In 2012, the CW premiered Arrow, a superhero TV series based off the longtime DC Comics character Green Arrow. The initial idea was to tell comic book stories without too much in the way of fantastic powers. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was a guy who was stuck on a hellhole of an island for five years before returning to civilization, heavily scarred both physically and mentally. Where had he been and what had he, the former billionaire playboy, been up to? The short answer was he was learning archery and becoming a discount Batman.
To be fair, the original Green Arrow was also something of a Batman rip-off.
However, Arrow took off, and the CW asked for a second series, this one about a super-powered hero, namely the Flash. That led in short order to the creation of Supergirl (originally on CBS before going to the CW due to being so darn expensive), DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and most recently Batwoman. But from the start of The Flash, there’s been a promise of a “Crisis” DC fans know there’s only one crisis that counts, and that’s the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a mega-event comic book mini-series that included just about every character in DC’s stable fighting against the seemingly all-powerful Anti-Monitor, a being out to destroy the multiverse.
With Arrow ending on a shortened season (its eighth), the CW and producer Greg Berlanti opted to finally bring the fans the Crisis they’ve been waiting for, and on a relatively small TV budget. Each of the five series would have one chapter in that tale, with three airing in December and the last two showing up in early January. Now that that first batch of three are out there for all the world to see, what can fans make of it?
Now, to be fair, cohesive narrative storytelling isn’t really the strongpoint of the Arrowverse’s annual crossover event. That said, this event is, so far, clearly a labor of love. The Arrowverse (as it is known) has long used a bit of stuntcasting for its guest stars, using actors formerly known for a variety of different, related superhero roles to play often parents or mentors to the current incarnations. And if we’re being really honest, the original Crisis isn’t always the most cohesive narrative either. The Anti-Monitor will often have a plan, suffer a defeat, and then come back with a brand new plan an issue or two later before he finally went down for good. Much of the original Crisis‘ appeal comes from the numerous guest appearances by even fairly obscure DC heroes as drawn by the great George Perez. To that end, the Arrowverse’s version is a good match.
For example, does the story need an extended scene with Tom Welling, reprising his Clark Kent from Smallville, giving that series what could very well work as a great final episode? Not really, but it’s a really good scene. The scene gives closure to a series that has been off the air for a while, answering a question about what happened to those characters. Something similar happens for the 90s-era TV Flash, and it helps that actor John Wesley Shipp was already something of a regular on the current version of The Flash. And while many of these cameos are short and somewhat fan servicey, they do acknowledge that this is a huge event. When Burt Ward busts out his only line (thus far), it sure is cool to hear he’s still got it.
As for the rest, though the Pariah character doesn’t make a whole lot of sense here, the story is mostly working. It’s not a completely faithful adaptation (that’s a good thing), but it’s getting the general themes right while still sticking to the main characters for the various shows in the general umbrella (Berlanti’s Black Lightning series is sort of there too, but it feels like a tie-in issue from a main comic book mini-series, so it may be somewhat skippable for the non-completest viewer but still a good tie-in I would personally recommend). Given Arrow‘s status, much of this mini-series may simply be serving as a way to say goodbye to this universe’s Oliver Queen, and if so, it’s doing a good job of it.
Altogether, given the budget limitations of the CW, this has been a fun if not completely faithful retelling of the classic mini-series. Fans should enjoy it, and that may be all the people who made it really care about as it does like the original story does : celebrates a universe full of heroes.
Grade: B+
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