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What Justice Requires. Arrow Season 2.5  produced its finest issue yet as the 'Blood' story arc reached its conclusion. The finale featured two chapters; 'Choice' detailed the epic showdown between the Arrow, Arsenal, the Huntress and the Renegades, whilst 'Flames' saw Brother Blood make his last stand. In 'Choice', our heroes take on the ragtag band of villains in an awesome fight. Lock-Up was particularly devastating, taking out Roy and Oliver in a display of his electrical powers. His ultimatum at the end, along with Oliver's choice, was a good cliffhanger too. A decision that was blindingly obvious after reading the following issue. Said issue, 'Flames', was the eventful finale. The Huntress was able to finally have a good story arc, recognising her wrongdoings and accepting that she deserved to sit out her sentence. Also she was surprisingly mature with Felicity, which again made me like her character more (way more than her TV app...

You're Gonna Need Backup. After the focus on the Suicide Squad last week, we return to Oliver's war against the Church of Blood. Once again there are two stories; in 'Assault' the Arrow and Arsenal go on the hunt for Felicity, whilst in 'Assurances' Roy turns to Lyla for backup when the Arrow takes on Brother Blood and the Renegades single-handed. We also get an epilogue to the 'Crisis in Khandaq' story-line. In 'Assault', we get out first proper team-up mission for the Arrow and Arsenal, as they track Felicity. Brother Blood tries to blow the pair up, before taking Oliver hostage. It's straight-forward plotting and merely serves to bring us back to Starling and its problems following the detour to Khandaq. The next chapter is much more eventful, as in 'Assurances' we learn that it was Oliver's plan to get captured and he wanted Roy to get backup, which he does in the dramatic ACTUAL return of the Huntress! A few issues ago,...

The Fun Is About To Begin. Arrow's Season 2.5  comic series continues with two more chapters in the 'Blood' arc; 'Haunted' sees Oliver face off against figures from his past as he trips on vertigo, whilst in 'Awakenings' Sara returns to rescue Oliver and Team Arrow vow to fight back. In 'Crisis in Khandaq', Ravan Nassar is recruited to the Squad whilst Deadshot and Bronze Tiger train at ARGUS. 'Haunted' is an emotional chapter, where Oliver is forced to contend with his demons after Werner Zytle injects him with vertigo. I liked how Zytle popped up here as I know he is going to reappear as the first antagonist of season 3. Also, it was nice seeing the return of familiar faces including Robert, Moira, Tommy and Slade. We learn about Oliver's self doubts, as his ghosts speak his greatest fears and his failures. Whilst this emotion-driven chapter is interesting, it ultimately doesn't move the story forward in any meaningful way. In...

Long Live Brother Blood. Arrow's Season 2.5  #3 consists of two more additions to the 'Blood' story-line; in 'Following', the Arrow breaks into the Church of Blood and confronts their members and leader, whilst in 'Outnumbered', Diggle and Ollie try to escape from the clutches of Brother Blood and his minions. Meanwhile, 'Crisis in Khandaq' starts to get interesting as Khem-Adam ( Arrow 's version of Black Adam!) is introduced as the leader of terrorist group Onslaught. First off, 'Following'. This chapter leads to the Arrow investigating the Church of Blood before being overwhelmed by the creepy acolytes of Brother Blood. Diggle tries to help him meanwhile, but is knocked out by members of the Church. We also get a neat insight into Thea's journey, as Malcolm teaches her in Corto Maltese that all places are dark and twisted, the only thing you can change is yourself. It's a nice moment that foreshadows her eventual transform...

No One Dies Tonight. Although the name is misleading, 'Birds of Prey' doesn't feature the iconic DC heroine group. In fact, the only time the Huntress and the Canary share the screen are when they are entwined in battle. Unfortunately, the plot is unable to save this filler episode, which will hopefully be the last we see of the Huntress for a long time. Helena Bertinelli's return was as disappointing as expected, considering Jessica De Gouw's bland and cheesy take on the character. Once again, her sole blind purpose is to kill her father and once again she fails in her quest, although at least this time Frank is finally dead so that crusade is over. Side plots involved the Canary saving Laurel, with the latter almost resorting to alcoholism before Sara convinces her otherwise. Laurel being used as a pawn for a sting operation mixed up the formula a bit, but Katie Cassidy was forced to return to her 'look shocked and slightly angry' face rather then ge...

