Green Arrow: Year One Paperback – 21 April 2009

Owning over 50 graphic novels crossing both D.C and Marvel.If someone put me on the spot to name my best one,I would choose Green Arrow year one,this book has it all great contemperising of a classic character,great story imagine Robin Hood meets Lost crossed with Scar face.Is this the best graphic novel ever written,most purists will say no(watchmen,the dark knight returns,v for vendeta)but its my personal fave.

Oliver Queen's abandonment on an island forces the spoilt and arrogant man-child to become a disciplined fighter for justice as he seeks vengeance for himself and the island inhabitors.Fast paced, full of action and unashamedly artistic, ths volume was a really great buy, and this coming from someone who doesnt like your conventional green arrow!

I'm new to the Green Arrow, so I was flailing around for a starting point until I found this. It's a very enjoyable graphic novel with an easily likeable art style. The plot hews quite closely in a lot of regards to the grittier than usual 2013 reinvention of the Tomb Raider games series - hero gets stranded on a strange island due to trouble at sea - has to teach themselves how to survive & overcome - encounters a few nasty bad guys. Indeed the styles are so similar I can't help feeling that this may have influenced the game heavily. For me, that can only be a good thing, as this feels a lot more emotional complex and mature than I expected (the villain is a truly nasty piece of work) and the action is great. As takes on an origin story go, I thought this was well worth my time, and I was very glad I bought it.

Green Arrow as a character is simply one of the best and this origins style story really is first rate. Great artwork and story line - The only issue is that you have finished it too soon!

Amazing story, can't wait to read the next chapter. It's an excellent interpretation of the green arrow story. Illustrations are brilliant too.

You want a good state into the green arrow universe get this its epic definatly one of the best ones I've read

To have Year One in the title then it really does need to live up to the furore that comes with that. Sadly Green Arrow: Year One fails to do so. In no way is the story bad, but in equal measures it is far from a classic. I struggle to see people in 20 years time looking back on this with as much fondness as they would Batman: Year One. That may seem a harsh comparison but that's what you get if you decide to have Year One in the title.Diggle has gone for a harsh and gritty realism to tell this origin story of the Green Arrow, and up to a point this works. For me its the realism bit where it falls down; a stereotypical playboy type marooned on a desert island with no survival skills suddenly becomes Bear Grylls taking on drug runners and whoever else gets in his way. It just doesn't fit with the story being told. Diggle has tried to make the story so action packed that the story suffers as a result. And because of this I found it more a chore to continue reading the next chapter instead of wanting to.The artwork at times works nicely and complements the story, but the majority of the time I found it substandard to the normal standard DC sets itself. However I do admit that this could be more down to my personal taste than anything else.

Brilliant different take on the green arrow. A good read. Definitely worth reading, good portrayal of the billionaire and how he came to be.