears in the previous run and I missed it!

The blog isn't dead! The reviews are still coming in. Not sure if there's anyone that's waiting for another random comic review by me but here it goes!

This time, I'll be looking at one of the definitive runs of Green Arrow, the 1988 run written by Mike Grell. The run spans for 76 issues between 1988-1994.

Team:

Writer: Mike Grell

Penciller: Ed Hannigan (1-25), Dan Jurgens (26-33), Rick Hoberg (35-38, 44-60, 63-66, 69-72, 75-76), Denys Cowan (39), Shea Pensa (39, 73-74), Frank Springer (61-68),

Inker: Dick Giordano, Frank Mclaughlin, Bill Wray (35-38), John Nyberg (44-60, 63-66, 69-72, 75-76), Pablo Marcos (61-68)

Colorist: Julia Lacquement

Editor: Mike Gold

TL;DR on why you should or shouldn't read:

Trigger warning: Rape (some issues dealt with rapist and one of the character gets raped)

Pros:

Thrilling stories with full of action. Never a dull moment in this run.

More mystery/thriller/action based stories. We're talking government conspiracies, serial killers, yakuzas, CIA, IRA, and psychopaths (there's a story about a guy who collects tattooed skin, super fun). It's similar in tone to Dennis O' Neill's The Question but more action-y than suspense.

Tons of Dinah-Oliver moment if that's your thing (although their relationship isn't the healthiest in this run).

Stories are often interwoven with social issues such as from anti-draft , ivory trading, human trafficking, etc.

Cons (for me):

Ollie gets raped but the incident were not made to be a big deal nor do we ever get to see Ollie's feelings about the situation properly.

Social issues are often mishandled/clearly being written from a white lens. Some whitesplaining moments as well.

Female characters are mostly there just to fawn over Oliver or become his love interest.

The uncomfortable writing of Shado. There's the dragon lady stereotype sprinkled in with some fetishism while simultaneously not allowing her to be a real subject of attention or desire by the white male protagonist. There's some Grant Morrison Talia treatment in there is all I'm saying

Dinah and Oliver's relationship are relatively toxic imo. Oliver often abandoned and even cheated on Dinah throughout the run (with a girl half his age).

Dinah's role is often relegated as a fanservice for the reader

Oliver kills quite a lot in this run and I know heroes killing criminals could be controversial to people.

My thoughts and full review:

This run takes us to Seattle, where Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Dinah Lance (Black Canary) have just moved. The run chronicles the adventure of (mostly) Oliver and Dinah during their stay in Seattle and occasionally throughout the Globe. Dinah also started her side job as the owner of a flower shop. Throughout this run, we were introduced to a string of side characters such as Shado, an assassin who used to be indebted to the Yakuza that shares a complicated relationship with Oliver and Eddie Fryes, a merc who are often at odds with Oliver

I have..complicated relationship with this run. As mentioned above, there's a lot of things that I love and there's a lot that I don't and I'm going to expand on some of those points below.

(+) The plot

Boring would be the last adjective I'll use to describe this run. It's thrilling, it's melodramatic, and it's suspenseful. You got panels upon panels of our titular hero kicking butt, often with his accomplices. You got the soap opera and the drama between Oliver and the women in his life. It's really fun. As someone who loves thriller and mystery, the first issue already got me hooked. Here, we have Oliver trying to prove that a criminal that is currently under house arrest is still responsible for the kidnapping and torture of several women in the area. The issue ended with Oliver drowning the criminal in his own brewed alcohol. Also, we got cool panels like this one in the run

(+/-) The social issues

In the midst of all of this, we were also served with a plethora of social messages that were apt for the time, a common motif found in comics of this era. The run tackles issues such as race, human trafficking, illegal hunting, military drafts, corrupt government, drug trade and etc. I always love when comics can become a time capsule that reflects the era when it was written and as a medium that could talk about these important messages to its readers. A lot of it works although I do feel like Grell and Gold often hamfisted these message to the plot to the point that some of these issues just felt like an essay and not a proper plot point if that makes sense,

