Absolute Green Arrow #3 – Pornsak Pichetshote, Writer; Rafael Albuquerque, Artist; Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: This title is replacing Absolute Martian Manhunter as the sixth pillar of the Absolute line now that that title has concluded, and while the style is very different, they have a good deal in common. They’re both experimental, no-holds-barred titles that take the concept of the original hero and twist it beyond recognition – this one as a horror story about a serial killer who happens to be going after the bad guys. Dinah Lance’s investigation into the Green Arrow killer led to a sparring match with Mia Dearden and a visit to Connor Hawke that ended with Ollie’s son dead by a mysterious assassin. That just leaves one suspect – Roy Harper, Ollie’s most unstable protege. Here, Roy is a millionaire with substance abuse problems who was a frenemy of Ollie’s until the two of them had a series of falling outs, and Roy was found strung out of his mind trying to dig up Ollie’s grave.
But as the Green Arrow Killer continues to be the hottest topic in town, Roy paints a very different story of his link to Ollie. Flashbacks show that the two were frequently in contact, with another Arrow protege being name-dropped in the dialogue, and Roy has a bizarre theory about Ollie’s death – he didn’t die at all. That takes this series from the realm of thriller into the realm of horror, as Dinah begins to investigate a cult of billionaires determined to beat death. Between the transhumanism, the human trafficking cults, etc. the scariest thing about this book is that all the horrors happening are things that are at least aspirational for many of the most powerful elites in the real world. This book obviously wants us to draw some major parallels to real life, but it does so in a way that still allows readers to get lost in the superhero trappings, and the ending was some of the creepiest stuff we’ve seen in this line so far.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
