Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood # 2 (of 6)
DC COMICS
WRITER: Chuck Dixon
ARTIST/COVER: Derec Donovan

Connor Hawke, the son of Green Arrow arrives at a mysterious Chinese estate to take part in a historic archery tournament. But the wealthy sponsor of the tournament has a secret agenda unknown to the rest of the participants and the assasin, Shado appears as well, saving Connor from some mysterious bow-wielding ninjas. This story still isn't exciting as it should be, despite the presence of numerous martial artists and shadey characters. Perhaps it was too much to expect a pitched battle so soon in the series but so far, the story is still moving too slowly. We are still just getting introduced to the cast of archers. Some of them do look interesting-- such as the vain American exhibition archer or the female bowhunter-- but in the end, they all look like red herrings-- characters introduced just to fool the reader into thinking they are important to the plot, only to be killed off in the next twelve pages. The art may not knock your socks off but it is moody and suspenseful while still being clear and easy to follow. At least this issue offers the promise that things will pick up in succeeding issues.