Thursday, October 11, 2007

Green Arrow/ Black Canary #1

P'Shat

Dinah is stressed out now that she has killed her husband on their wedding night. Connor is worried that she is being too violent in taking down criminals. Dinah, meanwhile, is convinced that the man she killed wasn't really Ollie, but actually an imposter. No one believes her except . . . Batman. Batman and Dr. Midnite conduct an autopsy, in which it is revealed that Oliver Queen was actually being impersonated by Everyman, who is now dead. The 'real' Ollie is now being held captive by fake-Athena and the new-Amazons (an Edie Brickell cover band) on Paradise Island.

Drash

I call this one "Death of an Overused Plot Point." Since the end of '52' in which he was actually a recurring character, Everyman has popped up unexpectedly impersonating (a) Ted Kord in Manhunter; (b) both Sgt. Steel and Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman; and now (c) Ollie Queen in Wedding Specials. And that's just the comics I've read. And '52' has only been over for 20-some weeks.

Some people, I assume, were happy to find out that Oliver Queen was still alive. Others were disappointed. Any thoughts about Ollie I had, though, were drowned out by the thought that I now would not have to read the following storylines:

A. Batman appears to have once again rehabilitated Two Face, only to find out that, in fact, Everyman was impersonating Harvey Dent's Good Side.

B. Everyman replaces 1/3 of Triplicate Girl, and then fights to take over the whole kaboodle when they re-combine.

C. Everyman kills and impersonates Obsidian, effectively taking Everyman out of action for the next three years of Justice Society.

D. In a surprise twist ending, Ion appears to take over Sinestro's body, turning him into a force for good. Unfortunately, Sinestro was only really infiltrated by Everyman, which doesn't turn out quite the same.

E. During a crucial battle with the Hall of Doom guys in Justice League, John Stewart turns for support from his JLA teammates, only to find out that he was alone because Everyman had been impersonating all of them.