Green Arrow started his 2023 going through an adventure through the Multiverse. This was something completely out of Green Arrow’s comfort zone but he somehow made it back to the main DC Universe. The return of Oliver Queen has been something that’s been two years in development after he was the first one taken out by Pariah in the Death of the Justice League before Dark Crisis started. How will Oliver Queen re-adjust to being back in his world? Let’s find out with Green Arrow #7.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artists: Carmine Di Giandomenico and Trevor Hairsine
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: Troy Peteri
SOLICITATION
“OLIVER QUEEN IS BACK! He’s returned with his family to the present day, but the Green Arrow family reunion is just getting started! Green Arrow still has lots of secrets to uncover. Like, why has Amanda Waller taken an interest in his family?” – DC Comics
REVIEW
Characters returning after supposedly dying is a dime a dozen story. There is nothing special to trying to tap into what it means from cheating death. Joshua Williamson clearly understood this with the story told in Green Arrow #7. There was no big celebration for Oliver Queen making it back to the main DC Universe. Life continued to move without him and is doing the same after he returns.
To be fair to Oliver Queen while the Multiverse is now a common story setting it was something new to him. Oliver his entire solo career as a hero that protects Star City or Seattle. While he branched out of his comfort zone through his Justice League adventures Green Arrow is an even more grounded hero than Batman. Which makes it understandable that after going through an adventure through Multiverse alone he would return believing that type of scale is what he would continue to deal with.
That added a level of sadness to the reality check Oliver was given throughout Green Arrow #7. He didn’t return to a big welcome back party. Instead, he returned to a world where the Justice League is no longer active and the Titans are leading the heroes to step up in their absence. Since he wasn’t around when this decision was made Oliver had no chance to accept this status quo change. It all hit him like a Truck-kun sending him on his Isekai story, which is basically what he went through in his Multiverse journey.
Williamson does a nice job of treating the Dawn of DC as an evolution for the DCU. There is respect given to the status quo of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, and other Justice League members. Everyone has moved on to dealing with major things happening in the DC Universe. That fact was clearly hard for Oliver to handle since Dinah Lance had Birds of Prey business to deal with as soon as he returned.
This all made Oliver’s talk with Hal Jordan a strong moment between friends. Oliver still wants to keep wearing rose tinted glasses of how life was before Dark Crisis. Even talking about being a “good father” to his proteges, especially with how he throws shade at Batman, shows he wasn’t mentally ready for what reality had for him. Hal went into full best friend mode by both trying to keep Oliver’s self-esteem up while still being honest with him. Hal’s dialogue worked in his own current status quo as a grounded Green Lantern to further add depth to the advice he gave to Oliver.
Going through experiencing how the world has moved on without him does provide Oliver to reset himself as Green Arrow. The question is now how he will go about operating as Green Arrow. It’s something he quickly answers with how he is making it his mission to find out what is going on with the Dawn of DC direction.
Part of that answer is taking inspiration from Batman with Brother Eye by becoming Big Brother of the DCU heroes, with Connor Hawke’s help. This new mission puts him in direct conflict with Amanda Waller, driving home Green Arrow’s importance to the Dawn of DC direction. Though given the resources Batman, Superman, and others have he’ll have to be very careful with how far he monitors his allies. As we’ve seen when Batman has done this, it does not end well for Oliver.
Carmine Di Giandomenico and Trevor Hairsine combined for solid artwork throughout Green Arrow #7. Credit to Romulo Fajardo Jr. for maintaining consistency so both artists’ styles didn’t clash with each other. The various team ups and conversations with his former Justice League members held the weight that’s expected. The same goes for the revelation for the true reason for why Oliver had all these conversations.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Green Arrow #7 is a tone setter for this series moving forward. Back from his Multiverse adventure Oliver Queen takes steps to be proactive about being part of the bigger Dawn of DC direction. In the process several characters arcs and plotlines are developed that should make Green Arrow one of the most important titles for DC Comics.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10