Chris Condon talks about a grounded new approach to ‘Green Arrow’

Green Arrow is taking things back to basics. He’s working solo, solving mysteries, and remaining undeniably intertwined with the people of Star City.

The next chapter of Oliver Queen’s life officially begins on November 27 as Chris Condon and Montos begin their run with the Emerald Archer with issue #18. That run, of course, follows the well-received outing from Joshua Williamson and Sean Izaakse, who have used Green Arrow to explore ideas of family and legacy even as the book had a decidedly much grander scope. Either way, it’s more rollicking action from DC’s resident arrow-slinger and a great continuation of the changes happening for DC’s All In initiative. 

Ahead of issue #18, AIPT stopped to chat with Chris Condon about what readers can expect from the upcoming arc. That includes Condon’s perceptions of Queen as both a man and a hero, why he opted for the street-level approach, working with Montos, and how far out this series might go. 

AIPT: Chris, thanks so much for taking some time to chat. I was curious, what interests you the most about Green Arrow?

Chris Condon: What interests me the most about Green Arrow — that is a good question. I’ve always really been attracted to the character Oliver Queen and his alter ego Green Arrow. I’ve kind of always just found him a fascinating character. Deep. Funny. But I’ve always been attracted to his interpretation of the world. It’s not the same as Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman. He’s got a unique perspective on things. And that’s kind of always what I was attracted to. And that kind of goes back to the first Green Arrow stuff that I really read, with the Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams stuff and it goes all the way into the Mike Grell work, which is fantastic obviously, I’ve talked about that enough. And on into you know, on into later iterations, whether you’re talking about the Jeff Lemire or any of the Josh Williamson stuff that I’m following, that character has remained. That’s what I was interested in, in terms of the character.

AIPT: With the preview issue we got of your upcoming arc (the backup story in Green Arrow #17), I could totally see that humor that you were talking about, the way he’s commenting on his conversation with Batman afterward, and getting ready to take on the city. If that’s what you’re going for, I think you kind of hit it right there with that. It’s almost like a jaded form of hero-ing at times, it seems.

CC: Yeah, I definitely think that’s kind of Ollie. Sometimes, in a nutshell, it’s jaded. I mean both literally, you know, he’s the Green Arrow, but also just in terms about how he feels about the other superheroes and what’s going on in the world. I think he’s always kind of been a little bit more of a radical, just in terms of what he does and how he does things. I mean, he’s always been a little bit, just radical would be the way that I would say it, and that’s something we’re trying to bring in to what we’re doing. Which this first arc it’s called ‘Fresh Water Kills.’ It’s very much a lead in from what I, like I said is my favorite Green Arrow stuff, which is the Mike Grell run, and the four-issue miniseries that Mike Barr and Trevor Von Eeden told in 1983, which is actually the first Green Arrow solo series, which is funny that it took so long to get Green Arrow a solo series.

And then the Neal Adams/Denny O’Neil stuff. That stuff was very much in my mind when thinking about what we wanted to do with this character. The mandate was there wasn’t much of a mandate, but the mandate was more street-level. And so, that was the idea, going back to basics. Take him out of that globe-trotting/universe-trotting Josh WIlliamson run and bring him down to earth again. Back to Star City.

AIPT: Definitely. I do love the grounded stuff. Globetrotting is also a spiritual journey for him. But, the street level stuff, like you said, really is his back to basics. It’s kind of like his comfort zone…what he goes for.

I know you said there wasn’t too much of a mandate. What things did you have in mind when you picture a street level Green Arrow series?

CC: I mean, for me, it’s very much bringing it back to almost a detective sort of feel, about the people, about his community, about his city. Wanting to protect that. And, going after the people on the top that are feeding off of those people on the bottom. And I think that that’s something that’s always been a part of Green Arrow’s character, and that’s something that was important to me coming into this. Kind of right out the gate, the idea that I came up with was something that I’ve been wanting to do is actually a nonfiction book. And it was already there in my mind and I was like, ‘Well, this kind of is perfect for Green Arrow.’ So, I just reappropriated it, figured out a way in which we can make that interesting story in which you still have the action beats, you’re still telling a dramatic story that fits within the criteria of what a Green Arrow story is.

AIPT: I know you mentioned him sticking up for the people of Star City as well. Oliver’s always been a bit of a loudmouth, very active member of his society, whether it’s speaking out politically or just advocating for what he deems to be the little guy at the time. How do you picture that, if at all, showing in this series?

