Back once again to look at the conclusion to DC’s latest run on Green Arrow… but wait, no, this isn’t the end! As I outlined before, the miniseries was successful enough to be extended into a full ongoing! Hooray! What would have been the final issue is now just the start of something bigger and better, and the team of Joshua Williamson writing with the triple threat of Phil Hester, Sean Izaakse and Trevor Hairsine on art are doing a bang-up job with closing out this now starting arc!
DC
This is it: the mystery’s unravelling at long last. The one who set all these events into motion is none other than Ollie’s old bitter rival, Malcolm Merlyn! Honestly, I probably should have seen that coming. The use of the cosmic side of DC to mask the true villain, one who is usually quite street level, was a pretty clever ruse. There isn’t a villain in the Green Arrow rogues gallery who knows Oliver more – and hates his ass more – than Merlyn. He’s really pulling out the best from the Eobard Thawne playbook of Supreme Haters here though, considering the lengths that had to be gone to to set this up and pay this off. Involving Parallax, the Legion, Amanda Waller, and having time and space being battered around, this is quite the step above his usual schemes to ruin Ollie’s life. It’s also a clever way to cover some inconsistencies in the canon and explain why so many characters have been a bit thrown into the wind from an in-universe perspective – Merlyn was just being a time-traveling asshole! Again, extremely Thawne of him. I approve.
DC Comics
It’s a fun reveal all around, but more importantly, it serves to re-affirm Ollie’s best traits as a character. He’s the man who always makes the most self-destructive and selfish decisions in the name of “doing the right thing”, often to the detriment of himself and others. Not this time; in this case, he realizes it’s okay to just let go of the obvious bait right in front of him, trust his family, and live to fight another day instead of making a pointless, self-aggrandizing sacrifice. That’s growth for Ollie, a thing that he’s very much struggled to maintain even under the best of writers. It’s one of his biggest character flaws, his inability to let growth stick, always backsliding into old habits. I like that Williamson chooses for him to move forward this time, motivated by the love of his son. That’s a marked act of maturity for the character that I’ve deeply missed.
DC
Now, the art. They got Phil Hester back drawing Green Arrow interiors, what else do you want me to say? The man’s a legend, G.A is his beat, ’nuff said. Izaakse pulls his weight fantastically here too, giving the usual strong output he’s given us this entire run so far. As much as I adore Hester on the book, and always will, Izaakse has really proven himself adept with these characters and I’d love for him to stick around for as long as he feels he’s still got the passion and drive for it. He’s a great artist, and has the potential to go down as one of the all-timers for this character. Hairsine’s brief few pages are good too, showing a bit of a sketchier style that I really like. I don’t know if they’re going to be on the book long term alongside Izaakse, but I wouldn’t mind it if the two shared some page time going forward.
This has been a great run and a great re-introduction to this character. I’m immensely glad this book happened, and cannot overstate my joy that it’s going to keep going. Williamson created my all-time favorite run for the Flash with a long, character rich series that loved its source material deeply, and I can very easily see his Green Arrow reaching those same heights if it’s allowed that lifespan. This arc paid tribute to one of the best eras of the character while continuing to move him and his world forward in a way that felt satisfying to long time fans, and welcoming to newcomers. That is the mark of a truly great comic.
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