"New Blood, Part Five: Positive"
Cover Date: January 2005
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Phil Hester (Pencils), Ande Parks (Inks)
Previously...
Okay, so Judd Winick was on one of the early season of The Real World, and that season had a roommate who had AIDS. Anyway, Judd Winick later wrote a comic about said roommate called Pedro and Me that was basically the only critically acclaimed thing he has ever done. So he decided to see if lightning could strike twice, I guess.
In terms of where Green Arrow is at this moment in time, well, it's still Ollie Queen, and his son Connor is hanging around, as well as a teenage girl he picked up named Mia. She was a former teen prostitute, which I only mention because the entire issue kind of hinges on that fact.
Plot
This issue picks up right after last issue's cliffhanger, where Ollie found out that Mia tested positive for HIV. Ollie demands to know how this possibly could have happened. Mia explains that as a teen prostitute, she had lots of unprotected sex and shared needles when she shot herself up with meth. And the doctor explains that HIV is transmitted through exactly those mechanisms.
Ollie then demands to know what the difference is between AIDS and HIV. The doctor explains that too, and then we get a discussion of viral loads and drug cocktails. Shit, I have this issue, which means about seven years ago I spent $2.50 on a fucking PSA. Shit, I'm the real victim here. I mean, Mia isn't even fucking real, and only got HIV so Judd Winick could try and steal some mainstream attention. I'm the guy who's never going to get that money back.
Meanwhile, Connor and some dude are talking about a crime-lord who managed to murder the former mayor and is slowly taking over Star City. Now this is a subplot I can get behind!
But, no! The reader shall not be given respite from this very important discussion of AIDS, so Connor gets a phone call and drops everything so he can go home and talk to Mia. Kind of sucks for the people of Star City that every hero in the city has decided to take a hiatus from crime-fighting so they can talk about AIDS, but, hey, they're fighting ignorance, and isn't that a much more dangerous foe than an crime lord who just killed several high-ranked city officials?
Connor shows up and the house of archery and immuno-deficiency so the characters can talk about HIV and AIDS some more. It turns out that the anti-viral drugs have side-effects. Mia decides she's done talking about this. Winick denies us this mercy:
Anyway, it's suddenly two weeks later, and Connor decides to start accusing both Mia and Ollie of being in denial. "Every time you look at her, all you see is AIDS." Green Arrow has super-vision? Oh, he meant metaphorically. Hey, could Superman see if some had AIDS just by looking at them?
Connor then goes off on a diatribe about how Mia is living with AIDS, and that she's not going anywhere, and neither is her disease. Well, not until the DC Reboot, at any rate.
But Connor is not done with his denial busting yet! Not by a long shot. He talks to Mia later that night, and manages to coax her into admitting that having HIV makes her feel 'dirty' and that 'no one will want to be with her.' I can't believe I spent $2.50 on this. Fuck!
Connor's response? Kissing her. He then clarifies to mean that while he himself wants no part of her, that the kiss symbolizes that it would theoretically be possible for someone else to want her. And then the issue ends.
Next Issue: Mia announces to everyone in her high school that she has HIV and used to be a prostitute. Apparently if Mia has HIV, she's going to make every on the god-damned planet hear about it. Also, she becomes Green Arrow's sidekick. I spent $2.50 on that issue too. I fucking hate my life.
Commentary
$2.50! That's money I'm never going to get back! Fuck!
Damage Stars: **************
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