That being said, it's very obvious that a lot of these messages came from the perspective of a white man. One particular issue that stood out for me was in Issue #55 and #56: Justice is Mine, where a cop pins a murder on a convicted serial killer despite knowing that the murder that got this man acquitted was not done by him and the man was later sentenced to death. The catch is that the actual murder was a pimp (since most of the victims were prostitutes) but the thing is, the pimp, JoJo, is a black man, while the serial killer, Harry Gilbert, is a white man. I just think that using a white man being executed in the place of black man feels like an inappropriate symbolism to depict lazy/corrupt cops as it is often the opposite in real life. Not to mention the racial stereotype. A great fan letter sent to Sherwood Column (the fan letter column in the back of each issue) written by a black reader explains this a LOT better than I possibly could.

(-) The writing of the female characters

Dinah Lance (Black Canary)

Dinah and Oliver share a complicated relationship throughout this run. For the most part, their status are as lovers, but a string of events lead them to have an on and off relationship in some part of the run and as the run ended, so does their relationship, no thanks to Oliver's cheating ass.

Dinah mostly acts undercover in this run, running a flower shop while occasionally helping Oliver in kicking some butts. A favourite issue of mine showing them working together is in Issue #59-60 where they both work together to apprehend an assassination attempt on a serial killer (don't worry, they weren't siding with the killer). However, this issue was, unfortunately, a rarity, and we really don't get to see Dinah in action quite a lot. The editor's response to this didn't help as he often points the reader to instead anticipate her upcoming solo run...as if she's not allowed to kick ass in two runs at the same time.

It also doesn't help that most of her appearance relegated to her and Oliver having sex with Dinah often potrayed with bare minimum clothing. I know it's to be expected from an 80s comics, but I can still dislike it. The most frustrating part is though is how badly Oliver treated her. At some point, he even left her after she informed him that she's unable to have a child. And the worse part? SHE ACCEPTS HIM BACK WHEN HE WENT BACK TO SEATTLE. Thankfully, she stood up for herself once she discovers Oliver kissing Marianne, a grad student that they took in (who is also half Oliver's age by the way so yeah maybe male writers need to be stopped sometimes)

A fan letter describing my sentiment:

Shado

So let's get a little bit of a background here. Shado is a former assassin for hire by the Yakuza due to her father's former ties to their group. She and Oliver initially cross paths in the Longbow Hunters, the short prequel to this run. Shado's storyline is a huge part of Grell's run. There are 4 story arcs that puts her in the spotlight alongside with Oliver. Most of them I argue were the highlights of the run (before I knew better at least)

That doesn't mean however that this character is being properly written whatsoever. Shado starts of as an aloof, cold-blooded killer who develops close relationship with Oliver as the time goes on as the two shared common interest in the art of bows and arrows. There were certainly tension between the two which were noticeable, especially by Dinah which (justifiably) led her to be apprehensive around Shado.

Things take a turn when in the Here There Be Dragon arc, Oliver gets sick after being shot by his enemies with Shado tending to his wound. She then proceed to take advantage of him and rape him while he is delirious and also conceive his child. Yep.

We didn't really get this revelation until down the road (Issue 36 but I still wasn't sure until reading Issue 45) which makes me feel almost manipulated for enjoying the relationship between the two. To make matters worse, for a while, Oliver seems to kick himself in the curb for not..taking care of his child? when he didn't even know the existence of said child? it's just very off-putting, victim-blamey, and overall incredibly problematic on the team's part. I also feel like the whole situation just feels very unneccesary? It's like they want to drive the point forward that the only way this two could get intimate is that if she takes advantage of him. Maybe I'm reaching but it feels like they just didn't want the white male hero to even have a normal relationship with an asian woman. I heard that the writing of Jade Nguyen (Cheshire) were also problematic so maybe there's something to it.

Conclusion

So in conclusion do I enjoy the run? Yeah, to a degree. It's hard getting it above 8 with the problematic elements present throughout the run. It might sounds unfair since it's an 80s comics but since the fan letters in the sherwood column are also often critical about the way certain issues were handled, I'll say my reasoning is still fair.

