Direct Course #6

Green Arrow #45

 “My home is somewhere else.” -Green Arrow

Raising a Rock as... 

by Mike Grell writer, Rick Hoberg penciller, John Nyberg inker, Steve Haynie letterer, Julia Lacquement colorist, Katie Main associate editor, Mike Gold editor. Cover by Mike Grell.
                         
In Dinah Lance(Black Canary)’s florist shop in Seattle, officer Kaz drops by. He says he’s just there to follow up on the purse snatching from last issue, however it’s obvious he has other romantic intentions. Dinah reveals that she is aware of what he’s really up to, but she still has to turn him down. As officer Kaz leaves, Marianne comes into the store. She wonders why Dinah turned the man down again, she tells Marianne that if she went out with him, “It would mean I’ve given up on Oliver.”

Over in Wales at a salvage yard owned by an Irish gentleman named McLaurrie, Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Tom Jones are gathering up steel I-beams that they can use to rebuild the structure that Mr. Barton’s men destroyed last issue. Barton’s men won’t be able to cut through the metal with their chainsaws this time. McLaurrie tells the men that he saw some of Barton’s men looking beaten up in town. Guessing that they were behind it, he offers them both a bit of liquid courage to face the days ahead against them.

At the site of the ruins at Tom Jones’ property, a man named Angus drives up to meet Ollie and Tom. He tells them that he has had enough of Barton as well, and agrees to help them against him. More locals start to show up, helping Tom raise the stone ruins that Barton’s men knocked down last issue.

That night at a local pub, Tom, his family, Oliver and Angus, sit around a table talking. Tom tells them that in three days, they’ll have somebody from the British Museum over to confirm the site as a historical landmark, thus negating any deals with Barton. Tom’s wife Laurel, takes Oliver by the hand and drags him out to the dance floor with her as Tom watches on with a hint of despair in his eye.

The celebration is cut short, when Barton himself enters the pub along with a lady by his side. He introduces her as his negotiator Miss James. “It will be her job to persuade you to sell me your land.” Tom still refuses, arguing that she won’t convince him in any manner. Mr. Barton vaguely threatens Tom, telling him he doesn’t want to lose his other eye around all his equipment. He then also points out the closeness growing between Oliver and his wife, really getting under Tom’s skin. After stirring such menace based on these peoples’ flaws, Barton leaves with his negotiator.

While driving his family and Ollie home, Tom reveals to the archer what happened to his eye. It wasn’t him being some kind of soldier, it wasn’t taken out by a sheik for spying on a harem, or any of the other urban legends floating around. Instead, he was working on one of his sculptures without any safety goggles on, and a piece of marble struck him there, causing him to lose it. Ollie jokingly replies, “I like the one about the harem better.”

Early the next morning at McLaurrie’s Salvage, to prove that he’s really irish, McLaurrie sings Danny Boy as he opens the place up for the day. As he passes by a pile of wrecked cars, a bulldozer on the other side knocks the pile over on him. Driving the vehicle is none other than the negotiator, Miss James.

After McLaurrie’s funeral, people are less inclined to join with Tom and Ollie. Oliver his still adamant as ever to help out Tom and his family. As they start raising more ruins, Laurrie runs over to them holding sheet of paper. She tells them that their son Tommy is missing, and she found this paper which is a Bill of Sales. As Tom races to his house to get a gun, his wife pleads with Oliver to get him to stop. She’s afraid of what might happen to Tom if he confronts Barton.

Ollie finds Tom in his house gathering up weapons. Trying to talk sense into Tom, Ollie asks him what would happen to Tommy and his wife, if he should die, or to Laurel if both he and Tommy died. Tom responds “I know you’ll look after her, Ollie. Probably better than I--” At this, Ollie interrupts with a resounding “NO!” and punches Tom in the face. The two of them get into a brawl, until Ollie knocks the man out.

Gathering up his bow and quiver, Oliver tells Laurel goodbye and leaves their home. At Barton’s office, they are getting impatient for Tom to show up. Suddenly a green arrow flies in through a window, hitting Barton’s desk. In through the window emerges Oliver Queen, bow drawn. Miss Jones tells him that he could have been the heir to Tom Jones’ land, along with a home, a wife, and a son. Ignoring her, Ollie calls out for Tommy.

Miss Jones summons a man named Arthur to come out. On a floor above the office, a strong looking, bald man appears holding the boy, with a knife to his throat. Oliver states, “You know, Arthur ...the thing that amuses me about a 200-pound slime-bag hiding behind an 80-pound boy... is how much sticks out around the edges!” Firing his bow mid-sentence, Ollie pierces the man in the throat, making him drop the knife, and the boy slipping free. Miss Jones raises a revolver to fire at Tommy, but Oliver hits her in the hand making the shot go wild.

With Tommy in tow, Oliver makes his way back to Tom Jones’s home. The boy asks if Ollie can stay with them, but he says he can’t. This isn’t his home. As the Joneses have a tearful reunion with the rescue of Tommy, Ollie walks off towards the sunset in search of somewhere else and himself.

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

• This is good, but I kind of like the setup more in last issue than the payoff here. The end of last issue made it seem like Barton was hiring a mercenary, which he did in the form of Miss Jones, but she doesn’t make that big of an impact as a character. If it was somebody we already knew, like Merlyn, or somebody else hired from the League of Assassins, the threat might feel a bit more dire. Here it was just some random nothing lady, who we never get any back story on at all. Everything else was about as good as last issue, with the characterizations and dialogue, so she ends up really standing out.

• Again, I can't help but be a bit reminded of the Walking Dead when reading this, how the drama of this story plays out. It has several complex people inside of a very simple sort of story, which makes it more compelling when you feel like you can identify with some of the characters. Compelling isn't always the same thing as entertaining though, which one of the problems I have with some Walking Dead stories.

• A major part of the story is about where you don’t belong. At the end of the story, Oliver Queen realizes he has to move on in order for this family to function now that he’s helped them take care of their main problem. Tom doesn’t realize that he can’t help Tommy, until Ollie beats it into him. The beginning part with Dinah, Marianne and Officer Kaz is also about this, when Dinah refuses him again.

• The artwork is as good as last issue. There are a lot less landscape type scenes, and more action oriented layouts. There are really good uses of color at work here. When Barton shows up at the pub, there are a lot of blue and gray tones to emphasize the end of the peoples merriment and warmth. Then when Barton starts insinuating how close friends they actually are, there’s more of a hellish tone, with the walls and people licked in tints of red.

Quotes

“Funny how many of yours were once mine.” -Barton

“They can be controlled once they’re frightened.” -Miss Jones

“You lose!” -Green Arrow

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