Green Arrow is a 2016 comic book published by DC Comics, as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. Released twice-monthly, it's written by Benjamin Percy with art duties shared by Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra.
Unlike the New 52's reinvention of the character, Rebirth's Green Arrow brings Oliver Queen back to his roots as a Robin Hood-esque "social justice warrior" who defends the disadvantaged from crime and injustice. Also, the goatee is back.
Another returning aspect of the character? Iconic partner (in both definitions of the word) Dinah Lance—better known as the Black Canary— who he'd never even met during the New 52 era. With veteran John Diggle, tech wiz Henry Fyff, and Ollie's half-sister Emiko by their side, Seattle's never been in better hands.
List of storylines
- The Death and Life of Oliver Queen: Issues #1-5
- Sins of the Mother: Issues #6-7
- Island of Scars: Issues #8-9
- Murder on The Empire Express: Issues #10-11
- Emerald Outlaw: Issues #12-17
- The Return of Roy Harper: Issues #18-20
- The Rise of Star City Issues #21-24
- Broken Arrow: Issue #25
- Hard-Traveling Hero: Issues #26-31
- Gotham Resistance Finale: Issue #32
- Trial of Two Cities: Issues #33-38
- The Fall of Red Arrow: Issues #37-38
- Ghosts In The Machine: Annual #1
- The Children of Vakhar: Issues #39-40
- Failsafe: Annual #2
- Better Than: Issues #41-42
- Citizen's Arrest: Issues #43-44, 46-47
- Draw and Release: Issue #45
- This Is Not Normal: Issues #48-49
- Zero: Issue #50
Green Arrow contains examples of the following tropes:
- Aborted Arc: The long awaited return of fan favorite Connor Hawke was teased but unfortunately didn't happen before the book got a new creative team. His return instead occurred in Robin (2021) before finally reuniting with his father in Green Arrow (2023).
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: Emiko Queen (a half-Japanese half-White teenage girl) becoming the new Red Arrow.
- Age Lift: Emiko is age lifted to be 15, whereas she was originally not even a teenager. To put it into perspective: she debuted as younger than Damian Wayne, but Rebirth has since made her older than him.
- Annoying Arrows: Several characters are struck with arrows throughout the series, but only nameless supporting characters are explicitly stated to have suffered lethal injuries.
- Eddie Fyers is pinned to a tree by dozens of arrows and beaten to a bloody pulp, but is seen alive and well in the final arc.
- An arrow pierces Shado's leg when she arrives to murder Moira, but she doesn't display any signs of pain as the battle resumes.
- Archnemesis Dad: Ollie finds a secret basement near his family's tombstones, whose contents strongly imply that his father was a member or even the founder of the Ninth Circle, the organization that he has been fighting since the beginning of the series. This assumption turns out to be incorrect, as it's his mother, Moira, who is in collusion with the Ninth Circle. She becomes the Big Bad of the final arc.
- Author Tract: A big part of the book's focus is reestablishing Oliver's political leanings, which had been phased out thanks to the reboot and other developments prior to it. In particular, Oliver losing his fortune and the generally anti-capitalistic messages are due to writer Ben Percy finding Oliver's status as a rich straight white man to greatly undermine his liberal messages. Likewise, Oliver's occasional chauvinism is erased and Dinah is presented as completely his equal, with the story subverting the Distressed Damsel trope and having her loudly reject being a victim.
- The Bad Guys Are Cops:
- A significant portion of the Seattle Police is far more concerned in punishing criminals than in protecting innocents. Some of the cops form the Vice Squad, an irregular platoon that brutalizes lawbreakers over minor offenses, before their activities escalate to the point they massacre an entire prison, including the guards that tried to stop them. After regaining his wealth, Green Arrow establishes a fund designed to improve the Police's relationship with the general public, in an effort to rekindle the city's faith in them and prevent the emergence of a new vigilante squad.
- The person who kidnaps Wendy Poole turns out to be Detective Ros, a corrupt cop who makes a fortune by working for the Ninth Circle.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Moira and Robert Queen marry each other and have a son, Oliver. Some time afterwards, Robert begins a secret relationship with Shado, with whom he has his daughter Emiko. Meanwhile, Moira herself cheats on him with Merlyn. Everyone involved but the two half-siblings grow to hate each other, which Emiko finds to be darkly hilarious.
- Bourgeois Bohemian: In issue #1 Ollie takes Dinah back to his place and she sees how well off he is. She's baffled to say the least.Dinah: You call yourself a social justice warrior, but look at this apartment. Look at this life.
- Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Prior to this series, Ollie and Hal had a falling out. When they reunite, they decide to put their past differences aside and start their friendship anew. Though they still trade insults, the dialogue amounts to friendly teasing at worst.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Domini soils himself out of fear when Shado points an arrow at him.
- The Bus Came Back: Eddie Fyers, from the Mike Grell run, comes back as the main antagonist of issue #10. He returns again in the "Rise of Star City" arc.
- Capitalism Is Bad: Star City is run by Corrupt Corporate Executives, who transform it into a playground for the benefit of a small elite. Seattle's parks are replaced by luxurious mansions, homeless people are sold to slavery, and the lower classes are forced to emigrate due to not being able to keep up with the high cost of living. Green Arrow describes the place as a "disgusting capitalist fantasy".
- Christmas Episode: Annual #1 takes place during Christmas night, with Count Vertigo trapping everyone but Dinah in an illusion that causes them to perceive the festivities as a nightmare. In the end, the heroes manage to turn Vertigo's power against himself, though they choose to make him hallucinate that he has won. Ollie justifies this by saying that even villains deserve to be happy during Christmas.
- Composite Character:
- Though she originated in the New 52 run, Emi becoming Red Arrow makes her comparable to the trajectory of Thea Queen / Speedy on Arrow — Ollie's half-sister who becomes his crimefighting sidekick.
