Back in October, you got a taste of writer Jeff Lemire’s interpretation of Oliver Queen when he co-wrote the back-up story in JUSTICE LEAGUE #13 with Geoff Johns. And starting next month, Lemire’s new writing duties on GREEN ARROW kick off with issue #17, further expanding his gritty and noir take on the Justice League of America member.

“The challenge for me, when taking over the title at issue #17, was really to try to approach it as if it's a first issue, so that it's completely accessible to new readers,” explained Lemire to NEWSARAMA. “Everything you need to know about the character and his world is established in a simple way in that first issue. So you can jump on really easily.”

As for Komodo, the new villain Ollie will be facing off against?

“He's another archer whose skill level is clearly better than Oliver's,” Lemire teased to COMIC VINE. “He's Oliver's physical better in every way when we open the series. He's someone who seems very specifically hell-bent on destroying Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. The reason for this started to come up … and it has something to do with Oliver's father … ”

For more from Lemire about taking over GREEN ARROW and for sneak peaks at Andrea Sorrentino’s interior art for issue #17, check out the full interviews and coverage that ran this morning on MTV GEEK, IGN, COMIC BOOK RESOURCES, NEWSARAMA, COMIC VINE, AOL’s COMICS ALLIANCE, and IFANBOY.

GREEN ARROW #17 shoots into stores on February 6.