Are there any Green Arrow fans out there? I’m a fan of the tv show and I’m about to start reading some of the comics. But I wanted to know which run is better, New 52 or Rebirth?
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Overall Rebirth, but Jeff Lemire’s run on the New 52 series ( 17-34 ) is fantastic. Check out Mike Grells run from the 80s.
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I really like Kevin Smith’s run, Quiver. The following volumes are pretty good too. I especially love Mia’s arc.
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I’d recommend Grell’s work too. It’s quality stuff. Didn’t read New 52 GA but heard Lemire’s work is good and Nocenti is a train wreck. I read the first arc of GA rebirth and thought it was bad but I’ve seen bigger GA fans disagree.
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Thanks for the feedback guys! I think I’ll start with Mike Grell’s run from the 80’s.
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Start with the Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams run with issue #76, “No Evil Shall Escape My Sight!” It arguably started the “age of relevance” in comics and did it a thousand times better than any of today’s “woke” offerings. I was in high school when this book came out, and the scene with GL and the old gentleman still gives me goosebumps. What simple, thoughtful, beautiful storytelling.
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Between New 52 and Rebirth, your best bet is absolutely Rebirth.
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Love Stephen Amell as Arrow, I have a poster from the show with Arrow on it. And I’ve read some of the comics, not a big fan of the Green Arrow comics too be honest, but I love the TV show. And I like him in Smallville as well.
I need someone to photoshop a beard onto Ollie in the New 52 series so I can read it
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If you’re a fan of Arrow, Green Arrow: Year One is another good read. It sort of inspired a lot of the early stages of the show (Diggle is even named after its writer).
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Go old school and read the O’Neil and Adams Hard Traveling Heroes stories for sure. GA spent a lot of years being a JLA member and having a back up feature in Action Comics and then World’s Finest in the 70’s and 80’s. Those are great comics. I don’t recommend N52 at all. Rebirth is getting better especially after Percy left. Right now there’s no GA book, but one is coming. If you like Arrow, I don’t know that you’d like the comics, the show has very little connection to the comics.
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Arrow is a good show(note i stopped watching at around season 5 cause i didnt have the time) but that gun control episode was pretty bad, i like how they atleast gave validity to both sides but it still just wasnt good. And i just dont like how oliver is edgy in this show, its like they are trying to make him batman when thats really not oliver, he is the nice wise cracking guy, sure his comics can get dark and so can he, but its not his whole personality.
Also the lack of a goatee with a handlebar mustache in the show disturbes me
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Grell run, but I’m biased.
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The Grell run is heralded a lot for great writing…However it’s moral compass does not hold up and is embarrassing to read by today’s standards for ifs extremely over the top “female victim” sequences. Random thugs literally crucifying woman?? Ya like is said the story is good, but this is exactly the kind of content I am glad we don’t see much of any more.
I would seek out the Kevin Smith / Phil Hester run from 2001 - 2002.
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Thanks for all the feedback! I’ve now read the first 10 issues of Grell’s run and I see why it’s heralded as one of the best GA runs but I also think GA Rebirth is slept on. I’ve read the first 17 issues and I think Percy’s storytelling is top notch. I think too many get caught up on his political views that are on display throughout the run and overlook the storyline. I think I’ll give the O’Neil run a shot next. Oh, and going back reading the GA comics has showed me how flawed the tv show is.
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@KingXcel Rebirth is definitely the most Ollie has felt like Ollie since the 2000s (even before the New 52 there was a pretty awful Green Arrow series where he lived in a magical forest). One modern run that I don’t think gets enough love is Brad Meltzer’s Archer’s Quest. It picks up after Kevin Smith’s Quiver and has Ollie going on a road trip with Roy. It’s a nice little story that leads into Judd Winick’s extended run.
As for Arrow, I don’t think it’s flawed – I just think its goals are different from GA Rebirth’s. It’s not trying to present Oliver Queen super faithfully to the comic (if anything, Arrow’s Ollie is Bruce Wayne with a bow), but it does a really good job of introducing a vigilante and slowly developing him into a hero while introducing other DC Comics heroes (and villains) around him. The Arrowverse has turned into a pretty great little shared universe for DC, and as a result I don’t mind that its Oliver Queen is very different from the one in the comics. That’s what I read the comics for!
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You should check out New 52 Green Arrow. Start with Issue 17. Fantastic stuff.
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Oh man, so many recommendations. My favorites are Rebirth GA by Benjamin Percy and Quiver (vol 3 issues 1-10) by Kevin Smith.
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