Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters - Book Three: Tracking Snow

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters

by Mike Grell, Lurene Haines (Contributor)

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters Book Three: Tracking Snow

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

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Mike Grell (born 1947) is a comic book writer and artist.

Grell studied at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Chicago Academy of Fine Art, and took the Famous Artists School correspondence course in cartooning. His entry into the comics industry was in 1972, as an assistant to Dale Messick on the Brenda Starr comic strip.

In 1973 Grell moved to New York, and began his long relationship with DC Comics. His first assignment at DC was on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, a high-profile assignment for an artist with no prior experience illustrating a monthly comic book. Grell says he got that job because he was walking in the editor's door to ask for work, literally, as the previous artist was walking out the door, having just quit. These stories were written by Cary Bates and Jim Shooter. The Bates/Grell/Shooter run on the title is very well-regarded today by Superboy/Legion fans, who consider it one of the high-water marks in the character/team's history. Grell's work on SATLOSH is widely thought to be some of the best beefcake/cheesecake ever committed to comic book pages, and is affectionately referred to as the 'disco Legion' in retrospect by fans of the title.

A writer as well as artist, Grell cemented his status as a fan-favorite with his best-known creation, The Warlord, one of the first sword and sorcery comics, and reportedly the best-selling title published by DC Comics in the late-1970s.

The character first appeared in 1st Issue Special #8 (Nov 1975) and was soon given his own ongoing title (The Warlord #1, Jan/Feb 1976). In this book, Air Force pilot Travis Morgan crash-lands in the prehistoric "hidden world" of Skartaris (a setting highly influenced by Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar). For years thereafter, Morgan engages in adventures dressed only in a winged helmet, wristbands, boots, and breechclout, and armed with a sword and (years before Dirty Harry handled one) a .44 Auto Mag.

At DC, Grell also worked on titles such as Aquaman, Batman, and the Phantom Stranger, and with writer Dennis O'Neil on the re-launch of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series in 1976.


[edit] Tarzan
Grell wrote and drew the Tarzan comic strip from July 19, 1981 to February 27, 1983 (except for one strip, February 13, 1983, by Thomas Yeates). These strips were rerun in newspapers in 2004 - 2005.


[edit] First Comics: Jon Sable Freelance and Starslayer

Cover to Jon Sable Freelance #7. Art by Mike Grell.Through the 1980s Grell developed creator-owned titles such Jon Sable Freelance and Starslayer. Jon Sable Freelance was published by the now-defunct First Comics. Starslayer, a space-born science fiction series, started at Pacific Comics, but shifted to First.

The titular character of Jon Sable Freelance was a former Olympic athlete, later a African big-game hunter, who became a mercenary. First appearing with a cover date of June 1983, Jon Sable Freelance was a successful non-super-hero comic book in an era when successful non-super-hero comic books were almost unheard of, and a graphically violent comic sold in mainstream comic book stores in an era when such was as rare. Jon Sable was a precursor to what would eventually be called, by some, "the Dark Age of Comics," when even long-established super-heroes would become increasingly grim and violent.

The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's James Bond novels as well as drawing on pulp fiction crime stories. Also, many of the stories of Sable's hunting exploits in Africa were influenced by Peter Hathaway Capstick's novels. At a convention in the late 1980s, Grell stated that his idea for Sable was "something like a cross between James Bond and Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer."

Sable was adapted into a short-lived television series and the character's origin tale, "A Storm Over Eden," from the comic book, was expanded and novelized by Grell under the title Sable, which was publ

Reviews

[Alexandra Elend Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I had forgotten how LOUD the silence can be."

In this third issue, we finally get so the unfolding of the events and Shado and Oliver meeting.

The story was good, everything was resolved in a most realistic way giving true place to the real problems a situation like this would encounter, and yet I did not felt that trump of adrenaline when the action started - action? There was barely anything there - so accounting for that we have the rating.

The illustrations kinda grew on me. I still don't think of them as my favorites or anything, but I felt more at ease with them and enjoyed them more. They truly are fine works of art, they're just not my type.

