Comics Korner: Arrow Season 2.5 #14

Arrow Season 2.5 this week is driven by a very proactive plot.

After Oliver surrenders to the Church of Blood, we’re given the impression that he’s abandoned the upper hand to keep the pressure off of Felicity. But #14 proves to have more than a few tricks up its sleeves as we’re treated to a simple yet effective u-turn in the plot. What makes this issue work is the split between Oliver’s part of the plan and Roy’s. Oliver does what he does best by using his brute force and extensive training in order to overpower his opponents, but Roy’s part doesn’t exactly take full advantage of his abilities. Regardless, it’s still an important part of the larger plan, not to mention a part that we can believe that Oliver would come up with. Of course there’s an interesting cameo, that I doubt Oliver will see coming, which could change up the dynamic a bit for the next issue. There’s also an entertaining exchange between Felicity and a new team of villains called The Renegades (they aren’t *those* Renegades though), which is a fun detraction from the tension of Oliver and Roy’s efforts. In the back of the book we get a continuation of the Suicide Squad storyline referring to Mesi Natifah’s meeting with the League of Assassins that proves to be a short but sound origin story for a character that I honestly hope to see more of.

Final Word: A thoroughly enjoyable installment of Arrow Season 2.5. Oliver has some intriguing exchanges with Hogue, Roy unearths an unlikely ally for the current predicament, and the Suicide Squad story continues with the satisfying origin for a recurring character, which also rounds out the team’s adventure in Kahndaq. The art is on point as always, and I was especially impressed with how well Szymon Kudranski captures the complexity of Ra’s al Ghul’s character design.

Great art, fun dialogue, and a believable story makes Arrow Season 2.5 #14 one of the most solid of the series, with enough story incentive to keep its audience interested.