REVIEW – Green Arrow #1 (2023)

When I say that Green Arrow is one of my favorite comic book characters, that's not just something that I throw out there.  At a young age I was always drawn to characters with a bow and arrow.  Being a huge DC nerd, it was easy to find Green Arrow.  I've followed the character ever since, and watched him grow with his family and his fellow archers.  You'll see a lot of that in this new Green Arrow #1 as part of the Dawn of DC.  So, naturally, I couldn't wait to dive in.

As you can see from the cover, Oliver Queen is far from the only member of the family that we'll see.  We do know from Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths that Oliver Queen is lost, and we do get a bit of a reset of that in the beginning of this issue.  We'll find out where he is (kind of) and how the team will start to try to find him.  That's where the book takes a turn that I didn't expect.

Something very personal happens in this book with one of the characters that I feel like was long overdue.  I mean, I want to find Oliver too, but at one point in this book you'll forget about that even if it's just for a minute.  I don't want to spoil it, but it happens fast and it's a great, feel good moment.  In true comic book fashion, however, it doesn't last very long.  That's where the plot thickens and teases us toward Issue 2.

I can't say much more without spoiling anything, so I'll say this.  I was super excited when I found out that Joshua Williamson would be taking over writing Green Arrow.  All of the heart and excitement that he brought to his run on The Flash is on full display here as well.  He knows how to put a spotlight on his main character, while also putting some personal touches on the overall story that will leave you begging for more.  I have a soft spot for these characters, so I could be super biased, but I felt all of the range of emotion in this book.

You can't do that without a great artist, and DC found another winner in Sean Izaakse.  I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't seen much of Izaakse's work until now, but WOW does Sean know how to bring it.  Sure he shines in the action sequences (especially one with a particular "pretty bird"), but that emotional scene I was talking about...nailed it.  Plus, all of these character designs are spot on.  There were some tweaks to Oliver's look, and I can't tell you why without spoiling anything, but the subtle adjustments were perfect without overdoing it.

I feel like this book could serve as a jumping on point, and does do a quick intro on it's major players.  Still, to really appreciate this one to it's fullest, I think you'd need to have a solid understanding of the history of Green Arrow characters.  If Oliver is the only one you're familiar with, that will be enough to get your by for now.  Trust me though, if you dig deeper, you'll appreciate this book on a whole other level.  All in all, a solid start to this latest restart of Green Arrow stories, and one that's worthy of being added to your pull list.