I liked Sado's back story, it truly shows just how good she is at this and the drive that she obviously has. I hope I get to encounter her later on.

In the end, I think this was a nice enough story that kept me interested and enjoying my time.

[Cybernex007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just the epitome of everything Green Arrow should be, what a way to refine it and bring GA into the modern era. Action packed and filled with political commentary. I missed out so hard on not reading this before starting the main run but I’m so happy I went back. First off, I want to mention the art again as I have failed to mention how amazing the double spread cover art is throughout this series. Every issue just better than the last! And I shouldn’t even have to say how good the art is inside, but I will say I especially love those moments where Ollie’s eyes are closed and it appears he has whites in his mask covering his pupils, that looks so good! As we jump into this issue we see immediately hit with horror through Ollie’s mind as he struggles to rest after the last issue, he has become stricken with bad
dreams as the monster who tortured Dinah and he killed haunts every moment of it. Is this what he is destined for, to burn with the man he slayed? Suddenly a nurse is waking him up in the hospital as he sits by Dinah’s bed side in full GA gear. That is one thing I love about GA, he isn’t batman and isn’t one to slip away from a moment. Instead opting to talk out of it any change he gets…such as when the lieutenant comes by to talk to him and doesn’t buy his story for a moment that he doesn’t know the girl (Dinah, but she’s currently a Jane Doe). The current story is that GA went by and happened to save her when he noticed the fire, but the LT knows there is more to this especially when they found dog tags on the old guy, Jankowski, but couldn’t find any military records. Ollie immediately ties it back to the Robin Hood killings, none of the other victims had military records even though they were the age for it. So who is powerful enough to erase military records like this? The LT doesn’t even want to think about it, but Ollie warns him that he better as sooner or later he will have to deal with it…or Ollie will. As we see in this issue, the sooner comes almost immediately. But the LT also noticed something particular about the fire, it was intense but they found a few melted fragments that look like arrowheads. And if you squint it looks like two different kinds, but I guess unless the lady on that hospital room starts talking…they’ll never know for sure…heh.

Ollie continues his investigation into Shado by hitting up a tattoo shop. Where he finds out the tattoo design is in the style of a master who died sometime before 1960, but that’s not right…the person wearing it would have been a child when the work was done. The artist assumes that maybe their father was yakuza, the person wearing it would be a servant or soldier to the Oyabun, or godfather, as it’s not decorative enough for the upper class. The dragon denotes wealth, but is also a symbol for power. A kicker may wear it on their leg…or an archer their arm. The artists actually asks of the guy with the tattoo was missing a finger, Ollie pointed out they weren’t and the guy was impressed. Usually she. They mess up they pay the price by slicing off a finger, of they still have all of them they must be really tough. Ha, yeah.

As the next scenes play out, Grell makes the interesting choice of laying out the next steps for the drug smugglers, while including the history of Shado on the outlines of the pages. Which I would like to talk about first as it is way more interesting. We actually see the time when the tattoo master created the dragon tattoo on Shado when she was a mere child. When then see as she grows up trained by the yakuza to be a powerful archer until it is finally revealed to her by her Oyabun why they have supported her. All she was told during her upbringing is that she owes a debt of honor which she must pay, and the dragon is a reminder of that debt she must bear. The Oyabun reveals that her father was a friend who he loved like a brother, and who he sent overseas with war looming in the horizon to try and Star a business in America with 2 million dollars. But when the war came he was out in an interment camp (let’s call it what it is, it’s a concentration camp) for Japanese immigrants because they were recognizable as immigrants. During his time there evil me. At the camp discovered his secret and hunted him after the war, they forced him to give up the treasure by torturing and killing her mother, and he returned to Japan and asked to be allowed to commit Hara-Kiri to atone the dishonor. She was but an infant when passed into the care of the Yakuza, and she has been trained for the purpose of avenging her father’s shame. But they didn’t just throw her out in the world on her own, the spent the next years finding the soldiers responsible, a tough task due to their records being covered up, and sent her to live in peace until she was called to pay the debt. WOW, that’s a pretty terrible situation all around. Really screw these guys, honestly their past should have caught up to them a long time ago.

