Some thoughts about Green Arrow #5

What is the future of Green Arrow?

Oliver has just met an older version of himself who is warning about staying away from his family but Ollie knows that there's something that this person is hiding.

I sadly missed a few issues of this run but I managed to read the last couple of issues and I have a few mixed feelings about this.

I tend to like Joshua Williamson's work more often than not (especially when is in solo titles) but there are a few things that put me off about his work on Green Arrow. The most important issue I have is that he's playing with the idea of redeeming Ollie from his most problematic acts like abandoning Connor and his family as a whole which ultimately would go against what makes the character so complex in the first place but at the same time, Williamson seems to confront those aspects directly like in his previous fight with Parallax in which a lot of the typical Ollie traits are depicted (and is a scene in which Williamson exploits his classic knowledge on continuity by referencing the particular relationship between Ollie and Parallax).

That work continues in this chapter in which the theme of the island and being alone is showcased and is really well-executed since once again, it display many important parts of Ollie's personality to the point that I believe that Williamson really understands the character, not to mention that there's a lot of fun when multiple versions of Ollie face him including the "Resurrection Era" Ollie and "New 52" Ollie, is just good fanservice.

The art is handled by Sean Izaakse and Phil Hester and, while Izaakse's work is extremely solid in terms of polish and storytelling, Hester gets the highlight by portraying the many versions of Oliver Queen including the one he actually created.

Good read, I really hope that Williamson continues with this kind of route.