Warning! Spoilers ahead for Green Arrow #16!Everything Green Arrow has been rebuilding for the last year has been destroyed with the two words he hoped he’d never have to hear. The scales have fallen from Team Arrow’s eyes after seeing the extent of Oliver Queen’s shocking new life choices.
Amanda Waller has gone all-in in an effort to take down the DC Universe’s metahuman population. In a moment that surprised every one of his family members, Oliver decided to work with her, going so far as to reject his superhero identity. Now Green Arrow faces his family for the first time since his turn to the dark side, and they have only one thing to say to him.
Green Arrow’s Team Calls Him a Fascist
Oliver Queen is Called the Very Thing He Once Fought
In Green Arrow #16 by Joshua Williamson, Amancay Nahuelpan, Sean Izaakse, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Troy Peteri, Waller’s side is starting to lose as the heroes begin mounting a proper defense. She scrambles to assemble all of her forces, but Green Arrow and her multiversal soldier Bright are in the middle of a fight on a cargo plane heading straight for the Hall of Order. Team Arrow is also there as Queen manages to save Arsenal’s daughter Lian from the cyborg villain. Connor Hawke teams up with his father and the two Green Arrows fight side-by-side to defeat Bright.
Green Arrow offers no explanations and has every member of Team Arrow arrested by Waller’s Task Force agents.
Bright tells his true origin to the duo, revealing that he was from Earth-3 and once a hero known as White Lantern who was betrayed by his world’s version of Green Arrow. Tiring of the multiverse and Bright’s presence, Connor and Oliver unleash a wave of arrows into their opponent and manage to knock the villain off the plane (though Oliver is certain Bright will survive the fall). Team Arrow manages to land the plane right outside the Hall of Order and Green Arrow tells Connor how proud he is to see him take up Oliver’s mantle.
Connor Hawke first became Green Arrow back in
Green Arrow #0 (1994)
!
The rest of the family turns on Oliver, asking what’s been going on with him and why he’s working with Amanda Waller of all people. Green Arrow offers no explanations and has every member of Team Arrow arrested by Waller’s Task Force agents. Oliver orders his family taken to the Hall of Order for processing and to have them sent to Waller’s island prison Gamorra as soon as possible. As the heroes are lead away, a betrayed and hurt Speedy looks back at Green Arrow hurling insults at him, including “You fascist!“.
Green Arrow’s Family Says What Every Fan Has Been Thinking
Oliver’s New Path Goes Against His Leftist Principles
Fans of the Emerald Archer know that he’s been one of the DC Universe’s most socially conscious heroes for decades. Comic book icon Dennis O’Neil infamously elevated Queen’s character by writing Green Arrow as a more leftist character. The “Hard Travelin’ Heroes” era of Green Lantern/Green Arrow showed off Oliver’s principles as he crusaded against corrupt businessmen and other people taking advantage of the disenfranchised. Green Arrow’s more left-leaning beliefs have remained a constant for the last several decades.
Don’t miss O’Neil’s classic run on the Emerald Archer in
Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Travelin’ Heroes
.
However, while taking a stand against big business and corrupt rulers has been Oliver’s raison d’etre, he shocked the world when he agreed to start working with Amanda Waller. Waller had been intentionally keeping Team Arrow separated as a means of manipulating Oliver and unfortunately it worked. When Green Arrow confronted Waller, she revealed she was preparing for a war against metahumans and needed someone she could trust on her side. Waller promised that if Oliver worked with her, his family would remain whole and safe and surprisingly enough, Green Arrow agreed.
…Oliver told them all that he was no longer Green Arrow and that he ‘believed’ in Waller.
To his credit, Green Arrow did tell his family that he was simply working a long con against Waller. However, things changed dramatically at some point and Green Arrow donned a new Task Force agent costume. After making a big show for Arsenal, Cheshire and Lian, Oliver told them all that he was no longer Green Arrow and that he ‘believed’ in Waller. While Team Arrow was ordered to remain on Arrow Island, Green Arrow went to work alongside Waller’s all-Amazo team Task Force VII, who drained nearly every hero on Earth of their powers.
Green Arrow’s Family Doesn’t Trust Him Anymore
They’ve Finally Reunited Only to Fall Apart
As shocked as Team Arrow is at Green Arrow the truth is that Oliver likely is working against Amanda Waller. He’s been going off on his own, collecting relics such as time-travel gear and a contingency once given to him by Martian Manhunter. While the extents of his plans have yet to be revealed, it’s a safe bet that Green Arrow is just playing Waller and doing what he must to stop her from winning in Absolute Power. But even if he’s not a traitor, it’s clear Green Arrow has destroyed the trust his team had in him.
…all Oliver did by hiding his true intentions was fall into the same pattern of behavior.
The Green Arrow series followed Oliver as he rebuilt his family and forced the hero to confront the mistakes of his past. He realized the value of family and how important these people were to him. And while he may have intended to protect Arsenal, Speedy, Connor and everyone else on Team Arrow, all Oliver did by hiding his true intentions was fall into the same pattern of behavior. But unlike previous times, this is much more worse because Green Arrow actively participated in an attack on the entire DC Universe’s superhero community.
Fans who have taken a glimpse at solicitations for future Green Arrow titles may have noticed that Oliver seems to have some solo adventures lined up. But that’s not exactly a shocked considering just how hurt his family is portrayed here. Yes, Oliver may be doing what he thinks is right, but Green Arrow’s decision to not tell his family what’s going on has earned their scorn and disapproval. They might even be disbanding over this, or at the very least, keeping Green Arrow at a distance until they can find it in them to forgive him.
Can Green Arrow Get Back in His Team’s Good Graces?
Oliver Queen is Losing His Family
Green Arrow fought like hell to get his family back and he broke a lot of rules to keep them safe during Absolute Power. But no matter his intentions, Team Arrow has every right to feel angry with him. Oliver probably knew when he decided to work with Waller that there was no good option, but that he’d rather have his family hate him and be alive than whatever Waller had planned. Hopefully, Green Arrow will find some way to have his family see him as anything else other than a fascist.
Green Arrow #16 is available now from DC Comics.
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