Back with Magnor and his contact, Osborne, with his “protections,” we find out that he is still on thin once with all the trouble he is causing and Osborne is about ready to pull out, especially after one of their own men were caught in the fire at the docks. If anything ruins the shipment tomorrow then he will make sure that Magnor goes down, but Magnor continues to assure him that nothing will happen and that his people are professionals and the shipment will go as planned. But Osborne is also worried that the snooper’s body wasn’t found in the warehouse. Which is why he has also hired a gun named Eddie Fyers (HEY, I’ve seen him in the main series going up against Ollie, fun!) to provide security for the drop tomorrow. As Osborne and Fyers left, he let the gun know that he’d like him to start searching for the girl after the drop tomorrow, and to start with the hospitals based on the shape she was in.

As Ollie leaves the tattoo shop a woman digging through trash yells to him that she saw the woman and she gave her two dollars, when Ollie questions her on what woman…she claims the dragon lady gave her two dollars and a message for him. Ollie starts trying to get her to tell him the message, and that’s when she confirms he is the one she is looking for and she can tell based on that beard, mustached and tight buns, lol. She recited this message that basically surmounts to a meeting location, but the woman grabs her glass and shopping cart and rolls away talking about how it was a sign and she’s going to bet on it. But what Ollie probably failed to see is that the woman’s sleeve rolled up on one side to reveal a dragon tattoo on her arm. HAHAHA, Shado I didn’t know you could act?!

Using a map Ollie is able to go to the location Shado described in the middle of the woods, destination nowhere. But wow Grell went above and beyond with these forest scenes, absolutely gorgeous. Did he take the company card on a remote vacation and this was the proof it should have been a business expense or what? Because it was 100% worth it! As Ollie makes his way to the location he finds Shado there waiting for him, naturally like their first meeting they need to talk while having their bows drawn at each other. Shado basically proposes that they are alike, he wants Magnor for what he did to Dinah and she wants him for what he did to her honor. But Ollie knows nothing about that, he is here to finish what Dinah started and destroy this drug operation. But Shado could have killed Ollie many times by now, she brought him out here because she wants him to finish this. But she wants a pledge from him, he can do what he wants with the others but Magnor is hers. He must die by her hand. Ollie can’t just stand by and watch her kill a man in cold blood…but that is exactly what Shado did when she watched Ollie kill the man who was torturing Dinah. Could he not have stopped them without killing?

“I once said you haven’t the eyes of a killer. They’ve changed…as you have. You can never go back. Not can I. We must see this through…or we can end it here and now.”

