I decided to choose the comic book series of the “Green Arrow” because I have some knowledge of the Green Arrow through watching the CW TV show. Although I haven’t kept up with the new season of the Arrow because of school, watching the show allows me to compare the comic book series to the TV show. In this issue, the villain is a John King who is a humanitarian, philanthropist and the third richest man in the county. The Arrow rescues Mia King from being kidnapped and takes her to safety. The Arrow and his allies go into action to find out John King’s plan to stop him. I was happy to see Felicity Smoak in the comic book series, because she’s my favorite character on the TV show. Her quirky, nerdy, humor makes the show worth watching, in my opinion. Similarly, her character in the issue I read is exactly how I pictured her to be. She demonstrates an intelligent female figure sidekick to the Arrow.
Throughout the issue, Batman, Gotham City, Luthor are mentioned as well as the appearance of the Green Lantern saving Oliver and his friends on the last page. By other superheroes appearing in this issue, it reminded me of Superman’s appearance in “Batman: The Dark Night Rises” as well as the comic strip, “Super-Key to Fort Superman” where Batman appears in Superman’s comic. Something I found interesting about this specific issue was the strong female voice that Mia King provides. On the second page, Mia is being carried off by one of her father’s men and she says, “Nice face, freak.” Instead of being scared, Mia doesn’t care that she’s being taken away, she still finds the time to belittle her capturer. In another instance, The Arrow tells Mia he thinks that he deserves an answer as to why he keeps needing to rescue her which she responds by saying, “I don’t answer to you.” From these two instances, Mia illustrates a female figure within comics unafraid of male authority. We haven’t seen that many women in the comics we’ve read demonstrating their fearlessness and refusal to answer to men which I found to be a great progression for the illustration of women in comics.
As Mia King describes the story of her father murdering her mother, I couldn’t help but think about the panel sequence we just reviewed in class in “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises.” In the panel sequence of Mia King’s mother dying, it’s illustrated within 4 panels and the largest panel is the one of her father standing over her mother’s bloody body in the kitchen. This panel is the most graphic out of the entire issue with the blood dripping down the counter, the other fight scenes, I can’t take seriously because the noises of the weapons are largely placed throughout the panels. However, I did notice that this comic is rated T for teen which is necessary considering the comic shows the Arrow getting stabbed and Mia’s mother stabbed to death with blood dripping. Similarly, in “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises,” Miller didn’t hold back on the realistic nature of his fight scenes being graphic and bloody. Mia King and Batman have the recollection of their parent’s death fresh in their minds yet I find Mia’s tragedy to be worse. It wasn’t a random murderer who killed her mother, it was her own father which is an extremely traumatic event to face as a child. I can’t wait to read the next issue in the series to find out what happens next with the Green Lantern being involved with the Green Arrow.
Throughout the issue, Batman, Gotham City, Luthor are mentioned as well as the appearance of the Green Lantern saving Oliver and his friends on the last page. By other superheroes appearing in this issue, it reminded me of Superman’s appearance in “Batman: The Dark Night Rises” as well as the comic strip, “Super-Key to Fort Superman” where Batman appears in Superman’s comic. Something I found interesting about this specific issue was the strong female voice that Mia King provides. On the second page, Mia is being carried off by one of her father’s men and she says, “Nice face, freak.” Instead of being scared, Mia doesn’t care that she’s being taken away, she still finds the time to belittle her capturer. In another instance, The Arrow tells Mia he thinks that he deserves an answer as to why he keeps needing to rescue her which she responds by saying, “I don’t answer to you.” From these two instances, Mia illustrates a female figure within comics unafraid of male authority. We haven’t seen that many women in the comics we’ve read demonstrating their fearlessness and refusal to answer to men which I found to be a great progression for the illustration of women in comics.
As Mia King describes the story of her father murdering her mother, I couldn’t help but think about the panel sequence we just reviewed in class in “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises.” In the panel sequence of Mia King’s mother dying, it’s illustrated within 4 panels and the largest panel is the one of her father standing over her mother’s bloody body in the kitchen. This panel is the most graphic out of the entire issue with the blood dripping down the counter, the other fight scenes, I can’t take seriously because the noises of the weapons are largely placed throughout the panels. However, I did notice that this comic is rated T for teen which is necessary considering the comic shows the Arrow getting stabbed and Mia’s mother stabbed to death with blood dripping. Similarly, in “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises,” Miller didn’t hold back on the realistic nature of his fight scenes being graphic and bloody. Mia King and Batman have the recollection of their parent’s death fresh in their minds yet I find Mia’s tragedy to be worse. It wasn’t a random murderer who killed her mother, it was her own father which is an extremely traumatic event to face as a child. I can’t wait to read the next issue in the series to find out what happens next with the Green Lantern being involved with the Green Arrow.