Posted by The more I read Absolute Green Arrow, the more I love it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thoroughly been enjoying my time with the DC Absolute comics, and I think that the ones I’ve been reading are all of the highest quality. But I genuinely think that Absolute Green Arrow might be on another level. All that to say, I’m going to be talking about issue #5 today.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Dinah Lance and the Longbow Killer have been restrained by Hammond and Grundy. The Longbow Killer tries to appeal to Dinah by answering some questions about her mother, but they’re interrupted by Hammond. Hammond unmasks the enigmatic figure, revealing him to be Malcom Merlyn–Hammond’s head of security. The billionaire demands answers, and Merlyn reveals that he was hired by Guillermo Garcia’s uncle to find him. Garcia was the boy found at the end of the first issue covered in eyes. Merlyn explains that he’s been after Hammond for a while and had to get close, and that he went to Oliver Queen about it. Hammond keeps claiming that he’s the only one who truly knew Queen, and there are interspersed flashbacks of Queen wanting to confront Jubal Slade about his crimes, only to be shut down by Prince Edvin time and time again. In the present, Roy Harper arrives and opens fire on Grundy. Dinah and Malcom are freed, but Malcom takes a bad hit from Grundy. He’s still able to launch a single arrow, scratching Hammond’s face and freeing the mutated Tom Hallaway. Hammond escapes while Hallaway and Grundy fight. Dinah cradles a dying Malcom and hears his final words exhorting her to finish this and kill Hammon. The issue ends with Dinah meeting the second Longbow Killer, who has just incapacitated Roy Harper.
This issue was a whirlwind, and I was engrossed in every second of it. The reveals that there are two Longbow Killers, and one of them was Hammond’s head of security, is such a crazy reveal, but one that feels logical and earned. These are the kinds of story reveals that I was expecting at this point in the series. And man are they good. Merlyn as a Longbow Killer felt like a genuine surprise that I couldn’t have predicted, but there are details that make a lot of sense. For starters, the Longbow Killer was ALWAYS one step ahead of Hammond and his security, so it makes sense where that intel was coming from. The Longbow Killer also only ever seemed to kill the priority targets or the standard guards, but none of the security leadership. It’s a solid plot twist that feels internally consistent with the narrative. As for the identity of the second Longbow Killer, well, we’ll just have to wait and see. Oliver Queen simultaneously makes the most and least sense seeing as he’s dead and we’ve seen the body, and the narrative really keeps hammering home that he’s dead. Of course, that could just be misdirection. It’s not Roy Harper seeing as the Longbow Killer incapacitates him at the end of the issue. The other likely suspect is Mia Dearden, who has been missing since the second issue. I cannot wait for the next issue, and the conclusion to this story.
Thematically, this issue really made me angry. That’s actually a good thing. A central thread running at the heart of this issue is the question “How do you change a broken world?” This question is juxtaposed with Dinah and Malcom’s impotence in the face of Hammond’s wealth and power. Grundy feels like an insurmountable wall. Hammond views lives other than his own as expendable playthings that he can leverage, as evidenced when he sends a kill squad after Dinah’s father when she can’t answer his questions. I hate Hector Hammond. The narrative has done a fantastic job painting him as a despicable monster. As a reader, I cannot wait for his downfall. On the topic of Hammond and his characterization, I want to briefly touch on his certainty about Ollie’s character. I’m really intrigued by how constantly claims that he’s the only one who knows who Oliver Queen truly was, and then he’s immediately undermined in a flashback showing Ollie telling Edvin just how much he hates Hammond. It’s an interesting juxtaposition that is either meant to immediately deflate Hammond and convey to the reader that he doesn’t know as much as he arrogantly thinks he does, or there are some details that we as an audience are missing. And again, I love the thematic framing question about changing the world because it feels so timely and appropriately daunting. It’s no secret that modern society seems to bend to the caprices of the rich and powerful. So how do you change it? It’s a daunting, impossible task, and I really appreciate this comic for trying to tackle it.
The action in this issue is also top notch. The fight sequences feel dynamic and fluid, and are just so much fun to read. As per usual, the art is phenomenal. I do, however, have one complaint: sometimes it’s hard to tell who is who. A few of the male characters kind of look the same sometimes, which can make it a little confusing to tell what’s happening to who. If you really slow down and pay attention you can eventually figure it out, but that can be difficult when the story is such a solid page-turner.
SPOILERS END
Absolute Green Arrow has quickly emerged as my favorite storyline in the DC Absolute Universe. Issue #5 is no exception. If anything, this issue is the one that cements it in that place for me. The story is engaging, the theming is difficult and interesting, the characters are well-written, and the action and artwork is gorgeous. I genuinely love this comic, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. My sole complaint, aside from the minor one I voiced above, is that I now have to wait for the conclusion issue to release.