Final rating: 7.5/10

Favourite issues: Here There Be Dragons arc, Predator arc, Bum Rap arc

Sorry for the long post. I'll try posting my review of Swamp Thing by Alan Moore and Aquaman (1999) by Peter David in near future. Thank you so much if you're still reading until this part!

[soulofkhal]

Rogue & Gambit #5 - "Power Broke" (2023)

written by Stephanie Phillips art by Carlos Gomez, David Curiel, & Fer Siguentes-Sujo

[soulofkhal]

jesus fucking christ

[soulofkhal]

my online child describing amphibians:

[soulofkhal]

Khal have read: The Atlantis Chronicles (1990)

(tw: rape) if you ever decided to read the run, specifically in the end of issue #3

Ever want to know the lore of Aquaman's hometown, Atlantis (that is probably no longer canon post New-52)?

Well, look now further than the Atlantis Chronicles.

Written by Peter David with art by Esteban Maroto, this five issue run details the history of the Atlantis and the lineage of Arthur/Orin. This run also serves as a prologue to the Peter David's Aquaman run.

The chronicle in question is a direct order made by Orin, the king of the Atlantis, to his historian, Albart of Alcinor. As Orin has made some tremendous changes to the Atlantis, mainly through science and technology, he believes that it is necessary for their journey to be documented.

Orin is aided by his wife, Narmea; his right hand man, Rajar; and his brother slash rival, Shalako. Shalako and Orin's differences in their belief is the main theme of the run. Shalako is religious, and often prayed to the goddesses while Orin is more of a man of science. Still, Orin was civil with his brother despite their differences, including their difference in Orin's decision to build a dome around Atlantis.

That was, until the day a meteor strike Earth, causing Atlantis to sink (yes, Atlantis used to be on land) which changes their whole dynamic forever. Shalako later abandons Atlantis to find his own place as he no longer believes in Orin (as he believes the meteor was the result of the anger of the Gods who were angry with Orin's decision to build a dome). Along him was his numerous wives and his son, Dardanus. Their city was called Tritonis and they were called Tritonians.

As they now live underwater, Orin and his scientists develop a serum that allows his people to breathe underwater. He offers the serum to Shalako's people but a jealous Shalako prays/curses his people with fins and made them believe that it was Orin's serum that was changing them. That was, until Dardanus reveals the truth to the people. Angry, they proceed to kill everyone in Shalako's family excluding Dardanus.

The story continues with the constant battle between the family of Orin and the family of Shalako (through Dardanus, who despite betraying his dad, were still a spoiled, POS, who continues to harm Orin's lineage along with his son, Koryak).

My thoughts:

I personally really enjoy how rich the story of Atlantis Chronicles. While (I believe) the story is no longer canon post New-52, I still think it's worth a read, especially if you're planning to read Peter David Aquaman run. It has drama, it has tension, it has battle, it has curses and magic and if that's what you're looking for, then you'll enjoy this.

The art is very bright with a meso-american inspired design and the characters all look very good. I do wish they keep some of the aesthetics that they have in this run in the modern Aquaman run or even include some of lore in the run.

Orin and Cora (his daughter) are both very strong character and despite how I hate Shalako and his kin (Dardanus and Koryak), they were an effective villain to Orin's.

Rating: 8.5/10

[soulofkhal]

Goodnight to my favorite Canon couples ❤️🌹™️🦍

[soulofkhal]

for the record, she's my bias

LOVESTRUCK COMEBACK SHOW 230411       /       i do! do you?       /       dayeon

[soulofkhal]

I wanna go to the aquarium 🐠🪼🐚🐙

[soulofkhal]

Accepting

[soulofkhal]

important lesson to all writers!

Just something I think people that write for ATSV should watch

[soulofkhal]

[soulofkhal]

I liked the faces so I added some colour

[soulofkhal]

Khal is Reading: Incredible Hulk (2023) #1

So I'm officially starting to document in here and in my journey in reading comics here and what better comic to start than with the only ongoing I currently read, The Incredible Hulk! This will be a monthly review!

