Some thoughts about Green Arrow #17

Can the world trust Green Arrow ever again?

Ollie has a lot to answer after siding with Amanda Waller in her plans to rule the world no matter if he eventually betrayed her. However, the only thing that matters to him is if his family still trusts him.

The era of Joshua Williamson in Green Arrow is officially over and I must say that while this series did start slow, Williamson eventually proved himself to be a good choice for this franchise and I am ultimately disappointed he's leaving at this point.

Yes, 17 issues is technically not a short run per se and the tie-in with the Absolute Power event was probably not the best way to conclude Williamson's tenure but still, this was definitely an appropriate finale for this work. Once again, Williamson demonstrates a good handle at Ollie's character by bringing a good reason about why he supported Amanda Waller early on (Yes, mental control is a bit of a cop out but on the other hand, is not like Ollie himself would actually help Waller in the first place) and his conversation with her showcases how much he cares about his family and fittingly enough, he threatens her to end her life if any of this happens once again (Just like any well-written Oliver Queen would).

The biggest criticism here is that you really need to have been following the Absolute Power crossover to understand what's actually happening here (I'm not doing it because I'm not really into Mark Waid's events) but the writer compensates this with his classic attention to continuity involving plot-points from many years ago.

The interactions with the Justice League is accurate since most of them react the way you would expect (You might say Ollie is more arrogant than he should but on the other hand, is not like he would be quiet about it) while planting the seeds of not all of them fully trusting him in subtle ways (And of course this involves Batman). The best part is that Williamson does a good job at setting-up the new, more grounded direction that the next creative is taking (And I'm glad that he did it in a kinda comical way by including the boxing glove arrow).

Amancay Nahuelpan remains in art duties and his work is vibrant, beautiful and creates a great range of expressions for all the characters.

There's a second feature even featuring the new creative team of Chris Condon and Montos and just as I mentioned before, the series takes a more realistic approach which is fitting based on the history of Green Arrow, following some of the plot points created in this same issue by Williamson, most prominently the trust issues with Batman although Condon does a good job at not presenting Bruce as a total jerk about it and creating an interesting mystery. Montos' pencils have a rough yet detailed style that complements this new direction nicely.

Solid final chapter, let's hope the new team follows the same quality.