Connor Hawke Bit of a Disappointment

Probably much like this post.

It's been forever and a day since I've posted on here and so much has been happening in my life right now that I thought instead of giving you guys a big 'what's been shakin' at the Jozic pad' I'd post on something smaller and easier to digest.

I posted some time ago how much I was looking forward to this limited series so I was a little surprised when I stared at it on the shelf and passed it over month after month until there was no point in picking it up. Connor Hawke replaced Oliver Queen in the pages of Green Arrow as the title character after Olly died a while ago and something about the combination of Chuck Dixon's writing and Rodolfo Dimaggio's artwork just hooked me completely on this book that I hadn't given the time of day since long before Mike Grell left to do other projects. Considering how jaded I've gotten in recent years with super-hero comics my hope was that this would be a cry back to the days when I was still excited about this character and the DC Universe as a whole.

When the book debuted there was just something about the presentation and the first impressions of it that didn't speak to highly for it so I always just left it alone.

I finally found a copy of the first issue for a buck the other day so I figured there was nothing to lose and picked it up to give it a try, only to find that all my reservations were well founded. I know that a first issue is supposed to be all set-up for the next 3, 4 or 5 issues, but Dixon doesn't really do a good job of making these characters live and breathe the way he did back in Green Arrow. For that matter, they weren't as good as when Dixon had Connor and Eddie do a guest-shot in Birds of Prey. Heck, when I hit the point where I just knew that this was going to be a hackneyed intro story I even tried to give it the benefit of the doubt so far as looking for a deeper hook in the potential for a cool continuing plot.

Alas, the effort was in vain.

I should probably mention that I did not mind the artwork of Derec Donovan whom I was first exposed to as a fill-in for Karl Moline on Rogue. He was no Rodolfo, to be sure, and there was a simplicity to the style that I don't think really helped the book, but it wasn't bad. It still looked like Eddie, Conner, Shado, and the whole gang, it just didn't excite me too much. Javier Pulido would have been a nice choice, as would Moline or ex-Green Arrow/Connor Hawke artist, Will Rosado.

So, that's my story, there's my review, and this is my big come back post. I hope it wasn't too much of a waste of time.

mike