After the near-perfect Absolute Green Arrow #1, the second issue has a lot to accomplish, especially given the second issue slump many comics fall into. A murder mystery with a slasher dressed as Green Arrow on the loose, Dinah must find the culprit for more than one reason. One, she was a lover of Ollie’s and wants to know who is pretending to be him. Two, she’s getting paid by a very rich man to catch him before the killer takes out more billionaires. Issue two opens up the detective element as Dinah gets on the case!
Absolute Green Arrow #2 is a great detective yarn, complete with cool puzzle piece symbology in the first few pages. The way artist Rafael Albuquerque uses them is quite cinematic, making Dinah’s perspective on the captions easy to take in and never feeling too heavy in the exposition department.
Back for this issue is a check-in on social media, via cell phones serving as panels, reminding us that the events surrounding the Green Arrow killer are of interest to everyone. Writer Pornsak Pichetshote conveys through these check-ins with the media that this serial killer has become a hero of the people, even if straight-up murder should be frowned upon.
Like any good detective, Dinah visits key figures who knew Ollie or interacted with him, starting with Mia Dearden, aka Speedy. The meeting is more of a confrontation, as Mia demands Dinah interview her in a boxing ring. Woven in is a key flashback, and the interchange is a mix of clue gathering and revealing their stance on boycotts of giant corporations. Albuquerque makes the fight feel intense, with a great 15-panel page that shows every kick, reset, and punch.
Cool use of the puzzle pieces.
Credit: DC Comics
The issue closes out with another key suspect, forcing Dinah to think fast and ask questions in the heat of the moment. How it ends ramps up the danger to say the least, while establishing that the Green Arrow killer must not be.
Color by Marcelo Mailo brings a brooding atmosphere, with great scenes like Dinah cast in a sort of blue-grey while pink puzzle pieces fall around her. The final sequence feels almost like a horror comic, with a creepy mansion lit in the dark and a slight darkness cast on our characters inside. Stroking choices like Dinah, cast in red as she sees a body, are interesting, since she’s not actually red but is cast that way to enhance the shock. Touches like that elevate the book and remind us that so much can only be done in comics.
As far as gripes, there are few, but the cliffhanger does feel a little packed in to fit. There are a few fewer real-world call-outs like the last issue, making it a little less meaningful to connect to our world.
Absolute Green Arrow #2 avoids the sophomore slump with ease, building on the mystery while giving Dinah Lance plenty of room to shine as a detective. Pornsak Pichetshote keeps the investigation engaging, while Rafael Albuquerque and Marcelo Maiolo elevate every page with inventive layouts and moody atmosphere. The answers remain elusive, but the questions are getting even better.
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