Hey there, Arrowfam! No, not that Arrow, I promise. A new day is coming for Green Arrow. He’s been a bit of a busy bee lately, with all the dying, coming back, reuniting his family, looking for one of his closest friends, working for (not really) Amanda Waller, and saving all of the heroes in the DC Universe. Whew. I’m not sure how time works in DC Comics (is anyone?), but that would even sound like a packed few years for me personally.
With this book starting as a six-issue miniseries by Joshua Williamson and Sean Izaakse, turning into a 12-issue maxiseries, and then finally becoming Ollie’s ongoing book again, Green Arrow has certainly risen back up in importance. Now, it’s time to close the curtain on Williamson’s time with the Emerald Archer and enter a brand-new era with Chris Condon and Montos. But before we get into that, Williamson has a few loose ends to wrap up. With the first part of Green Arrow #17, we see the final curtain begin to close on what was and get a sneak peek into what’s next with a brief backup story.
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For those who might just be jumping on for the All In initiative, the short of the long of it is this: Ollie turned to the dark side, sort of, but that was a secret he seemingly kept from everyone. His plan was to go deep undercover and take down Amanda Waller before she could take down his friends and family. While this isn’t Williamson’s final issue on the series – that’ll be Green Arrow 2024 Annual – issue #17 handles most of the fallout of the last few issues of Green Arrow and the repercussions of Absolute Power.
First, there’s some well-deserved gloating to Amanda Waller. With that taken care of, there’s sure to be some unresolved issues with him and the newly reformed Justice League Unlimited (not that one!) since Oliver kept this secret from everyone. Watching Oliver handle that goes just as well as one might expect. He’s loud and unapologetic, but remorseful for hurting his family.
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This ends up being an interesting tonal switch from seeing Oliver standing tall over Waller, as his gloating almost feels like a defensive measure by Ollie. Here, Williamson does a great job balancing the loudness of Oliver with the voices of those around him. This is further elevated by the brilliant work of artist Amancay Nahuelpan and colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr. The pair do a great job delivering an energetic story full of intricate details and sharp colors. Overall, this is a good story to bridge the gap between the latest DC event with Williamson’s final issue on Green Arrow.
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The second bit of the story has writer Chris Condon, artist Montos, and colorist Adriano Lucas leap into action and deliver one heck of a sales pitch to read their upcoming story. Tonally, this couldn’t be more different than what came before, but that’s not a bad thing when both inevitably deliver perfect encapsulations of what defines Green Arrow. If there’s one thing Oliver is best known for besides having a great family, it’s for being one of DC’s best street-level heroes. What readers can seemingly expect is a thrilling noir depicting Green Arrow investigating the Star City’s newest serial killer.
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Here, readers can get a brief look at Ollie’s new costume, and wow. This may be one of my favorite looks for Green Arrow – it’s incredibly streamlined but seemingly fitting for this new era. Montos and Lucas also deliver one stunning story. Montos depicts this story through a rougher and gritty lens, which works well to introduce readers to the series’ new direction. Also, Lucas continues to do what he does best and provides some stunning colors that help add depth to the book. While I’m quite used to his work on Nightwing, where everything was much brighter and vibrant, this work is thicker and almost granular. One of the best examples of this is when Green Arrow makes his debut, in a giant splash where almost the entire page is different deep shades of green and black. Altogether, this backup story is a captivating introduction that should have readers marking their calendar for Green Arrow #18 on November 27th.
Altogether, Green Arrow #17 is a great issue that does a lot of preparing. Initially, it helps to bridge the gap between the events of Absolute Power with Ollie reconciling with his family. Additionally, it sets up an exciting new premise for the book as a brand-new creative team prepares to take the reins. As a starting point for new readers, it does seem to require some prior reading of at least Absolute Power, but it’s possible to hop on without it and not be too lost. While I’m definitely going to miss how Williamson writes Oliver since he has handled his personality very well. But don’t worry, true believers – Chris Codon does NOT disappoint!
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