CC: I mean, that’s very much part of the series. We didn’t get much into it in that eight-page intro, just because you only have eight pages, and I wanted to introduce both the villain and bring Ollie back down to street level. Which, I think we did successfully. But going into our first full issue, which is going to be issue #18, which is out November 27. For that specifically, I wanted to very much bring it back to the status quo that was of what he stands for. And so, this is very much an idea that’s about environmental issues. It’s about how polluting affects the community.

I mean, this is something that’s been plaguing the United States since the dawn of the industrial revolution. And, it’s not gotten better. I mean, there are certain aspects of it that have gotten better, but there are others things that have not. I mean, Flint, Michigan is a perfect example of that. Going back to the ’70s with the first Superfund sites, which was an EPA program. And that’s kind of what we’re looking at; people who are affected by an environmental disaster. And how, even if the government steps in to do something about it, at the end of the day, it doesn’t fix all of their problems. You know, they’re already affected by this. So it’s sort of Ollie dealing with that a little bit.

AIPT: Well, it sounds like you’ve got your research set out for you. That’s awesome.

CC: Yeah, it’s fun to get to explore an aspect to Star City that we haven’t really seen. I mean, definitely, we’ve seen it, but I definitely want to push it a little bit further and explore the suburbs of Star City and things like that. It’s fun to be able to put your mark on a character that’s been around since the ’40s. But again, paying homage to what’s come before. And also bringing it a little into the real world. And that’s one of the great things about Green Arrow, that he’s always kind of has had one foot in the real world, of real-world issues. Again, going back to that Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams stuff, that was an integral part of that obviously. The heroin issues, the issues with racial inequality, and all of that. So, that’s definitely part of the character. We’re not doing anything radical with that in that regard. This is all part of the character, and I’m really thankful DC is letting us do something interesting with the character and not forcing us to do x, y, or z and really just letting us run wild with it

AIPT: Well that sounds really exciting. I do want to ask, too, what has your working relationship with Montos been like?

CC: Oh, I mean, it’s been great. I mean, it’s mostly just emails, but it’s been really interesting. He has a ton of great ideas, just even breaking down the new costume design. That was fun. I came in with some new idea, our editor, Chris Rosa, came in with some new ideas, and then Montos took those ideas, created something, added his own elements to it, and we came out with something really interesting, I think. And it seems that a lot of people are really connecting with that costume and think it’s really interesting. But, yeah, he’s been fantastic in terms of the ideas he’s bringing to the table.

And he’s really collaborative, and he’s open to collaboration. He’s open to criticism when there is criticism, which I don’t often have criticism, but you know it’s been really fun. I’ve just been loving seeing the work come in. I think that every comic book writer who’s not also an artist on the book will probably say that one of the most exciting things that can happen for you is getting new art in to your inbox. And that’s really something that’s always an exciting moment, especially when Montos sends in his pages. You know, layouts are layouts, and you get a rough idea of what he’s going to be doing. But, when you get those final pages, it’s just like, ‘Wow this is going to be a special book, so.’

AIPT: I can’t even imagine the excitement. His creative style seems perfectly fit. for the book…With that too, how many trick arrows are you guys planning for Oliver in the run too?

CC: Because of the vibe that were trying to set, there is trick arrows, but it’s not going to be a red boxing glove, you know what I mean? So, we’re kind of taking a little bit more of, ‘What would not look ridiculous?’ but have the same, he’s still got trick arrows still, but they don’t look ridiculous. You’re not going to have a whoopee cushion arrow, you know? They’re all tactical, used for a purpose. That’s what I’ll say about that. I personally love the trick arrows; I would love to incorporate them further. But when you’re doing something more like what Mike Grell did, which I know some people argue he was afraid of doing a more superhero-centric book, I’m definitely not thinking that way. And I’m a big fan of the Mike Grell stuff. So just looking at the two and seeing where we can find common ground just in terms of bringing that fun stuff, but finding a way to do it where it fits within the vibe of what we’re doing.

AIPT: Definitely, so fun but not campy?

CC: Exactly. [Laughs]

AIPT: Well, that sounds exciting. How far ahead do you currently have the series planned?

CC: Well, I have seven issues planned. It sounds like we may be going forward outside of that, I’m not at this point. But, if we do continue on, this arc is very much Ollie, solo, dealing with an issue. Which I think is the perfect way to do it. I mean, especially after 17 issues of Josh Williamson and what he had done, which was bringing the family in and having him be almost a team book in a lot of ways. You know, bringing it back down again to what the character was in terms of being a solo hero in a lot of ways. So, that’s what I came into it wanting to do. And, if we get to do another arc, and it keeps selling well, we’re going to delve a little bit further into the history of Green Arrow and bring in some more characters and stuff like that.

