Weddingus Interruptus (More Green Arrow/Black Canary B*tching)

From a Newsarama interview with Judd Winick on the "Wedding Special":

NRAMA: Speaking of fun, and speaking of it coming to a screeching halt – that last scene. That was something that a lot of people were picking up on even before the issue. Was Ollie’s death in the mix from the start?

JW: Yeah – but actually, it was supposed to be Black Canary, but we changed our minds. How do you like them apples?

Four things:

1) So Ollie is dead -- deeeeed. Again. It's official After all that s**t to bring him back.


2) Were gonna kill BC from the start, eh? What a wonderful way to plot an event. All this foo-foo nice wedding stuff just so you could kill her off. That would have gone over WELL! Yeah, take a character Gail Simone is known for writing and give credence to the ol' "Women in Refrigerators" meme she started.

3) Then again, "WIR" also referred to majorly f**ked up things female characters have had to go through. So under Black Canary, next to "sexually mutilated and made sterile," you can write: "was forced to kill her own husband just before coitus on their honeymoon bed because he was going to stab her."

4) Ollie is DEAD! Deeeeeeed! Read:

JW: In Green Arrow/Black Canary #1, the world has moved on, but Dinah has only moved forward one inch. She’s having, to say the least, a very hard time coming to terms with Ollie’s death…almost to the point that she’s not going to come to terms with Ollie’s death. She’s going to set her own terms in regards to how she’s dealing with Ollie’s death, despite the fact that everyone else is moving on.

Deeeeeeeeed!!!! Deader than a dead parrot! Deeeeeeeed!!!!!

And Newsarama readers react:

"So glad I quit subsidizing Winick."

"L-A-M-E. They already killed Ollie, why do it again?"

"This was awful. In fact, it was so bad, I had to throw it away because the comic was stinking up the house."

"I really don't like wedding issue when we don't actually get to see them get married."

"Only in the Didioverse would they actually marry a character. Then kill him off... in the same issue. If it wasn't so pathetically predictable, it'd be funny."

"Canary is a master - a MASTER - of the martial arts having survived training by Shiva and that crazy woman sensei that she took Sin from. She has the canary cry - and her only recourse to save herself is to Jamie Lee Curtis him in the neck with an arrow??"

"This is more Final Crisis editorial stink! Yes, Ollie is really dead and a lot of the other icons are going to start buying it until FINAL CRISIS. DC Comics are going to blow for the next year and 3 monthes until this Final Crisis crap is over. Notice how everybook is taking a turn towards the worst?. Especially the memberships of the team books? I always feel like I wasted my money on Winick books. 5 minute read. Adolescent plots and obnoxious plot twists that destroy the characters for the sake of shock value."

"Absolutely f#cking amazing. No explanation for why the supposed martial-arts expert Dinah didn't simply render Ollie unconscious with her free hand instead of taking an arrow and stabbing him through the neck. And no explanation for why she didn't even attempt to use her Canary Cry. It's so laughably bad you expect this to be a deliberate red herring, but you know what? I honestly don't think it is. Winick is just that bad of a writer."

"when will Didio learn death doesn't sell unless if it's Batman or Superman."

and the immortal...

"I miss Kevin Smith."

There were some nastier comments that I've left out. And, on the positive side, feeling was pretty unanimous that Amanda Connor's art was great.