Review by Win Wiacek

Begun in the late 1960s, the long-running tempestuous affair between Black Canary and Green Arrow reached a dramatic culmination in ‘Til Death Us Do Part. The tempestuous couple at last named their wedding day, and this fearsomely dramatic and cripplingly funny tome gathers unforgettable moments in a celebratory chronicle to warm the hearts and chill the souls of sentimental thrill seekers everywhere.

It reprints the Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special and fourteen issues of the monthly Green Arrow and Black Canary comic that sprang from it, previously available in paperback as The Wedding Album, Family Business and A League of Their Own.

The saga begins with a hilariously immature retelling of the path to wedlock from scripter Judd Winick and artist Amanda Conner (sample art left). Here the first cute-meet, passion, spats and tender moments are reviewed culminating in riotous hen-nights, rowdy stag-parties and a tremendous battle as a huge guard of dishonour – comprising most of the villains in the DC universe – attack the assembled heroes when they’re utterly off-guard. Naturally the bad guys are defeated, the ceremony concludes and the newlyweds head off to enjoy their wedding night.

And then, in circumstances not to be spoiled for you, Green Arrow dies.

Obviously it doesn’t end there. The dramatic moment acts as springboard for a major restart. In the company of artists Cliff Chiang, then Mike Norton (sample art right), Winick takes the cast on what amounts to a world tour, first searching for Green Arrow, then searching for Green Arrow. Don’t worry, it all makes sense in context.

Winick ramps up the emotional torment, with Dinah initially going off the rails. Every mystery solved opens up another query as to who’s ultimately responsible. New Speedy Mia Dearden is along for the entire trip, while Batman, then Plastic Man accompany the heroes part of the way.

Eventually defeated by the valiant acts of Team Arrow, the malign malefactor gets his comeuppance and one hero is vastly changed and amnesiac, but mostly cured.

The book concludes with a stunning and often hilarious variant cover gallery by Ryan Sook, Cliff Chiang, and Amanda Connor, reminding us that Green Arrow and Black Canary are characters who epitomise the modern adventure hero’s best qualities, even if in many ways they are also the most traditional of “Old School” champions. This witty and wild ride is a cracking example of Fights ‘n’ Tights done right and is well worth an investment of your money, time and emotional commitment.