Green Arrow #31 – Chris Condon, Writer; Montos, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Green Arrow is ending this month, and with it creator Chris Condon is departing the DC Universe. But having wrapped up the story of the Crimson Archer last issue, he’s choosing to end his run by doing something a little different. This run has had two main villains, and for both of them Green Arrow was aided in his investigations by Detective Lena Benitez, a Star City police officer who proved to be one of the few trustworthy faces on the force. She nearly died in the first case, but the two emerged from it stronger as allies – and now, they meet on the rooftop one more time to discuss the fallout from the Crimson Archer’s attack and apparent death. But that story is interspliced with another – a series of haunting segments focusing on a young girl with a widowed, verbally abusive father who terrorizes her with his shouts and insults, forcing her to seek refuge on the apartment roof – where one night, she discovers she’s not alone.
This issue does a very nice job of spotlighting what sets Green Arrow apart from other vigilantes – he’s truly a man of the streets in some ways, never forgetting to interact with the average people and making an impact that way. He actually goes out of his way to listen to the girl, and even give her something that makes her life a lot better. It doesn’t take a detective to figure out who the little girl is supposed to be, but that doesn’t make the impact of the reveal any less powerful. Williamson gave us a big, epic cosmic run that restored the Arrow family, and the character is much better off for it, but I’m glad Condon pulled back and did a run much more reminiscent of some of the classic Green Arrow runs. The character doesn’t seem to always be able to sustain an ongoing, but there’s something that really sets him apart from other DC heroes, and I think this final issue perfectly captured it.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
