An incredible issue to close out Tomasi's run on the series. Beautiful exploration of what makes Superman great.

Very excited now to see where this run goes. These two seem to have a much better understanding of the character than Benjamin Percy did, and in the short bit we saw of Black Canary, it looks like she will be better as well. This was just a one-off comic and it doesn't do a whole lot story-wise, but I liked the tone. Only one or two pieces of bad dialogue (something that plagued Percy's run), which for a comic book, is excellent.

I seem to be in the minority that wasn't that big on Percy's run (at least not enough to support it for 50 consecutive issues) so this was refreshing in a way. This is a very temporary team, but I like the direction they took the series. I like that the politics in this issue actually make sense in a real world environment, as opposed to Percy's run, where the stories are political simply because the villains are libertarians. The dialogue in this issue, especially at the beginning, is a bit awkward. I'm not a big fan of the art, which was great with the last creative team. Oliver makes some weird facial expressions that make him look inhuman. Overall, this was a solid Green Arrow comic.

Predictable. I enjoyed the first issue just because it was very grounded--I found it refreshing after Percy's run. But ultimately, this 2 issue arc is a poor Green Arrow story. Really, at this point in the series, readers are looking to watch Green Arrow show his political wisdom, not watch him learn a new lesson. Here's an idea for a quick fix: Have a team of newbie superheroes trying to save this town, being ignorant of how complex the political issue is, and then have Oliver come in and be the voice of reason and call out their colonialist/white savior attitudes. This really would be a more interesting conflict and also would allow Green Arrow to be smart again, which is something that is very much needed. I like the concept but it just felt like a surface level comic only hinting at deeper issues without actually confronting them, going for a sentimental family-driven ending (out of left field) instead.

The two issue arc leads to a bit of a rushed feeling story with a lot of exposition, but Scott has an excellent understanding of the character and sets up some very fun action scenes. The ways in which the character is explored could be a little more subtle--Ollie basically narrates his own personality "I have a high tolerance for pain and a massive ego," but regardless this issue captures his charismatic grit. I'm definitely looking forward to the conclusion.

The politics in this comic are very smart, and I enjoyed it as a whole. However, if this is ultimately the conflict that the story was going to end up with, then thematically this should have been there from the very beginning. I wish Scott had been more bold with his 2 issue arc and just made it entirely about Oliver's problem with Parasite's handling in prison. Either way, this was another very good issue and really extracted the potential out of Oliver's character in the way all of the best Green Arrow comics do.

A good but flawed debut for the new team. What I loved: * Acknowledging Oliver's chili recipe for the first time in a long while. * Black Canary already seems to be more integral and authentic to the story. * The story seems to be much more simplistic than the stuff Percy was trying, which should give us a much less convoluted plot and more time for character depth. What I didn't like: * Oliver at Queen Industries again? How many times is he going to go back and forth? I really think he's more interesting with a modest income. Given the twist at the end, it feels like they brought this back purely for plot reasons. Hopefully he (once again) gives up his company by the end of this arc. * The internal monologue is way too on the spot and expository. * Dialogue has some really clunky moments, which once again root from it being too exposition-heavy. * Characters' faces are sometimes just drawn at really weird positions. * The plot is pretty cliche and I'm generally weary of villains showing up for the first time on a TV screen in front of the whole city.

It still bothers me that the Bensons decided to make Oliver a millionaire again. It's hard for me to accept this change and so I'll continue to whine about that. However, the dynamic between Oliver and Dinah is so much better than it was with Percy--Black Canary is more than just a generic flirt with the Bensons writing. I also enjoy that they have made an effort to make chili such a theme again, as I always loved that part of the character's history and it's been missing for some time. The main problem with this issue is that Oliver's emotional fallout from finding out he killed somebody as a drunken teenager is not done in a believable way. There are a couple of panels that I think captured his mood well from an artistic standpoint but other than that we just hear his feelings about it through short segments of his own dialogue, and then he claims that he is starting to feel better because Dinah made him chili? Hopefully next issue really gets into more of the gritty feelings and really shows the core of his character. Sometimes its better to stray away from generic action plots, and that moment is now. In the end, issue 44 was almost good...with a fatal flaw.

I'm never a fan of comic book deaths. With that said, I do think it made for a very important Green Arrow issue and a good one at that. It has been a while since anyone has focused this psychologically on Ollie's character, which to me have always been the best Green Arrows. So, props to the Benson's for doing that right. Some of the specific ways in which Oliver deals with the grief are just common tropes, though, like asking Hal to create something with his ring that brings Roy back. The flaw in this issue just comes from a lack of originality that could have made it more powerful. However, the Confucius quote about archers was a nice touch. I've heard some complaints about the art which is interesting because I thought it was pretty expressive and had some nice imagery. Great issue all around.

I'm actually liking this Benson run quite a bit at this point. These are all flawed issues, but they get the kind of tone I like to see from Green Arrow. With that said, I do think this issue was the least character-driven so far. I think this is because they felt a need to catch up after the Roy Harper issue, and the pacing is maybe a bit too fast. Either way, I like the direction the story takes--Oliver discovering that he actually is innocent, and the plot twist at the end as well. I'm looking forward to the rest of their run. In the end, when it comes to Green Arrow, my favorite superhero, I'd rather have a respectable writer whose concept of the character I agree with but writes flawed stories than someone who writes good stories that don't ring true to the character.

Chaotic issue but brings together an interesting plot. My least favorite part of this issue is the back and forth between Barry and Wally in the middle of action scenes. It just felt childish--the end of this issue is really what sold it for me in the end.

Some nice art but what is this nonsense? Action Comics is actually pretty decent right now but this is like a satire of a bad Superman story. There's no humanity in this.