Green Arrow deals with the Yakuza and an old flame. Nice story intersecting with the political climate in the Philippines for the time this story was written. I just came back from the Philippines for work a few days ago so it made things more real even if it's now history. MY GRADE: B.

Green Arrow Vol. 2 Here There Be Dragons collects issues 7-12 of the series written by Mike Grell with art by Ed Hannigan. Olliver battles drug smugglers and reunited with Shoda and takes on the Yakuza. I love how these stories are grounded in reality and doesn't rely on supervillain or gimmicks. I also really like how Grell and Hannigan let's the art speak for itself in action sequences and doesn't add snappy remarks or comebacks.

This harkens back to the days when Green Arrow didn't fight super villains and was grounded more in reality. These old Mike Grell stories are golden and still hold up.

Enter the Green Arrow a few decades back when a hero could be a hero without fighting superhero's to make it interesting. In this second collection of the series of Green Arrow our reluctant and human hero does go to Alaska to stop a drugsring even if it is altogether another product he stops being smuggled. And the second hero lasted 4 installments and is an re-acquaintance with Shado from the initial mini series that relaunched this more mature version of the Green Arrow. And it involves her b...

I have always liked the version of GA that Mike Grell rebooted in the late '80s-- uman stories rather than superhuman.While seeking more intel on organized crime, Ollie heads for Alaska but stumbles on a smuggling ring. Theh he discovers that the past has a way of catching up to you, as an old 'frenemy' of Oliver has figured out who he is, where he lives, and how to draft him into the search for a hidden fortune.

(Zero spoiler review) 4.5/5Please note, I am reviewing this solely as the four issue Here There Be Dragons arc, and not to two preceding issues, which were a most unfortunate low light on what has been up until now, a run of such special magnificence, it makes my trousers just a little but too tight thinking about it. Following on from the Longbow Hunters, (which I just finished gushing over in another review), you couldn't have wiped the smile off my face with a sledgehammer to see Mike Grell r...

I found the first few issues of Here There Be Dragons a bit of a drag. The storytelling felt a little haphazard and not up to Mike Grell's normal standards. However, as soon as Shado entered the picture, things went right back to normal, echoing the same quality found in The Longbow Hunters and Hunter's Moon. I think one of the best things about this series so far is the lack of supervillains. Oliver confronts real, human threats and social injustices and it makes his campaign against crime all

Good old Oliver Queen is at it again in Alaska and Hawaii. I'm take it or leave it in the first story. The Iditarod doesn't interest me at all and the story didn't have much of a pay off. I really enjoyed the second one with Shado and the Yakima trying to find money for the Philippine government. Shado is a fun character and a really good "sidekick" for Green Arrow. The story does a really good job intertwining fighting and personal experiences. I mostly loved this one.

More great GA work from Grell, Hannigan, and co. Ollie tracks a drug ring to the Iditarod and pursues buried treasure with the mysterious Shado. The art in this book is amazing, with narrative potency in so many elegant silent sequences. I definitely see why this is a legendary run for the character!

I'm really enjoying this series! Smart writing, with mature themes, such as honor and overcoming trauma; and real-world situations, such as drug trafficking, assassinations, the Yakuza. Each new story builds on events past, from The Longbow Hunters on, so we see the characters evolve, and we meet new ones as well. More, please.On to Green Arrow, Vol. 3: The Trial of Oliver Queen.

well it was an interesting book i thought it would take longer to read but it did not

The Powderhorn Trail (#7-8). This story is about stolen cars and smuggling — pretty much the urban crime elements of some of the less interesting Grell Green Arrow stories. But the storytelling is more problematic. The first issue uses a different writer for the Black Canary scenes, which is interesting in theory, but results in a muddy story. Then the second issue goes really big-screen with lots of wordless overview panels which totally undercut the storytelling [3/5].Here There Be Dragons (#9...

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie. Can't leave a past lover alone, can you. Great classic story. I love how Grell showed a hero that had convictions and passion to do what is right, but yet still struggled with his own demons and made mistakes. Humanizing the hero makes it easier to relate to them. This is not your old squeaky clean hero. Grell led the way for authors to accept that heroes need to be written as complex characters and sales showed that the audiences wanted to read stuff like this. This may be

Not bad at all – but it didn’t give me same warm glow as its predecessors (Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters - Green Arrow, Vol. 1: Hunters Moon). What does make this collection memorable is that it features the sequence dealing with the reappearance of Shado, something which leads to a surprise reveal later in the series. This Green Arrow series was part of the DC “New Format / Suggested for Mature Readers” imprint, which has gone on to become Vertigo. It’s gritty and violent and quite good. Mik...

This was quite a fun read.Ollie goes to Anchorage, Alaska to meet up with some car stealers and I didn't really get that story because of the messy writing but it seemed he handled over some smugglers and one car belonged to Dinah but the big story where he is sent to retrieve some items from Shado by Osbourne and how they team up to like defeat the Yakuza who are after Shado makes for a great story and I quite enjoyed that one!Its great the way the art is and the scenes where Shado is pulling t...

We've had the palette cleanser, and now it's time to get back to the nitty gritty. This second volume of Mike Grell's Green Arrow reintroduces Shado to the story and brings Green Arrow face to face with the woman who saved his life. But first, dog sledding! The first two issues of the volume are a two-parter about Ollie tracking down a drug smuggling ring almost completely by accident. I do enjoy when coincidence drives the engine of a story, and this one all comes together neatly and tidily jus...

Ollie heads to Alaska to investigate a drug trafficking case, while hoping to catch the beginning of the Iditarod. Then he’s recruited by Osborne to track down Shado who’s holding a map of secret treasure buried in the Philippines. I liked the first story and loved the second. The Alaska arc is well-told, but pretty slight in the grand scheme of things. The scene between Ollie and Dinah at the beginning is the best part. Meanwhile, Shado’s return from The Longbow Hunters is more than welcome, es...

This feels much closer to The Equalizer (original Woodward flavour) than a superhero book, even other supposedly realistic ones of the same era like Watchmen. Ollie and Dinah – which feel like much more appropriate names here than Green Arrow and Black Canary – try to keep their business and relationship on something like an even keel, in between stalking drug gangs and other plausible crooks through the streets of a solid, breathing Seattle – and sometimes a little further afield, but only to f...

“Here There Be Dragons”The big draw of this collection is the return of Shado from “The Longbow Hunters” arc that cemented the start of this series. I love how Mike Grell has made this story his own. It is a mature dark tone with splashes of hope and color. Oliver and Dinah are both well written characters. They have great chemistry.I have notes. Quibbles I guess you could say. Do I like the almost forced possible romance of “will they won’t they” between Shado and Oliver. It seems heavily impli...

A solid followup of the first volume (Which I mostly loved). Things are a little bit sillier in this volume. Well the first arc. I wasn't feeling it much at all. Could be the outdated art is sometimes making fight scenes look awful. However, I don't think that is it, because I loved the final fight scenes in this volume. Also having Shado back is a big plus, she's badass, and makes Ollie better. Overall if you enjoyed volume 1 you should enjoy 2, even if it's not as good.