Warning: Green Arrow (2023) is a direct sequel to events in Dark Crisis, so Late Arrival Spoilers for that comic may be unmarked on this page.
Green Arrow is a 2023 relaunch of the DC Comics hero, written by Joshua Williamson, and art by Sean Izaakse. It is a spinoff of Dark Crisis and part of the Dawn of DC publishing initiative.
During the lead-up to Dark Crisis, Oliver Queen was among the casualties of Pariah's opening salvo against Earth's heroes. Like the rest of the Justice League, he too died during Justice League #75 and was transported into an artificial prison world (wherein he became a battery for Pariah's multiversal machinery).
Like the rest of the League, Oliver eventually fought his way out of the Lotus-Eater Machine, reunited with his colleagues, and was ready to take the fight back to Earth-0. However, because Oliver had actually died (at the hands of Doomsday rather than being vaporized by Pariah's Great Darkness energies), he was forced to remain behind to ensure his friends could escape and stop Pariah.
Now that the Dark Crisis is over, however, Oliver's working on trying to escape this artificial reality (and his family and allies are likewise trying to find him and bring him home). But there are other dark forces who would be very happy for the Emerald Archer to remain exactly where he is...
The first issue was released April 25, 2023.
Green Arrow provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: Subverted. The older Ollie claims he orchestrated the separation of the Arrow Family to stop a greater catastrophe, believing they would be able to find happiness on their own. The suffering and degradation Roy and Lian Harper went through after the events of Cry For Justice shows this idea, on the surface, was a failure. Then the fifth issue reveals "Ollie" isn't actually Green Arrow, but a villain whose real goal was to make Green Arrow's family suffer.
- Art Shift: Phil Hester and Andre Parks return to Green Arrow in issue five when Ollie meets up with alternate versions of himself.
- Big Damn Reunion: Roy and Lian are finally reunited in issue #1, finally putting to rest the specter of Justice League: Cry for Justice.
- Book Ends: The beginning of the first issue sees Ollie waking up on a beach on an alien world. Towards the end of the sixth issue and the first story arc sees Ollie wakes up on a beach back on Earth-0 and reunited with Dinah along with Connor and Lian.
- The Bus Came Back:
- The first issue's wraparound cover reveals Mia Dearden is finally returning to the modern Green Arrow mythos after over a decade of being absent following Flashpoint (and save for a brief return during the New 52 era).
- The cover also reveals that Cissie King-Jones aka Arrowette II, whose appearances post-Graduation Day have been cameos, is returning to the mantle for the first time since 1999.note
- Eddie Fyers, a major supporting character of both Green Arrows, will be returning
since his more antagonistic depiction in 2017.
- Cerebus Retcon: Of a Cerebus Retcon. When Festival Of Heroes revealed "Shoes" was Lian, it showed her vaguely remembering her mother apparently leaving her in Gotham City after escaping from some ninjas. The story was that Lian suffered amnesia and spent years not knowing who she was, explicitly mentioning she had no memories of a family or ever celebrating a birthday with them. The first three issues reveals that Lian never had amnesia and her mother wasn't responsible for faking her death. Lian was apparently saved by Amanda Waller and an older version of Ollie thanks to a deal he made with Parallax to keep the Arrow Family apart. Worse still, Lian was prevented from trying to reconnect with Roy, being forcibly transported away every time she got near him, meaning she had to watch her father go insane and then degrade himself with Red Hood from a distance.
- Costume Evolution:
- Connor Hawke's costume receives a brand-new Green Arrow costume that introduces a domino-mask and a kimono-styled robe.
- Roy Harper's Arsenal costume is changed from his old DC Rebirth outfit to one based on his appearance in his 1998 mini.
- Didn't Think This Through: If the person responsible for the Arrow Family being split apart was an older version of Green Arrow from the future, then logically this would be a version of Oliver Queen who lived through the events of Cry for Justice and Rise of Arsenal, and should therefore understand that keeping Lian from her family and letting Roy believe she was dead was the worst thing he could've done and made both incapable of ever being genuinely happy on their own.
- Averted in that Old Man Ollie was not really a future version of Ollie but was Actually a Doombot who was manipulating events in order to keep Ollie alone and miserable.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Subverted. At first it looks as though Old Man Ollie's decision to keep the Arrows separated did more harm than good judging from what Roy and Lian suffered through. But then it turns out "Ollie" is actually Malcolm Merlyn in disguise having set up an elaborate conspiracy to torture the Arrow Family by tearing them apart.
- Good Parents: Roy Harper has finally found his daughter and immediately knew who "Cheshire Cat" was before she even took off her mask. Instead of rushing to her and overwhelming her, he simply lets Lian know that she doesn't have to come with him if she doesn't want to but he is here for her whenever she is ready to come home. After a moment of hesitation, Lian runs into his arms.
- Five-Man Band:
- The Leader: Oliver Queen
- The Lancer: Black Canary
- The Big Guy: Roy Harper
- The Smart Guy: Connor Hawke
- The Heart: Lian Harper
- History Repeats Itself:
- Intentionally exploited and subverted by Williamson. The first issue opens with Ollie seemingly once again marooned on an island and trying to find his way home. However, it quickly becomes a lot more complicated upon realizing he's actually on an alien world in the multiverse this time around.
