Green Arrow, Vol. 2: Sounds of Violence

Green Arrow (2001) (Collected Editions)

by Kevin Smith, Phil Hester (Illustrator), Ande Parks (Illustrator)

In his first story arc on the new GREEN ARROW series (collected in GREEN QUIVER), fan-favorite writer/director Kevin Smith ( Clerks ,  Dogma ,  Jersey Girl ) resurrected the legendary DC hero to huge critical and popular success. He followed it up with the work collected in GREEN THE SOUNDS OF VIOLENCE — a harrowing 128-page trade paperback stylishly rendered by Phil Hester & Ande Parks. This volume collects GREEN ARROW #11-15, including the original painted covers by Matt Wagner, and features an introduction by Hester and a special sketchbook section showcasing his and Parks' dynamic art.This graphic novel puts Oliver Queen and his closest loved ones directly in the madman's bullseye. Plus, the relationship between Ollie and his son/successor Connor Hawke is explored, while Mia — the young girl whom Green Arrow saved — flirts with becoming a new "Speedy." Also, Ollie rekindles his romance with Dinah Lance, a.k.a. Black Canary!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Mystery

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, director, as well as a comic book writer, author, and actor. He is also the co-founder, with Scott Mosier, of View Askew Productions and owner of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic and novelty store in Red Bank, New Jersey. He also hosts a weekly podcast with Scott Mosier known as SModcast. He is also known for participating in long, humorous Q&A Sessions that are often filmed for DVD release, beginning with An Evening with Kevin Smith.

His films are often set in his home state of New Jersey, and while not strictly sequential, they do frequently feature crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon in what is known by fans as the "View Askewniverse", named after his production company View Askew Productions. He has produced numerous films and television projects, including Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this the same Kevin Smith who penned Green Arrow's Vol. 1: Quiver? Whereas I found that book pretty boring - it was talky and severely lacking in action - its follow-up Sounds of Violence (a nice play on words for that title) avoids falling into that same pattern. If only for personal reasons I liked this one much more as Arrow is again paired with Black Canary - one of my favs of the DC ladies - for a good stretch of the story. For example, they head out for a conciliatory dinner and amusingly find themselves interrupting a robbery in progress courtesy of The Riddler and his mooks. The duo quickly takes care of the business at hand, but then they get all hot and bothered (stopping a felony will do that . . . I guess?) and have a wittily-written love scene in the boudoir. It goes just like this:

"I aim to please." -- Green Arrow

"You hit the bullseye . . ." -- Black Canary

"You know, I've shot all of my arrows already." -- Green Arrow

"Oh, come on. Isn't there anything left in that quiver?" -- Black Canary

"I might be able to nock one more." -- Green Arrow

Too much? Well, the other storyline is this volume involves the masked villain Onomatopoeia - who is sort of a cross between Halloween's Michael Myers and a mob hit-man - stalking and killing a few lesser-known costumed vigilantes in Pennsylvania (no!!!) before setting his sights on Arrow and his friends. Smith wisely dials back the earlier humor and really kicks up the action and suspense.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Score: 4.00 out of 5
Grade: 80% (A-) | Great

BLAM – Green Arrow reconciles with his family – BOOM – while a mysterious new killer is hunting down vigilantes – BANG – and Green Arrow is next on the list! Here is my review of Green Arrow Volume 2: Sounds of Violence:



The Good:

I need to start off by mentioning how much more of a badass Ollie was in this story. The first book felt goofy, but this one made him tough and scary. Every time a fight broke out, it felt brutal like there were actual consequences to losing the fight. There’s this darker tone throughout the book, which is also highlighted by our new villain, Onomatopoeia.



Onomatopoeia was such a cool villain and I loved the creative use of this character through the comic book medium. Every ”BLAM” or ”CRUNCH” that he utters gets you hyper-focused on whatever it is he’s going to say and do next. Our introduction to the character is also really dark and sets the tone for this story. What he does to Buckeye and his wife is shocking and gruesome, but in the best way possible – everything you would want from your villain.



I’m so happy Kevin Smith actually made Connor somewhat more interesting in this story. By sharing this bonding moment between Ollie and his son, you begin to grow invested in their relationship. This second volume is more of a father/son story, which was great. It builds on the theme of family and second chances – just your normal superhero, back-from-the-dead, dysfunctional family – and I love it!