- Oliver himself. At this point, Oliver has the backstory and history of the New 52 Green Arrow, and the costume and gear of the Arrow version. However, his personality, politics, and beard are taken from the classic Green Arrow comics, bringing all three versions together.
- Creator Cameo: In one issue, artist Juan Ferreyra drew some talking-head civilians that look like writer Benjamin Percy, letterer Nate Piekos, and editors Andy Khouri and Brian Cunningham.
- Dramatic Thunder: Broderick being revealed as an antagonist is accompanied by lightning cracking in the background as he declares "It's time (to kill Oliver)".
- Eldritch Ocean Abyss: The ocean trench seen in the final arc is home to unique creatures with unsettling appearances, such as a giant squid large enough to swallow a whale, fish with translucent skin, a hammerhead shark with unusually large jaws, and giant crustaceans that almost kill the protagonist.
- Eye Scream: Shado kills Broderick by shooting an arrow through his right eye.
- Foil: During the final battle, the dialogue highlights how Shado and Moira have different approaches to motherhood despite their similar backgrounds as emotionless assassins. The former genuinely loves her daughter Emiko and goes to great lenghts to protect her, even agreeing to work for the Greater-Scope Villain on the condition he releases them both from duty. In contrast, the other villainess has nothing but disdain for her own son, whom she tries to kill numerous times while berating him for not embracing the family's legacy.
- Groin Attack: In issue #36, Dinah knees Ollie in the groin. While he's only wearing underwear.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Domini wins Seattle's election thanks to the Ninth Circle funding his campaign. When it seems that he will finally turn on the villains, Broderick catches him trying to relay information from the company to Ollie and tortures him into submission. He becomes the Ninth Circle's puppet for the rest of the series.
- Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Broderick's pawns style themselves after the horsemen of the apocalypse: Cheshire is the White Horse of Pestilence, killing her enemies by discreetly poisoning them. Brick is the Red Horse of War, and acts as the group's main muscle. Eddie Fyers is the Pale Horse of Death, an assassin who has no problem taking countless lives by orchestrating acts of wide-spread destruction. Finally, Domini represents Famine, as he is manipulated into leading a political campaign that deprives the citizens of their basic needs.
- Hypocrite: Ollie has built the reputation of being overly preachy when it comes to social justice, but still takes advantage of his fortune to indulge in a luxurious lifestyle. Black Canary calls him out for this when they first meet, even saying that his hypocrisy is one of the reasons why the Justice League refuses to take him seriously.
- Improvised Weapon: In issue 10, Ollie needs to silently and non-lethally incapacitate a guard, so he attaches a boxing glove to the tip of one of his arrows and shoots it at him. However, the projectile fails to accomplish the intended objective and harmlessly bounces off the target's face, forcing Ollie to put on the remaining glove and punch the guard unconscious.
- Looks Like Orlok: The Underground Men, the villains of the first arc, are bald, covered in burn scars, dress in long coats, walk hunched over and have long fingers.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: Black Canary has voice-based powers. She can stun enemies with a whistle or amplify her voice to send messages across large distances, though her signature ability is her Canary Cry, a scream that manifests as a powerful wave of concussive energy.
- Mark of the Beast: Domini is branded with the symbol of the Ninth Circle to officialize his status as their pawn.
- Monumental Damage: The Ninth Circle seizes control of Seattle by destroying the Space Needle and erecting Star Tower in its place.
- Mr. Fanservice: Ollie's good looks are perhaps emphasized more here than they've ever been. Otto Schmidt, a pinup artist, especially draws Ollie in this way.
- Mutual Kill: Moira shoots an arrow at Ollie, though Emiko jumps in to protect her brother and is struck in the chest. Enraged by the supposed death of her daughter, Shado grabs Moira as the floor beneath them crumbles apart, apparently killing both herself and her enemy in the fall.
- Mythology Gag: The dialogue between Ollie and Hal suggest they got into political spats in the past, which is an allusion to the 1980's Green Lantern/Green Arrow series, where most of the conflicts resulted from the conservative Hal clashing with Ollie's liberal ideals.
- Police Are Useless: Lampshaded by Detective Shuffleton, who says the local Police Department has degenerated into a group of bodyguards for the elite following Seattle's transformation into Star City.
- Riches to Rags: Happens to Ollie in the first arc, where his fortune is stolen by a conspiracy of slavers, ruthless business executives , and bankers. For elaborate reasons Ollie ends up destroying his fortune instead of reclaiming it. He does reclaim it at the end of the run.
- Series Continuity Error: In issue 36, Ollie shatters Shado's bow with a well-aimed arrow. When the battle resumes in the following issue, her weapon is inexplicably repaired.
- Sexual Karma: When Green Arrow returns to Star City after disrupting the Ninth Circle's operations across the United States, he is greeted by Black Canary, who immediately seduces him. Downplayed, as it's implied she did something unpleasant to him while the two were having sex.Green Arrow: (Thank you) For everything... Everything except that one thing you did...
Black Canary: It was supposed to hurt. - Straw Character: Domini is a parody of ultra-conservative politicians. His campaign is based on the logic of Social Darwinism, though he is portrayed as naive and cowardly, thus contradicting his own ideals.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: The entire point of the "Hard Travellin' Hero" arc is to pair Green Arrow with other heroes and show that he is capable of working with them despite their conflicting political views.note
- Wham Episode: Issue #31. The Justice League is so impressed by Oliver's efforts to take down the Ninth Circle that he's offered membership. Only to turn it down, feeling that he can do more not openly attached to the League. He instead offers to act as essentially a black ops member, doing work that needs to be done more discreetly or that the League can't look into openly.