- The third issue reveals that a future version of Ollie is apparently responsible for ensuring his family stayed torn apart, arguing it was for their own good to stop "The Great Disaster." While #5 reveals otherwise, it would't the first time he'd done something so deplorable. Right before he married Dinah he made it look like her adopted daughter Sin was killed, then only told her after Dinah nearly murdered some people that Sin was alive and she'd just been put into protective custody. Dinah was shown to be haunted by the fact that she allowed Ollie to do this, feeling her abandonment of Sin was one of her biggest failures.
- Hourglass Plot: The first arc begins with Lian Harper going missing yet again and her parents teaming up to find her. By the end of it, she's found but now Roy and Jade are the ones missing.
- Hypocrite: Per usual, Cheshire continues to believe she has any right to be angry at Arsenal for Lian's death in Justice League: Cry for Justice, despite two things. That Lian's death had absolutely nothing to do with anything Roy ever did as her father, and her indirect abandonment of Lian in Villains United as soon as she had a replacement conceived.
- Imposter Forgot One Detail When Old Man Ollie is trying to convince his present day self that being part of his family's life is destroying them, he says he should have died on the island, and knowing that is why he never returned. Ollie retorts that he does feel that way sometimes, which is why he goes back to the island all the time, he just never tells anyone.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The third issue apparently reveals that an older version of Green Arrow from the future has been trying to keep his family apart because they apparently cause "The Great Disaster," and struck a deal with Amanda Waller and Parallax to make sure everyone stayed separate. This included letting everyone believe Lian was dead, and rendering her incapable of being anywhere near Roy. Which in turn means that the older Green Arrow is responsible for instigating all of the suffering that Roy went through in Rise of Arsenal. Keep in mind that Lian was originally killed and Roy was turned into a villain because DC editorial demanded a restructuring of the Arrow Family after the failure of the Green Arrow/Black Canary marriage, while creators vainly tried to argue they wanted to do "interesting stories" about Roy without Lian dragging him down. So it seems that it's now literally Green Arrow's fault that Roy and Lian were torn apart, because he thought they were better off without each other. Although #5 reveals that it's not, it's the work of an unknown villain with a Green Arrow robot.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Cheshire apparently did recognize Lian as "Shoes" but said nothing about it to her even as Lian suspected, nor did she tell Roy. In his case, she did it to spite him for taking Lian as a baby and because she still wrongly believes it was his fault she died.
- Me's a Crowd: At the end of issue five, Ollie is transported again and winds up with alternate versions of himself.
- Oh, No... Not Again!:
- Quoted almost word-for-word by Ollie in the first issue upon realizing he's (seemingly) stranded on a deserted island again.
- It appears it's becoming a trend, dear Ollie, the Parallax from Zero Hour appears again.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Roy's longstanding patience towards Cheshire briefly came to an abrupt stop the moment he found she knew about Lian's status sooner than he did and didn't tell anyone. The last time he was ever this angry at her, it was during Rise of Arsenal. It only goes to show it doesn't matter who you are, you do not keep Lian Harper from her father.
- Papa Wolf: The moment Lian is taken from Roy after they finally reunited after so long, he furiously demands to know where Amanda Waller is with a look on his face indicating he will destroy that woman if this is her fault. He's equally as enraged when Cheshire reveals she found out Lian was alive sooner than he did and didn't tell him.
- The Reveal:
- The first issue reveals that Amanda Waller was behind Roy and Lian's delayed reunion, threatening to keep them apart.
- The sixth issue reveals that Malcolm Merlyn is alive and is ultimately behind Ollie and his family's suffering.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Old Man Ollie attempts to convince Ollie to stop trying to return to his family. Ollie responds by shooting an arrow through his eye.
- Springtime for Hitler: Meta example. Artist Sean Izaakse has jokingly lamented this happened upon getting the Green Arrow gig. Having just wrapped Marvel's Thunderbolts before coming over to DC, he understandably didn't want to do another team book again and requested a solo title. He did indeed get his wish… on a solo book that features the Green Arrow Family, which means he's still essentially drawing a team book.Sean Izaakse: Originally, after doing a team book, I vowed to myself that, whatever my next job was, I didn't want to do a team book. I ended up doing something with a bunch of solo characters together, so it's not a team book. It's a family book — which is basically the same thing.
- Take That!: Stuck in the 31st Century with Connor and the Bendisboot Legionnaires, Lian grows increasingly annoyed at their refusal to answer any questions or do anything to help find Green Arrow. Lian's comments very much mirror the constant criticisms thrown at this version of the Legion for not actually doing anything.Lian Harper: Are you sure you're the Legion of Super-Heroes and not the Legion of people who fly around and do nothing?
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Issue 4 answers a dangling thread from Convergence, after destroying all of Electropolis, he escaped to the future and made a deal with the future Oliver Queen to make sure that the Arrowfam stayed separate. Present!Oliver is confronted by Parallax!Hal who confronts him and then transports the two to the future where The Great Disaster has occurred which his family will allegedly cause. Present!Ollie then gauges him into a physical fistfight where it's revealed that the entity is still controlling him before fleeing.