But in this first arc, which is going to be seven issues, it’s going to be six issues and essentially an epilogue, sort of how we did the prologue in issue #17. That this is going to be very much about this new villain, this new threat, and how it relates to Ollie and his past with Green Arrow. And then going forward, we’ll figure it out when we get there. I also don’t like spoiling things. You know, a lot of people want to know where things are going, and I get that because I’m also a reader. I like to be teased here and there. But, it’s a new villain in this arc, and then going forward, we’ll be using some villains that are not as prevalent. So, that’ll be fun to get to play with.

AIPT: Do you have a favorite issue of the ones that you’ve got scripted?

CC: I’m liking the one I’m writing right now. I’m just finishing up the third issue right now. I’ve got a pretty extensive outline of all the issues. But, the third one is kind of getting into the meat of it. And I think going forward that #4, #5, and #6 are going to be just as interesting, if not more interesting. So, I’m really excited to get into those cause those, especially the final issue, are going to be pretty action-packed. I’m excited to get into that. But, yeah, I don’t know, I don’t really think about things that way. I just look at it as what’s in front of me at the moment.

AIPT: Definitely, I think that’s a really good way to encapsulate how things should connect together. What do you think then makes a good first arc to grab the readers’ attention but deliver what you want to convey?

CC: I think that, I mean cause it’s a first arc for us, but it’s also, this is issue #18 of Green Arrow, this isn’t a new number #1. So, I don’t think we really have to worry about bringing in new readers. Although that is part of the initiative with All In, the idea is that people can come in with a blank slate and pick up the book and get acquainted with the characters in this new arc. But I think that coming in to it where we’re at with issue #18 — we technically debuted in issue #17 — I’m not too concerned, like I said, [with] bringing in new readers or anything like that. I think that the people that are going to come over will come over. But what I think makes a good arc is that I think that you want to establish what you’re doing, I think you want to establish the character in the way you’re going to be writing the character. That’s the biggest thing: to just set up what you’re going to be doing and then do it.

I think that that’s exactly what we did in That Texas Blood and The Enfield Gang Massacre, which I did with Jacob Phillips. And in everything that I do…I mean, I do a lot of short stories for the EC stuff at Oni and I did a Creepshow story. And every single short story that you do, you basically have to introduce that idea and finish that idea in eight pages, or sometimes less. So, you have to understand how to introduce an interesting concept and an interesting character and have it feel full in a short period of time. And I think that’s exactly what you have to do here. The difference is that you have, you know, 70-plus years of history. I love playing with the history of these characters; I don’t like to ignore it. I think that there is an important aspect of it where it’s beneficial to know what’s come before, and to pay homage to it, and to have a character come to wrestle with their past choices and past mistakes.

AIPT: Did you have a favorite version of Oliver outside of the comics. Smallville, Justice League Unlimited, Arrow, etc. Any iteration that you think speaks to your run or how you see the character well?

CC: Yeah. Big time Justice League Unlimited fan. So, that Green Arrow voice is the Arrow voice that I hear in my head when I’m writing, which is fun. Before I started writing in went back and watched all of the Green Arrow centric episodes. There’s also that great short film, but I forgot the title.

AIPT: The Showcase one?

CC: Yeah, that one’s great, too. Yeah, so for me, I didn’t really watch Arrow, the show. I know that it has its fans. But for me, I’ve never really been into the live-action shows so much. But the JLU and Showcase shorts were pretty big for me outside of the comics. And I really do, I mean recommend those, if anybody doesn’t know Green Arrow and wants to get to see him. I think that’s a great way to see it. I think it’s even in the first episode of JLU — Green Arrow has a cool spot. But that’s my Green Arrow.

AIPT: I mean, I got to say, it’s the same for me too, that version (Justice League Unlimited) hits it perfectly right there. That’s really cool to know how you visualize the character and the voice. It’s always fun to hear for characters that have such a long history. Do you hear when reading them or writing them? That’s really interesting.

If you could describe your first arc in a sentence, how would you describe it?

CC: In a sentence, how would I describe it? I think I would describe it as an intense exploration of Green Arrow’s community and his relationship with that community. That’s pretty much how I would describe it. I think that, if you’ve read my indie stuff, like I said That Texas Blood or The Enfield Game Massacre, you can expect that here with Green Arrow. And I think that’s why they hire somebody like me to do it. To bring what I bring, what I do, to Green Arrow. So that’s really all that I would describe it as: an intense exploration of the character and his relationship with his community,

AIPT: Awesome, it sounds exciting. I’m really excited, having seen what I’ve seen of it, too. I think it’s going to a really interesting arc and an exploration, like you said, it seems to be one that’ll just be really memorable.

CC: Thank you. I appreciate that.