With family taking on a larger role in this story, Kevin Smith absolutely nailed all the characters. The dynamic between Dinah and Ollie was great. You begin to understand their complicated past and start rooting for them to get back together. Not only was there a touching moment between Ollie and his son, but also with his surrogate daughter, Mia. She clearly wants to take up the mantel of his sidekick, but Ollie sits her down and has a really great heart-to-heart with her. Heroes really ought to be arrested for putting kids in danger as their sidekicks – *cough* Batman *cough* !



It’s actually funny because when I was going back through my notes, I noticed I wrote a few times, “there’s less writing in this book than the first one.” I don’t think it’s a coincidence since many readers were not a fan of the excessive writing in volume 1. So you hear that fans? Kevin Smith listened to us! In a way, the minimal dialogue worked with this story and the villain of Onomatopoeia, but sometimes it gets annoying when all you’re reading are sound effects.



The Bad:

The first chunk of this story does the “house keeping” for the last book. It gives us the epilogue that should have been at the end of the first book, but I guess the first book was already long enough… This story is also small scale compared to the first story. In some respects, it feels like this story took a step back in terms of its narrative scope, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your thoughts on the first book.



Again, Kevin Smith is great at writing characters, but less so when it comes to the story. One minute, Dinah hates Ollie – questioning why they were together in the first place – then they fight some goons and now she’s all good. They went from “it’s complicated” to “back together” in a matter of a couple pages. I was rooting for them to get back together, but I just didn’t buy how quick and easy it was. There’s also no real resolution for Onomatopoeia, which ends in such a cliché and boring way.



Conclusion:

This was definitely an improvement from the first book! This one was darker, the new villain felt refreshing, and the characters’ dynamics with each other were all great. Some dumb coincidences push the plot forward and we don’t really get much of a resolution for our villain. But it was a fun, quick story with Ollie and the gang reuniting as a family once again.

Recommended for: Fans of Green Arrow and DC Comics, or people who just like saying “BLAM”, “BOOM”, “BANG” a lot.



Thanks for reading! :)

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Ahhhhh. It's so refreshing to get back to the Green Arrow. I have no idea why, but he's my favorite superhero/vigilante. This was an awesome comic, too.

I'm a big fan of the CW show, but I wish they made him more like he is in the comics. I mean, he's pretty hilarious. But the show makes him seem like another Batman. I enjoy the comic version and TV version, but they really could have a blend of humor and seriousness like they do with the Flash show. Because I love Green Arrow's humor and this volume really captures it well. He even does a Batman impression. Hilarious.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Green Arrow adjusts to being alive again with his makeshift family, a killer stalks the streets...

Here we are, Kevin Smith's second Green Arrow book. I'm giving this a 5 because I enjoyed it so much but it's not the same kind of five as the previous volume. Hester and Parks knocked it out of the park again on art and Kevin Smith seems to have really found his groove as a writer. While not a ton of stuff happened until Onomonapea struck close to home, I enjoyed the crap out of Ollie's interplay with Black Canary, his son Connor, and his semi-daughter Mia.

It's too damn bad the run is over. From what I understand, Brad Meltzer picks things up after this. I guess I'll read those too.

[Sans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo much better than the first volume.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first volume. This is a few shorter stories, and didn't quite pack the punch of the earlier issues. Still good, just not as good.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes you're like, "Hey, I remember liking some of Kevin Smith's Green Arrow back in the day, you think it holds up?"

And of course it doesn't. In the last line of dialogue in the book, one character calls another a ''mo,' and that tells you pretty much all you need to know about Kevin Smith's Green Arrow.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really funny writing in Kevin Smith style, just breaking the mold on what we usually find and are use to in DC or Marvel comics, his writing and dialogue makes the characters feel real and there's a lot of funny innuendo jokes.

[Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume of Kevin Smith's run on Green Arrow is superior to the first, I'd say. Smith makes us cheer for Ollie (Grren Arrow) whether he's trying to win back Black Canary's heart, stomping the Riddler, or holding the villain Onomatopoeia at arrow-point.

