Book Review – Arrow, Volume 1

I got a galley copy of the first collection of the Arrow tie-in comic (issues 1-6 and the #1 special edition) and while it certainly has the feel of the show down for the serious parts, it’s sorely lacking the humor and charm of Amell’s ‘hood’.  It also makes little sense unless you are keeping up with the show, as characters appear and disappear, and you have to know why.  Like, one day, Diggle is just there helping Ollie.  Where’d he come from?  We see a vignette from his time in the Army, but you have to watch the show to know where that fits in.

Each issue is a series of stories of Oliver marking names of the list and taking out crooks.  The art fits the ‘dark and edgy’ universe being built on the CW, though the dark part makes it tough to see what’s what and who’s who at times.  It’s an easily skippable series unless you are a huge fan of Arrow.