After shedding some tears and shouting at the sky about Green Arrow ending in December, I remembered it’s time to get back to reviewing this awesome series. After all, don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. Remember folks, we’re still in the midst of an incredible arc about the risks that narcotics pose to the vulnerable. With the reinvention of the Crimson Archer into the modern era, Chris Condon continues to up the ante with the threats Ollie is up against. Luckily, unlike the Fresh Water Killer, Ollie isn’t alone this time. Problem is, the fate of a man’s life is in his hands. No pressure, huh? While we’re a little over halfway through the Crimson Sand arc, this issue has a lot on its shoulders to manage between a few different storylines. Well, how do things shake out? I’ll answer that with a question: how do you think it went?
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This is one of my favorite issues yet. I’ve occasionally lamented about how the page space has felt lacking (and how this problem seems to be an issue encompassing other books aside from Green Arrow), but this issue is able to overcome this obstacle. While I’m not really sure who’s in charge of deciding the page count for books, and its general inconsistencies across books continue to perplex me, that’s an essay for another day. Here, Condon overcomes that obstacle by using dialogue between characters to give this arc more intensity. Things are starting to get down to the wire with the Crimson Archer, who seems to get closer and closer to destroying Star City from the inside out. And while the anticipation for the inevitable showdown against the Crimson Archer continues to build up, this issue adds more context to the drug Crimson Sand. Learning more about this drug and its implications on society allows the story to flow cohesively between Ollie and Roy’s plot points. As a whole, I found this issue to be full of intriguing mystery and balance the stories of Oliver and Roy very well.
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This series has been a bit darker than other DC titles. Grimdark, even. Yet, Montos’ vivid line work and Lucas’ sharp colors have always been a beacon of life for a book full of intense political debate. And here… wait, did you think I was going to say otherwise? No! The pair crushed it. Montos and Adriano Lucas are nothing short of spectacular together. In this issue, I found that Montos’ once again leveraged an inadequate amount of page space with creative paneling to fill each page to the brim with action, emotion, and excitement.
One thing that stuck out to me about Adriano Lucas’s work was how vibrant the colors were. Hues of red and yellow, on pages with Roy and Lian, met and formed a glimmering orange that added a necessary warmth to those pages. Altogether, I found this issue to be splendidly drawn from cover to cover.
Green Arrow #28 comes out on a somber week. Just days after hearing that the series is ending, one of the best issues yet is released. But I think it serves to send a message. To whom? Well, who cares? The message is that no matter how well a book sells, when a creative team pours their heart and soul into something, people notice. This arc has been so meaningful and profound, and a huge reason is because of how down-to-earth Chris Condon has made this story. Yes, it’s ultimately about the hero versus the villain. But more than that, it’s about how the true battle of good vs. evil is when we help one another when we’re at our most vulnerable.
One of my favorite parts of this issue was seeing Roy and Lian intervene during a drug deal. I’m going to get a little into spoiler territory here, but I think it’s worth it. During this interaction, Roy says something that’s a contender for one of my favorite moments in modern comics: “We’re not here to punish you. We’re here to help.” Wow. It’s moments like this that show how much Chris Condon genuinely cares about the depiction of Roy and Oliver. Both characters have interactions with people in highly vulnerable positions in this issue, and the two of them emulate one another despite not being near each other. This works to show how special and sincerely the pair value being a superhero. Moments like these are what have made this series truly meaningful, as it shows how the Arrow Family values their ethics as heroes and the lengths they are all willing to go to when helping people. As a result, this issue is truly fantastic and serves to remind readers how special Green Arrow is compared to the greater DC Universe.
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