It’s been quite a bit since the previous issue of Gabriel Hardman’s Batman/Green Arrow/The Question: Arcadia. Almost four months to the day, to be exact. That length of time for a miniseries isn’t the worst gap between issues since I’ve been reviewing books for AIPT (that honor still goes to Rafael Grampa’s Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham), but it was a long enough time for me to wonder if I forgot the basic plotting of Batman, Green Arrow, and The Question’s exploration of the Arctic city of “Arcadia”, the oasis that is of course too good to be true. Luckily, the explosive final issue of the miniseries has plenty of catch up exposition in the form of battle plans and real time action dialogue to keep me plenty entertained, even if the central philosophical musings about “fighting crime” in a world with wider and wider disparities between the haves and the have nots that the series set up earlier takes a backseat.
With the Juno Corporation’s armed forces closing in, our trio of vigilantes have taken cover with the small band of freedom fighters in the Arctic. As the group plans their attack, another wrinkle has been added to the plan: the head of Arcadia (and the Juno Corp) not only knows Batman’s secret identity, but is planning on releasing the information as soon as the Batwing’s radio jamming device shuts off. With no contact with the outside world and minimal ways to contact one another, the group has to take the fight to the Juno Corp guerrilla style, but not everyone is going to make it out alive.
One of the things that initially drew me to Arcadia was the differences between the three leads, and while they aren’t as prominent in this big bombastic finale, Gabriel Hardman still finds ways to show how different Batman, Green Arrow, and The Question are in their approaches to crime fighting. Watching how the three butt heads and also find common ground leading up to the big fight is really interesting, and I particularly loved how Hardman’s take on Oliver Queen is much smarter than he lets on, observing the real reason why Batman is so hesitant to take down the Batwing’s radar jammer.
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That being said, I was really hoping for some more unpacking of the different ways the three approach their vigilantism. The early issues of Arcadia really made a point at showing the three heroes’ different approaches to fighting for justice. Batman’s the “big picture” type, Green Arrow is the “within the system” type, and The Question is the “on the ground” type. These different styles of fighting injustice were really interesting to see play out together, and the fact that the Juno Corp is a big business on the same playing field as Queen and Wayne Industries made for a ripe discussion about the ways big corporations prey on their workers and the planet. But that theme kind of goes away in this final issue in favor of giving us a big explosive finale. Even Batman’s weird heel turn from the second issue, a fact that didn’t sit right with me then, is glossed over as Batman “making a mistake in trusting them”, something that Batman wouldn’t entirely do, in my opinion. There’s also the element of The Question being a bit shoehorned in at the end here, as the personalities of Batman and Green Arrow are almost too big for The Question to share the spotlight with.
Speaking of the finale, Hardman really does give us some grand explosive moments in this final issue. While it’s taken some time to get here, the finale really doesn’t disappoint in the action department, as Hardman crafts a dizzying but well structured final battle against the Juno Corp. While it does end in a bit of a lackluster finale and plenty of side characters sacrificed to stop Arcadia, the “we won but at what cost” feelings of the ending are perfectly suited for this kind of tale, and it’s clear that Hardman really gave it his all with these pencils.
Batman/Green Arrow/The Question: Arcadia seems to be setting up a sequel, and the tease at the end gives us a sense of a DC Universe that could potentially cover some really unexplored territory if we get another story in Hardman’s world. The idea of “how far is too far” when it comes to vigilantism isn’t something new, but in our modern landscape it’s on a lot of people’s minds right now. Who is overseeing these giant corporations that collect our data every second of the day? Who should be given that responsibility? What’s the best way to fight back against them: through government oversight, “benevolent” CEOs, or through social revolution? These were the big questions I was hoping Arcadia would cover throughout the series, and was at it’s best when it was doing so. But I also get that sometimes you have to have some stuff explode too.
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