Happy Friday and welcome to Part 2 of my recap of Green Arrow Volume 2: Island of Scars. This post is going to cover issues #8 and #9, if you want to read part 1 of my coverage of this volume see the link at the bottom of the post. This is a short story that gave the volume its title. Let’s catch up with Oliver and see how he is going to get off this island.
Island of Scars, Part One: It has been two days since Oliver washed up on some island. Lucky for him he had his gear so he is hunting a deer. Of course that attracts a bear that he then sort of fights. In his narration he is talking about a game he used to play with Emi to counter her constant complaining. It was called "bright side" and it was meant to help her better see any situation's better half. Being trapped on another island running away from a bear doesn't have a bright side. That is until Dinah, aka Black Canary, walks up onto the beach.
Oliver assumes it is a mirage, but she assures him she is real and that he needs a shower. There isn't really a shower, so they just have a sexy rinse off in the ocean.
Later, we see John Diggle cooking a fish on the beach. He hears something and of course it is that dang bear again (I am assuming it is the same bear). The bear gives him a 'bear hug' and John realizes it is made of metal as it carries him into what looks like a drug ring set up in the mountain. A scary looking woman with half her face missing tells John to settle down because he wont get off her island alive.
Back on the beach Oliver is writing a to-do list on the sand. Dinah has to revise his list, to make getting off the island number one and that killing Broderick and being a murderer should not be on the list. He is convinced pretty easily and as they walk down the beach we see someone in the distance watching them.
The two love birds take a stroll and have some flirty banter. They are kissing and comparing scars, until Ollie asks about one on her chest (I think it is meant to be a cigarette burn). Dinah gets defensive and Oliver tries to explain that he sees scars as a sign of strength and survival. She does not agree, calling herself all scars and not something to brag about. Before the conversation can get anymore awkward, Dinah sees a burnt down fire pit. Oliver quickly deduces it was John, because of the size 14 tactical boots. Together they head off to find their missing friend.
Island of Scars, Part Two: Tracks: (They call the island Scar Island, but I don’t know if that is actually what it is called or if that is just what Dinah and Oliver are calling it.) Speaking of, Dinah and Oliver are tracking boots, bear prints and bullet casings. They make a pretty good team and while they are tracking someone else is tracking them. Behind a waterfall they find a field of poppies (opium) and Oliver knows they are in a lot of trouble.
The stranger who was following knocks some rocks loose and Oliver reflexively shoots at them, knocking them down. The guy in question explains that he lives on this island and that Oliver and Dinah are the invaders. Oliver apologizes, he had been expecting a guard over the opium crop. The old guy's name is Ata and he is a native and has a plan to help Oliver and Dinah get off his island.
Elsewhere, John is tied up and being interrogated by Ana, another native of the island. She claims to not work for the Ninth Circle but she borrowed money from them with good intentions (elemental tech of some kind), but the only way to pay back the loan was to make drugs. John tells her that the Inferno sank and that Dante is dead, but she tells him that Dante was just one person and the Ninth Circle is not done.
Ata is giving Oliver and Dinah a breakdown of how his wife, Ana, was a fool for trusting colonizers (fair point). Ata opens up a cave entrance only to be met by another bear. This one is Ata's pet though (it seems he and his wife like metal pet bears). Oliver and Dinah continue to be cute and Ata tells them that he has a plan to get them and all the other mainlanders off his island. (Eventually I suppose the reader will get to know the plan?)
Inside her facility, Ana is explaining to John (for some reason) that they ship the drugs using the Trans-Pacific Railway. Seems Oliver's father visited this island a long time ago hoping to build a train that united the continents, but they never heard anymore about it, until Broderick showed up. The island made a deal with the devil. Their conversation is interrupted by a flunky reporting that there are two others staging an attack.
The plan it seems is just to have Green Arrow and Canary to barge in (create a diversion). They do have a fun conversation about the ways that Canary would kill Oliver. Ata meanwhile has hijacked the coms and is reclaiming the island. In the chaos John gets free and starts setting stuff on fire (you know, to stop drugs). For some reason Ata and Ana make up over their dislike of outsiders and tell Green Arrow, John, and Canary to get off their island.
They drop down into the train tunnel knowing it will get sealed off and no one should be bothering the islanders anymore. Now all they have to do is hop on the train home.
Thoughts: This is a weird little short story. I suppose it is meant to be a filler between the events of the first volume and getting the whole team back to Seattle. This is also one of the few times where having two artists with really different styles totally threw me, because the side character Ana changed so much between issues I didn't even realize she was the same person. This is not a shot at the artist, it is really just one of the first times I was reading and got confused because the art was so different.
I want to talk about the relationships in this little short story. First, we have Dinah and Oliver who are pretty new and clearly still in a bit of a honeymoon and get to know each other phase of their relationship. Then we have Ata and Ana who are this older married couple who both took a path that pulled them apart but in the end they still just wanted what was best for their little island. While I am not totally clear what the author's goal was, I think that he was trying to show that good intentions can sometimes tear people apart and while opposites might attract, they can also be your greatest downfall. I hope it is not some kind of foreshadowing, because I like Oliver and Dinah and want them to stay a thing.
Next week I am going to wrap up the recap of this volume and then next Friday have something different for you all to read. Plus you know you can look forward to my favorite line and favorite cover art in part 3.
Last Post: Green Arrow Volume 2: Island of Scars, Part 1
Next Week: Green Arrow Volume 2: Island of Scars, Part 3
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