Directly continuing from the previous run by Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley, Phillip Kennedy Johnson (PKJ) and Nic Klein teams up to bring horror into the Hulk lore. Not that the jade giant have shy away from horror genre before (re: Immortal Hulk and basically the entire Hulk origin took a lot of inspiration from Frankenstein's monster)

As this was my first ongoing, I was very cautious. Hulk is the (western) comic character that I've read the most of and I've grown fondness to the character. From discussions I've seen online, I assume that Hulk is one of the luckier characters in terms of the quality of his solo runs. Minus Aaron, the Ultimate universe and the recently finished Cates run, there hasn't been a lot of complaint regarding his run throughout the years and I'm hoping that this next one would not be joining this tiny list.

And while I can't promise that the quality would stay consistent throughout, this first issue for sure brings a lot of confidence.

The story begins with an exploration team exploring hidden tombs in Al-Qadissiyah, Iraq and unbeknowingly release an ancient entity (seemingly connected to the green door) and ended up being possessed by these entities. They form a cult that claims themselves to be the child of the Mother of Horror. Meanwhile, Bruce is now dealing with a very, angry Hulk after the recent events between him and the Hulk (from the Cates run). The cult believes that Hulk is necessary for the new Age of Monsters and proceed to plan to go after him.

We also got introduce to Charlene, a teenage girl trying to escape from her abusive dad who encounters the Hulk on her run. Now, one of the things that I miss the most about the Hulk was his relationship with his sidekicks/friends. Whether it's Rick Jones or Amadeus Cho/Brawn and I'm hoping that Charlene will stay as his travelling partner for most of this run.

As for what I think, I think this issue was amazing. Like "that's what I'm talking about" amazing. Like "Please give me the next issue asap" amazing. I was completely suprised at how much I love this first issue.

I was always worried whenever the first issue just didn't have enough "juice" on it for me to keep me interested or starts off in the middle of a story and keeps me confused and this issue have none of that. We get to see where Bruce is now at his life, the antagonist for this arc (at the very least), and his new friend and a surprising cameo 👀

Not to mention the art. The art is gorgeous and it depicts the horror and the grotesque nature of the story perfectly. All the credit goes to Nic Klein and Matt Wilson for the beautiful art.

All in all whether you were already a Hulk fan or you're a comic fan just looking for a promising action-horror comics, I think this comic fits perfectly for you.

If you have some money to spare and don't mind spending it on comics, do pre-order for the next issue if you are interested (or don't! It's up to you!)

Also great news, the first issue is currently sold-out and they're planning for a second print. Congrats to the Incredible Hulk team!

Final Rating: 9.5/10

[soulofkhal]

Starting a review..maybe?

I'm thinking of using this blog to perhaps document my comic book reading journey. I don't know how often I'll update it since I read sooo slow but I'll try lol.

I have previously tweet some of short reviews on my twt account so I might copy-paste some of those reviews here.

[soulofkhal]

Punks

[soulofkhal]

barbie 🩷

[soulofkhal]

So,

I guess we're starting anew here. Used to have a tumblr acc back in the day but left because of the new silly rules. Maybe I'll stay. Maybe I won't. We'll see

Oh and if you come across this post, welcome!

My name is Khal. I'm 25 years old as of the time I wrote this. I'm 🇮🇩. Pronouns are she/her and he/him.

I'll mostly talk about comics here so if you like that too and want to be friends then let's go 🫶 But my other interest include kpop (mostly girl groups or survival shows groups) and pop culture in general.

I'm still fairly new to (western) comic but my favourite character so far is Bruce Banner/The Hulk and my favourite series is The Immortal Hulk. I've also read some Fantastic Four, Venom, Aquaman, Swamp Thing, Black Hammer, and The Question and I planned to read more!

I'm currently reading Incredible Hulk (2023) as you can see from my pfp.