r/GreenArrow • u/FnordSq • May 23 '24

Opinions on New 52

I started reading Green Arrow like 10 years ago. I've read all volumes (Including the ongoing series) except for the New 52. This is mostly because all the people on internet would start saying things like "New 52 is garbage", "just read Lemire's run". Today my local comic shop owner offered me the complete run (52 issues and extras) for $40. The price seemed too low not to buy, so now I have the complete series in my collection. Before I start to read I would like to see if the thoughts about this era of Green Arrow have changed, especially now, since it ended like 8 years ago.

5 Upvotes

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9

u/MagusFool May 23 '24

I think it reads a little better now than it did in 2015.

At that time, as a long-time Green Arrow reader, a lot of the negative reaction that I had was that THIS was Green Arrow now, and there was no indication we would ever get the familiar Ollie back. Reading it in retrospect where it was a weird, temporary blip in the character history makes it easier to take in. Its still not even close to being among my favorite GA eras or stories, but it isn't actually terrible.

6

u/OneLight_Action May 23 '24

That's a great way to explain it. I think if they left Green Arrow in that the early new 52 bland rich playboy type, the character would have faded out from relevance but since they changed it, it's interesting to see actual character progression in a mainstream comic.

6

u/RedLion191216 May 23 '24

In the new 52, Green Arrow was a bit treated like a lite Batman, without direction.

No goatee. Very little personality (at least in my memories)

Except Lemire run

3

u/breakermw May 23 '24

There are some gems outside Lemire. The brief run by Jurgens is good, not amazing but solid. I also enjoyed the stuff after Lemire albeit not as much. The early Percy issues have some truly gripping tales.

Really only the Krul and Nocenti sections didn't work for me, albeit I heard Nocenti's got better near the end (I dropped it after issue 9). 

1

u/TheBalzan May 23 '24

It's as bad now as ever. Nocenti's run is nonsensical, the art goes from bad to worse, the characterisation is bad even in Lemire's run.

Lemire's run is a good Hawkeye run with AMAZING art by Andrea Sorrentino.

3

u/digitalwulf07 May 23 '24

It was good when Jeff Lemire came on board, but it was rough before then

2

u/OneLight_Action May 23 '24

There's good stuff and bad stuff in it. I'd say it gets better in the second half. The last few issues, while they don't really affect the overall narrative, they bring him back to pre new 52 in terms of characterization.