Speaking of Onomatopoeia, the Smith and Hester created villain really makes this volume creepy. He's a bad guy who says the word of a sound as the sound happens. Upon butchering a minor character in the book, as her blood drips into the water in the bathtub he's killed her in, the psychotic killer merely stands and says, "Drip." Spooky... And a total enigma, too.

I've gotta say, the final showdown in this one, laced with action and intrigue, had me feverishly page-flipping to see waht was going to happen.

All this, paired with Smith's crisp and (sometimes) funny dialogue and Hester's one of a kind art, make this a great read for any fan of Green Arrow or Smith.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oliver Queen fights the villain known as Onomatopoeia (a great, crazy villain in the mode of Batman's best) and forms a new family. He gets reacquainted with Black Canary and mixes it up a bit with Hawkman.

This final volume of Kevin Smith's run is full of great character dialog and scenes full of action. He really humanizes Oliver Queen and makes him realize how much he had lost after he died some time ago. The new addition to the cast, former hooker Mia, who fancies herself the new Speedy, is rather blue with her language, but it's very real, not hokey. Even the reunification sex scene between Oliver and Dinah, filled with tons of innuendo, is sharp and bright.

Damn, I miss this Green Arrow! The New 52 version just doesn't have the emotional depth to him as this one does. It's a shame, really.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hugely disappointing from Kevin Smith (whose work here isn't a patch on his Daredevil) and Phil Hester (whose artwork was so terrific during Mark Millar's run on Swamp Thing). Entire issues pass with little going on. This is pretty much the epitome of an average DC comic, the kind of thing that's always going to be published, and that'll make for a good read in bulk, but that won't set the world on fire - although, bafflingly, this did! The previous collection, Quiver, which I haven't read, much have been much better.

[Chantaal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meeeeh. Kevin Smith was not up to his best writing, the art was blah, and the villain over a couple of issues was totally boring.

Disappointing, but hopefully the series gets better from here after the team change. Or maybe I should just find the arcs that have been recommended and read those alone.

Also, what is with the inconsistent white washing of Connor Hawke? I had to look up his ethnicity to make sure I wasn't seeing things when he was actually colored in the second volume of this series. Yay for mixed heritage heroes, boo for artists and colorists who don't care.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. No kidding on the violence. I mean, graphic novels are often violent but this one seemed particularly so. Good next entry. I don't know if I will continue the series if Kevin Smith doesn't write the rest.

[Danny Roe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what actually happened in this volume. Not a lot of action and the Villain wasn't great. This is a really short volume so didn't have much room for a great story. Advances Queen's return a bit and updates on the relationships but that is all really.

[Jedhua · Rating 4 out of 5]

ABSOLUTE RATING: {3.5/5 stars} (Rounded Down)

STANDARDIZED RATING: <4/5 stars>

[Riley Pilgrim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I was surprised by how much I thoroughly enjoyed this volume. This was Smith's last volume writing Green Arrow, and it's probably the best part of his short stint on the character. The previous book had A TON of baggage, and bases to cover (with y'know... Green Arrow coming back from the dead). Smith had a lot of ground to cover in the last book, and at times was often too much to take in. This time he was finally free to tell a more grounded/self contained Green Arrow story-and I think he succeeded in that.

The two main parts of this book are Ollie and Dinah reigniting their relationship, and finally moving past all their issues. I loved this, as I'm a big softy for this pairing; It's like Peter and MJ, Green Arrow and Canary just have to be together. So yeah I really liked this part, and seeing Ollie finally taking in Mia as his adoptive daughter was sweet too. The last part of this book was Green Arrow dealing with this serial killer who critically wounds his son Connor. The mystery was the best part, and how unsettling the killer was. Would love to see more of him, as the book ends on a "he'll for sure show up again."

Overall really solid book, with some great stories. Smith's writing isn't over bearing like before, and he has a fun way of writing the Arrow family. I'm enjoying diving into Green Arrow comics, and he's become a character I enjoy reading.

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman aparece para salir de dudas, Demon, por ahi Hal Jordan en modo espectro para explicar cosas por aquí y por allá, con cameitos de un Flash muerto, el Phantom stanger y otro mas.

