Green Arrow #9: Waller

The Green Arrow’s story continues in the issue 9, the first part of the new arc, Arrow vs. the Wall. In this issue, we see the fallout from the Beast World event which left a catastrophic mess for heroes all across the continuity but nobody has it harder than the Green Arrow himself. It even becomes clear just how odd the continuity feels when the reader is constantly reminded that the Justice League has been disbanded.

A lot happens in this issue that will set the tone for the story moving forward. For starters, Waller commands Peacemaker and his soldiers to raid the Hall of Justice, where the former members of the League got together every so often. Without the “League”, per say, and all that Waller has been up to, it feels like she’s trying to capitalize on the opportunity of being the World’s eyes and ears, only potential savior.

One of the story’s elements is that Connor has gone missing due to odd circumstances with Waller obviously being at the center of it. He travels to Corto Maltese to meet up with a man he doesn’t know, but tells the character that Oliver Queen is in need of his assistance. Only then is it revealed to be the Green Arrow’s red right hand, John Diggle. He’s reluctant to help out his old friend, until he hears the idea of putting an end to Malcolm Merlyn once and for all.

The next scene in the book is Oliver sneaking into the old Hall while Peacemaker is still working on clearing it out. While lurking around in the dark, he seems to resemble the Dark Knight in some ways. Going about things alone, and when he gets caught and begins to be tortured, well it almost feels too dark to be Green Arrow. Given a lot of circumstances surrounding the main continuity and Batman’s being occupied with other matters, it seems like Green Arrow is kneeling a bit on the mantle or the spot of Batman, becoming more serious with every horrible thing that takes place. Granted, those are some pretty big shoes to fill, so it would have to lie between Nightwing and Green Arrow.

It becomes even more Batman-esque when Oliver is dancing with the devil, or dealing with Waller. What goes down between them is what Waller has been doing to every hero or ally of the heroes, where she gets them to work for. Hence, making Oliver another one of her toys to play with, which will be explored next issue.

As a quick note on the art, Izaake and Fajardo do an amazing job at matching color and art with the tone of Williamson’s story progression.