Suddenly the helicopter from the smugglers go over head as both archers look up, as Ollie looks back to Shado she is already gone. Magnor, Osborne, and a helicopter full of guns her out into the snow in the middle of nowhere. They spreads their men out for a security perimeter, and as it turns out Fyers is already here and waiting in the tree line watching them all with a sniper rifle. Magnor has been making shipments here for the last five years without a hitch, they have stuff come out of Central America, board a ship, then have it taken off the ship by a regularly scheduled helicopter. It never is down for more than a minute and no one notices. But then we really get a bomb drop from these guys as everything they’ve said previously starts to make sense when Osborne mentions that this time it will be used for a “patriotic” mission. OF COURSE. The “protections” constantly under threat of being taken away and the need for high security, THIS IS A CIA MISSION! They are channeling untraceable cash to countries in need of “democracy.” Suddenly the second helicopter with the shipment comes in and touched down with an entire case worth of high quality drugs. Classic CIA tactics, but drugs from countries to fuel their militias and provide them with the means to buy weapons to spread democracy, then channel those drugs right back into low income communities. As all of this is unfolding and they are taking a moment to test the drugs, Shado locks Magnor in her sights and draws her bow back. GA notices her and aims his bow right at her! Suddenly he launched his arrow and it passes right over her arm as she lets her arrow loose…only for Ollie’s bow to go right into Fyer’s in the tree line next to Shado! But as Ollie’s arrow goes into Eddie, he fires his gun off into the air and Magnor lifts the briefcase up defensively…causing Shado’s arrow to deflect off the car and hit a different man entirely. The entire group runs for their copters, and as the gunmen start firing shots at Ollie sending him running, Shado starts firing arrows into gunmen after gunmen. Even taking one down hanging out from the window of a helicopter taking off. The second helicopter leaves Osborne behind and sees Ollie standing on a cliffs edge and attempts to double back and scrape him off it. But suddenly they noticed Ollie was nowhere to be found, they double back only to see him standing in a tree with his bow drawn for them! Suddenly the helicopter explodes, but it was not because of Ollie. Shado is standing on the cliffs edge where the helicopter once hovered. Ollie runs over to find Osborne dumping all of the drugs into the river. But even though he dumping the evidence, ollie claims he won’t be getting away with this. But Osborne is smart and knows his place. Get away with what? Ollie has no evidence to back his claims of drug smuggling to channel funds from the Iran arms deal to Nicaraguan contras. Plus the money Ollie has as evidence is clean, and Osborne never touched it without his gloves. Plus is GA really going to be testifying in a court of law? Osborne laughs in Ollie’s face as his brand of Justice really only works in the streets. Plus the “company” isn’t supposed to work within the US, in fact Ollie will find Osborne wasn’t here at all. As Osborne hands the duffel bag full of money back to Ollie, he claims GA just for a massive raise and there is more where that came from. “But you better hope the IRS doesn’t find out. Those guys have no sense of humor at all.”

As we find our way back in Seattle, Magnor comes back to his office to find Ollie waiting for him. Magnor commends GA for the job he did screwing up his operation, and is a little surprised to find him working with the Yakuza. Magnor then begins to go into his own decrepit side of the story. He used to be in the OSS during the was, and was in charge of a Japanese concentration camp in Idaho. They conducted investigations on all the prisoners and came across the link between a man named Tomonaga and the Yakuza and even found out about the two million he was given to lay groundwork for expansion into the US. He was a tough nut and they didn’t get anything out him. The war ended and everyone was cut loose, but in 1950 he had a reunion with his old outfit and they decided to track the guy down and take what he had. It was easier to crack him then because of his wife and baby daughter and after Jankowski had his way with the wife the man cracked and the walked away with real money. Ollie realizes he used his influence with the OSS, which became the CIA, to erase their military records. Magnor explains that a few of the guys used their share for small business, most of them spent all of it, but Magnor and Cronan threw in together to start this company and occasionally hire some of the old outfits to keep them happy. But as he has learned the Yakuza had a long memory. But Magnor reveals why he is telling GA all of this, he figured already that of Ollie was with the yakuza he would be dead already. Which means that GA simply has no evidence to support any accusations, and no one with Osborne is going to testify without revealing their own operation. So it’s going to be business as usual and there is nothing GA can do about it. All the while Ollie has been sitting off to the side playing with a chess board, and as Magnor says this he flips over a black Queen to signify checkmate. That’s when Ollie comes back that he has someone who will swear under oath that he saw Magnor give the order to whack Iggy Brown (the drug dealer who was with Dinah). Magnor lashes out as that is a complete lie, and Ollie admits that it is. But Magnor also had no alibi to back it up without Osborne, which they both know is not possible. As Ollie turns to walk away he makes a comment about Magnor hanging for this, and in his rage Magnor reaches I to his desk for a gun…only for a black arrow to crash through the window…swiftly killing Magnor. Whelp, I guess Ollie setup Shado for self defense on that one.

As the issue comes to an end we find Ollie laying his head down next to Dinah at her bedside, at this point I don’t think there is a chance in hell Eddie is following up with her. Dinah claims when she gets out she is still ripping to go and take down that entire unit, but Ollie lets her know that’s it’s already over and they got all of them. He may talk about it, but not today. Right now he wants to talk about them, he has realized she was right about marriage and kids and he’s sorry he didn’t realize it until now. Dinah apologizes for blaming him when it’s just the world they live in. Ollie claimed to be more grateful for what he has now, but still hopes that maybe someday…and Dinah agrees…maybe…especially if the day comes to hang up the hero business. BUT HEY, don’t know the hero business…Ollie got one hell of a raise today! Hahahaha. I mean it’s technically really clean money, didn’t get the chance to get any blood on it.

