DC Comics reviews for 10/3/18

Green Arrow #45

It didn’t take long as Green Arrow #45 quickly dealt with some major issues in the fallout of Heroes in Crisis #1. Spoilers are unavoidable at this point so be warned.

This issue largely deals with Green Arrow, Black Canary and Allied dealing with Roy Harper’s murder at Sanctuary. One big problem I had with HIC #1 was how Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman initially kept the news of the Sanctuary tragedy to themselves. The rest of the Justice League really should have been there.

That isolation was bound to lead to some harsh feelings so I was ecstatic Green Arrow writers Julie and Shawna Benson tackled those issues immediately.

Naturally Green Arrow blames himself for not being there for Roy, but he rightfully wasn’t worried about him getting killed at a rehabilitation center. Oliver Queen might be a hothead, but he’s asking a lot of valid questions raised by HIC.

The Bensons also take this issue to let Oliver sort through his feelings and work through his guilt regarding his friendship. One of the more frustrating aspects of Roy’s death was The Benson sisters kicked off their run by bringing Roy back into the fold. They seemed to have plans for him that got derailed when Roy had to get offed to give HIC some impact.

Javier Fernandez tends to be a more dynamic artist and it was a nice surprise to see how adept he was at capturing so much emotion out of a powerful emotional moment for the characters.

I’ve never been a fan of shock value deaths in comic events. Too often the characters affected don’t have time to process the death and their grief, which makes this issue such a great read. The Bensons take Oliver through the stages of grief in one issue while sticking completely true to the character. While I’m still wrapping my head around Heroes In Crisis, this was a very strong follow up showing how deeply it impacted the DCU.

Rating: 10 out of 10