DC Comics

Writer: Judd Winick

Art: Amanda Conner

Letters: Ken Lopez

Words fail me.

DC’s been promoting this special wedding issue for months now. They’ve put enough ads and “COMING SOONS” inside their comics to make the original release of the Segway seem like a sleeper hit. I won’t give anything away (for now), but the end of this issue leads into yet another upcoming series. Am I the only one who thinks it’s cheesy when the last page of an over-advertised comic is basically an advertisement for the next issue? DANGEROUS CLIFFHANGER! SPILLS! CHILLS! SCHILL (out another three bucks to find out who dies).

The Obligatory Warning: Heavy innuendo, stabbing, an unforgivably tacky wedding dress.

To be fair, the Green Arrow/ Black Canary Wedding Special is pretty good. It’s funny, creative, and has fantastic art. Writer Judd Winick, who wrote the issue where Green Arrow proposed to Black Canary, which STARTED this entire process, has written this Wedding issue, too. Oliver Queen (the Green Arrow) and Dinah Lance (the Black Canary) are finally getting married, after years of tempestuous romance. They invite the entire DC community, who aren’t sure whether the match will last.

What makes this issue worthwhile? Lois Lane pays a male stripper to proposition Wonder Woman, and Zatanna orders another to (magically) take it off. This is the sort of humor the old Marvel Comics Holiday Specials used to have-- hilarious and unabashedly nerdy.

Amanda Conner is a perfect match for this story. This issue demands a tongue-in-cheek style, which Conner draws as naturally as fish swim. It helps she knows how to manipulate layout for the sake of comic timing. This same ability made her work on JSA Classified #1-3 very good, and it’s even sharper here. She can also draw an excellent pout, which is always useful for love stories.

Worth the money? Definitely for DC fans.