[Michael Jacoby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read these. That is all.

[Variaciones Enrojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primera edición española. Tomo final.
Reseña de Víctor José Rodríguez para Zona Negativa:
http://www.zonanegativa.com/aniversar...

No queríamos cerrar el 2017 sin dedicarle un pequeño homenaje a una de las obras más grandes en la historia de Green Arrow, e incluso una de las mejores de DC Cómics, que ha cumplido 30 años. Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters se publicó entre agosto y octubre de 1987. Escrito y dibujado genialmente por Mike Grell, uno de los autores más importantes y prolíficos de nuestro querido Robin Hood. Esta miniserie es un punto de inflexión, el magnum opus en la biografía de un personaje con un tremendo potencial que durante décadas ha sido un secundario de lujo en el universo DC.

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters narra una historia oscura con un tono muy adulto. Indaga en la madurez del héroe, de su responsabilidad a la hora de decidir cómo compaginar su vida diaria con su lucha contra el crimen. Pero es además una historia que toca la corrupción, el mercado de las drogas, la violencia callejera, la inseguridad en las calles y los límites legales de la justicia, con una subtrama acerca del honor de una familia japonesa. Es una trama con varios frentes que se van reduciendo número a número, desarrollándose poco a poco y resolviéndose con unas tremendas imágenes de gran impacto y una calidad de mucho nivel.

Oliver Queen es un héroe de 43 años que ya ha vivido sus días de gloria. Contempla con nostalgia el pasado y piensa en un futuro alejado de la lucha, rodeado de una familia. Su vida ha dejado atrás el tope de su estado físico, aunque, sigue combatiendo en las calles gracias a su experiencia, su conocimiento de los suburbios y su puntería, que sigue siendo finísima. Comparte su vida con Dinah Lance, quien está más centrada que él en seguir siendo una heroína y no tiene planes familiares a corto plazo. Acaban de mudarse a Seattle, donde hay una oleada de asesinatos de prostitutas apuñaladas y de hombres mayores, sin historial militar, atravesados por una flecha negra.
Grell narra una historia en la que chocaban los planes de un héroe maduro y cansado con el de una de espíritu joven, mientras ponía sobre la mesa dos casos para investigar, que más adelante se juntaban de una manera magistral. A lo largo de sus páginas hay referencias al pasado de Green Arrow, habla de la época en la que Roy Harper, Speedy/Arsenal/Red Arrow tuvo problemas con las drogas y narra su propio origen, contando cómo cayó al mar mientras viajaba en barco y acabó en una isla, donde tuvo que aprender a sobrevivir y vivió sus primeras experiencias heroicas, volviendo a su mundo siendo una persona totalmente nueva, con un nuevo objetivo: ser un héroe.

Plantea además el histórico debate acerca del deber de los héroes de matar o evitar hacerlo, confiando en la justicia. En una situación desesperada, con Dinah siendo torturada por un traficante, al borde de la muerte, Oliver se ve obligado a disparar a matar una de sus flechas para salvarle la vida. Este hecho le marca, sueña con el momento en el número final de la miniserie, y también lo recuerda en posteriores números de la serie regular. El debate sobre la muerte se hace más visible cuando conoce a Shado, personaje de vital importancia en las colecciones de Green Arrow que hace su primera aparición en esta historia. Shado vive para la venganza y camina sobre la delgada línea que separa a los asesinos de los que matan por una buena causa. El origen de la chica se narra con un tono espiritual, casi místico, profundizando en el arte del tiro con arco.
No es el único personaje que aparece por primera vez en estas páginas, pues Mike Grell dio vida también a unos personajes secundarios que acompañarían a partir de entonces a Oliver en sus historias: el teniente Jim Cameron, el agente renegado de la CIA Greg Osborne y a Eddie Fyers, un mercenario que empezó siendo un villano y acabó siendo un aliado.

