Back once more with another issue of DC’s Green Arrow ongoing by writer Joshua Williamson and artists Sean Izaakse and Tom Derenick. Things are moving fast this time, and we’re reintroduced to a bunch of supporting characters that should have come back ages ago, but I’m glad they’re here now. Let’s dive right in.
Plot of this issue follows along the last one, with Ollie going out as per a deal with Amanda Waller to recover the Sanctuary database from Heroes in Crisis, and to search for his son and former sidekick Roy Harper. Very quickly that entire idea is streamlined, because they’re actually the same mission, and when Ollie and Connor go to find what they’re looking for- they run into an entire group of allies made up of new and returning Arrow Family faces.
We have Cissie King Jones from the classic ’90s Young Justice comic, Emiko Queen from the Rebirth run, and the very recently introduced Red Canary… but what I care about is the long-awaited return of Ollie’s most recent (and best ever) sidekick, my favorite DC sidekick of all time, Mia Dearden, the second Speedy! By god, something I’ve wanted to see for over a decade. It has been about 14 long years since we got a proper interaction between these versions of Mia and Ollie (the short-lived and since-retconned-to-hell New 52 version not counting, for many obvious reasons). In the very first review I did for this series, back when it was still only a four-issue mini, I made a semi-joking call for the return of my favorite character in all of Arrow Family canon, and I could not be happier to see her back, with an awesome new costume and still the lovable little snarker she’s always been. It warmed my GA Volume 3-loving heart. Welcome back, girl.
DC Comics
I’m sure fans of the Arrow Family like myself will appreciate Emiko and Cissie making a comeback, and fans of the newer Red Canary should hopefully be happy seeing her part of the crew now too. All stops have been pulled this run with uniting every disparate element of GA lore under one streamlined story, and man it feels so good to be in an era of comics where this is finally possible again. These are the real starring element of this issue, and I’m not even mad we sped through the “finding Roy” section to give us more interactions between all the characters. Seeing Roy and Ollie’s long-awaited heartfelt reunion was also just a perfect heartwarming note to really launch into the meat of things, with the book ending on a teaser for a more action-packed issue next time.
DC
Obviously the art is still on point with Izaakse doing his thing. I adore the redesigns for Mia and Cissie – they feel like really cool, updated versions of their classic costumes without losing what gave them their unique identities, or without falling into MCU/N52-ification with needless extra panel lines or mechanical detailing. Nice and simple, practical, iconic looking. Gotta love it. I feel bad for saying I couldn’t even tell which pages were done by Todd Derenick, which in another way of looking at it, shows a great level of skill consistency between the two artists, so in that way I’m actually quiet impressed. Makes for a very seamless read.
I really enjoyed this issue. Williamson’s run has been all about getting the ducks back in a row and making sure every toy in the box is hanging around to be used again, and not just for cheap fan service either. These are well deserved returns and interactions that feel long overdue. Now that Mia’s back, I feel like my last real wish I had for this run is finally fulfilled, and I could not be happier.
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