Villains Month soldiers on with Green Arrow #23.1, which is dedicated to Count Vertigo, a new big bad that is set to screw up GA’s life. What makes Vertigo tick? Who is he? Why is he so pissed off? Writer Jeff Lemire manages to not only answer those questions, but also set up Vertigo as pretty harsh bastard. At the end of GA #23.1, there is a certain amount of excitement built into what’s to come.
Werner Zytle was on the road to being a super criminal almost from the start. His family is royalty, stemming from a dictatorship in the country of Vlatava. A civil war has killed his father and forced his mother to flee the country with Werner. To be frank, the mom sucks. Being a druggie prostitute isn’t bad enough, she has to blame her current position on Werner. It’s his fault they live this way. Werner is to blame for his father’s death. Essentially she’s a bitch. So much so that she sells Werner to men from a “special school” for drug money.
Naturally, this special school is looking to develop kids with super powers. Werner’s placement there is instantly greeted with ridicule and bullying. That is until Werner’s ability to use sound to crush skulls and cause aneurysms sets in. Ridding himself of both the school bullies and the ones who put him there, Werner sets out to reclaim his birthright. Once he does that, it’s time to settle some family business.
Everything happening here leads to Werner being reunited with his mother. This is not a kind reunion, there is no Eight Is Enough (oh, go look it up) sweetness, nor does it become a very special episode of Vertigo. Our man Werner hates his mother, with good reason, and decides to exact his revenge quite cruelly. He has her nursed back to health, then, just as she believes she’s going to return to the old country as a Queen, he slowly melts her brain. It’s cold, cruel, and sets up just how much of a badass Vertigo is. Lemire is setting GA up for some bad times.
Andrea Sorrentino’s art is spectacular as always. Even when artists can create movement, rarely is there such a constant flow to the panels. Sorrentino’s fluid pencils are a wonderful experience because they give the illusion that each panel is moving on its own. The hybrid of noir crossed with a dreamlike surreal vibe makes his work standout against anything else out there.
Green Arrow has taken an old character and made it all kinds of new badass.
(4 Story, 4 Art)