We All Have To Die Sometime. Issue #8 of Arrow  follows a similar pattern that I have noticed in recent issues - they all seem to include one great backstory, then two pretty empty stories revolving around the Hood's campaign. This issue contains the stories 'Back from the Deadshot', 'Hunters' and 'Diamond in the Rough'; 'Back from the Deadshot' fills in the blanks between Deadshot's appearances in season one whilst also showing how he escaped after his first showdown with the Hood; 'Hunters' takes a different approach and shows how Oliver would fare whilst being hunted by a wild beast; and 'Diamond in the Rough' puts Felicity front and centre as she becomes caught up with one of Oliver's targets. 'Back from the Deadshot' is by far the highlight of this issue, with the always brilliant Floyd Lawton shining in his solo adventure. We learn how he was abducted by a strange group after being shot in the eye. Unfortuna...

Will You Ever Be Free? Arrow  improves upon its formula in the fourth issue of the comic series, which includes 'Caged', 'Huntress Year One' and 'Limbo'. 'Caged' explores Oliver's darker impulses as a result of his time on the island; 'Huntress Year One' provides us with a fleshed out origin story for Helena as she trains to become a killer; and 'Limbo' sees Oliver struggle with memories of his past as he attempts to take down a triad shipment. 'Caged' introduces Monty Cora a.k.a. Deathride as an hugely imposing contract killer that Oliver takes down in an undercover fighting ring. Diggle narrates much of this story which is a nice change and I liked seeing his analysis of Oliver's rage and need to prove himself. Additionally, Oliver's fighting costume was cool and it was nice to see another name crossed off the list off-screen. The second story in this issue once again included the Huntress and was, again, the h...

It's A Start. The third issue of Arrow 's comic series consists of three stories - 'Boys Night', '[REC.]' and 'Falling'. If I was to summarise briefly I would say 'Boys Night' is an emotional double identity story, where Oliver balances his friendship with Tommy with his crusade as the Hood; '[REC.]' is a fun action packed spin on the Hood's campaign from the perspective of nosy kids; and 'Falling' is the heartbreaking origin story of Helena Bertinelli, a.k.a. The Huntress. 'Boys Night' is a fairly straightforward story, in which the Hood faces off against a jewel thief which is a nice change of pace to the corporate evils he's faced so far on the TV show. It adds depth to Oliver and Tommy's relationship too and we are left feeling exasperated for poor Queen, who can't find the right balance in his life at this early stage of his return. The jewel thief and his flashbang grenades are fun, although under...

Being Happy isn't What's Important Right Now. Helena Bertinelli returns as the Huntress in an episode which can be described as distinctly average. Helena already cringed me out the last time we saw her, so I must admit I wasn't eager to see her return, but it is at least a nice continuity from earlier in the season. As she hunts for her father (who is noticeably absent the entire episode, apart from a clearly-a-different-actor shot of 'Bertinelli' running away from the Huntress), she attacks those closest to Oliver, which riles him up and allows us to see an angry, motivated and wild Hood when he attempts to kill Helena at the end. A dark tone which is much appreciated. Elsewhere, we see both Tommy and Oliver's relationships breaking down as they attempt to keep the Hood a secret. Amell puts in an impressively emotional performance this week as Oliver and admittedly I truly felt for the billionaire playboy when McKenna was shot and announced she was moving...

Justice Wins Out. This is a fun episode that closes out the series' first two-part episode. Helena becoming the Huntress in her outfit is cool to see, although the outfit is a bit crap.The trope of good guy trying to turn bad guy good but failing has been done far too much so it seems a bit familiar, and also Helena turns fully bad way too quickly. Elsewhere, Walter finds out about the List after continuing to dig up clues, and Tommy gets a job from Oliver as his nightclub manager. Oliver feels hurt for opening up and resolves to continue his mission. STARRING: The Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), Frank Bertinelli, Anthony Venza EASTER EGGS: - This and the Season 7 episode "Unmasked" are the only eighth episodes of Arrow seasons to not feature Grant Gustin (Barry Allen)                        - The outfit Oliver wore when he trained Helena would eventually be used again in "Inheritance", where he trained Emiko A...

When I Didn't Feel Lost, I Felt Free? More Than One. This episode introduces Helena Bertinelli as the Huntress and she is a bad-ass who is more violent than Oliver so Oliver tries to change her. The two bond over their weirdness and then hook up at the end. Meanwhile we learn that Malcolm Merlyn is Tommy Merlyn's father and Thea and Moira grow closer. At the end Walter returns to Moira. Also, Malcolm threatens Moira over Walter. Badass back to back fight between the Huntress and the Hood, although there really doesn't seem to be any romantic spark there between the two. STARRING: The Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), Frank Bertinelli, China White EASTER EGGS: - The original Huntress was the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle (Batman and Catwoman)                        - Helena is the first person to figure out on her own that Oliver is the Starling City Vigilante             ...