LO BUENO: Kevin Smith se calma y explica muchas mas cosas, que paso con Oliver, cual es su estatus quo, porque Hal lo resucita, y todo el circulo de cercanos hace cosas y tiene su momento, me guasto mucho la llegada de Connor, los diálogos ganan en fuerza, mientras que Phil Hester y Ande Parks se sienten mas fluidos, mas potentes, y ganan un montón, desde ese épico Connor que aparece en pagina completa, la rastra de demonios que quieren comerse a todos, y su Espectro da cosa.Y s eme olvidaba, pero hay unas portadas de Matt Wagner que te dejan boquiabierto, en especial la de Oliver y Connor espalda contra espalda. Aplausos.

LO MALO: La historia del anciano mago-maligno que busca un demonio perruno...¿en serio?, de que capitulo de Power Rangers salio esto.

[Vaughn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is second (and last) volume of Kevin Smiths Green Arrow run.

Now that Oliver is back alive, the first couple issues of this volume deal with him reconnecting with Black Canary and his son Conner. After that, we're introduced to an creepy new villain named Onomatopoeia who is going around killing D-list super heroes. He encounters Green Arrow when he targets Conner.

Onomatopoeia is an awesome villain. He doesn't talk, he just repeats sounds that he hears (for example, saying "Creeeeek" when a door opens or "Blam" when he shoots his gun). He would appear again in later Kevin Smith Batman books, notably Batman: Cacophony and The Widening Gyre.

All in all, this was a great book, even better then volume 1.

[Arthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this volume. I love the Arrow family on their own and to see them together in a book made me love them more. I have two issues with this book though. 1) All of the female characters look the same. I couldn't tell Black Canary from Mia from Stargirl and that lead to some very confusing moments. 2) Theres an entire sequence in which Black Canary is stark naked and it just doesn't make any sense. Dinah would definitely throw on an outfit before dealing with two knuckleheads fighting over her love life.

[Ava :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this really exemplifies what i love most abt dc comics-the family aspect. The first two issues are kinda one shots with some fun character beats, mostly focusing on Mia and Dinah and their relationship to Ollie. The sounds of violence arc follows this and okay. green arrow is not the coolest superhero. i mean look at him. but this arc? him saying that if my kid dies so do you? thats cool as hell. and also the very last page was just. perfect. (though the serious lack of roy harper does draw some questions)

[Drake Zappa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! An amazingly written Green Arrow with the introduction to one of my all time favourite villains, Onomatopoeia. There were alot of great character moments and interesting pieces of dialogue throughout this book and a great understand of the comics medium from both Smith and Hester here. I honestly think Onomatopoeia is a genius concept for a villain and love his appearance here, he's unsettling and cold with a twisted dark humor to boot! Overall I highly recommend this book, the hardcover I have is a lovely edition that I'm happy to have on my shelf to top it all off!

[Mr. Green arrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the best g.a stories I've ever read. Hell, maybe one of the best comics I've read. This story introduces onamonapeia (I think that's spelled right.) who in my personal opinion, is one of dc comics' best villians, up there with deathstroke and joker, and the story itself talks about what family means to Oliver, and how far he'll go to protect his family. Overall, just a (very) good comic.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man this has not aged well over the years. Onomatopoeia is a dull, gimmicky, one-note character, and Smith’s dialogue gets even more rapey/misogynistic than it was in “Quiver.” Mia’s “hooker with heart of gold” character is hollow and uninteresting, and every character’s interaction with her is a joke in poor taste. I LOVE Green Arrow, and I started reading the character with Smith’s “reboot,” but it does not stand the test of time. Woof.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story picks up steam here but after the main story wraps up we get a couple short stories that don't add much in my opinion. Overall, it's a pretty good story-arc and I'd definitely try another Kevin Smith comic after enjoying this and his Daredevil book.

[শিফাত মহিউদ্দিন · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much better than the first volume. The antagonist really interests me. Hope to see in the next ones where the consequences lead.

[Jedi Master Nate Lightray · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you were a comic reader in the 90s, this is for you. It’s a culmination of events in Oliver’s life by Kevin Smith. However, if you want to start reading here, it’s a little top-heavy. I adore it.

[Aidan Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite not being able to write women well, Kevin Smith can write the heck out of Green Arrow.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Amna · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much better than Quiver. Onomatopoeia is pretty gimmicky, but I kinda love it.

[Chris Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

now that all the rebirth crap is over,
good shit!
love the explanation of why the need for a new level of violence is nessisary in the modern age.