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters fue nominada en 1988 al Premio Eisner como mejor serie limitada, premio que ese año ganó nada más y nada menos que Watchmen . Sirvió de inspiración para la serie de televisión Arrow, cuyas primeras temporadas basan su argumento en la presencia de Oliver en una isla, donde aprende a usar el arco y se convierte en el justiciero encapuchado. Además, dio pie a la segunda serie propia del personaje, que salió a la venta en febrero de 1988, siendo la primera cabecera regular, pues la primera propia duró solo cuatro números en 1983. El mismo autor se mantuvo al frente del título durante 80 números que se alargaron durante seis años de aventuras. Ésta fue siendo la serie más longeva de Green Arrow hasta la fecha, pues concluyó en noviembre de 1998 después de 139 números.

No solo el guión de la historia es de un enorme calibre, el dibujo de Mike Grell en los tres números de The Longbow Hunters es fantástico. Su estilo, serio, elegante, destinado a un público adulto, es realista, expresivo, con una narración casi cinematográfica que denota el enorme talento del autor. El color de Julia Lacquement, que acompañó a Grell en su andadura con el personaje, es una maravilla. La paleta de colores variada y bien tonificada transmite la dosis de realismo y crudeza necesaria para cohesionar con el dibujo y dar un mayor empaque a la historia. Es digna de mención una curiosa costumbre que se repite en los tres números: en un momento de clímax, cuando dos personajes están conversando sobre un tema vital, el momento más álgido, el de la frase lapidante, se sitúa en una viñeta en la que aparece la cara del personaje que habla en primer plano, con un coloreado en grises que le da una dureza y un impacto espectacular. Un ejemplo de la magia artística que lograron juntos Grell y Lacquement.

Desde que Green Arrow fuera creado en More Fun Comics #73, en noviembre de 1941, ha pasado por muchísimas etapas, muchas recordables y muchas olvidadas. Tardó más de cuarenta años en tener su propia serie con su nombre, demasiado. Actualmente se encuentra en el séptimo volumen de su cabecera, con un nivel enorme. Personalmente creo que The Longbow Hunters y su continuación es la mejor etapa del personaje, junto a las que protagoniza junto a Black Canary de Judd Winick y Cliff Chiang, su célebre equipo con Green Lantern de Adams y O’Neal y el arco argumental Quiver (Carcaj) de Kevin Smith y Phil Hester.
The Longbow Hunters fue publicado en España por Ediciones Zinco en 1988, en formato grapa y respetando las portadas originales, como Flecha Verde: El Cazador Acecha. La influencia de la miniserie fue tal que la serie regular, publicada poco después, llevó el mismo subtítulo durante los tres primeros números. Casi 20 años después, en julio de 2007, Planeta DeAgostini Cómics lo reeditaría en un tomo. Diez años después, hace unos meses, ECC Ediciones lo publicó nuevamente para su Colección de Novelas Gráficas, bajo el título El Arco del Cazador, incluyendo en el mismo tomo el Adventure comics #256, una aventura de la Edad de Oro que vio la luz en enero de 1959.

[Chris Vest · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid ending!

[OinkFish Pigs · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10

[ComicBookCult Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid conclusion to a great Green Arrow run, serious in town, violent and real. These three issues play out like an 80’s action movie.

[Bridgettearlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice conclusion

What I think I like best about this conclusion is that BC and GA, while coming out alright in the end, don't exactly get their way. And I know I'm suppose to side with Oliver's no kill policy, but how can you not root for Shado?

[Dony Grayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tengo la primera impresión, ignoro si hubo segunda pero seguro que sí. También tengo la historia completa incluida en un coleccionable de Salvat. No tiene ISBN pero es un libro con lomo, habría que subir las ediciones con lomo sin ISBN ni ASIN pero por ahora quedan marcadas estas.