During the finale of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths Green Arrow was pulled away, lost to another universe, or to time, gone from his friends and family. The current Green Arrow series, which almost ended with this issue, but was extended thanks to sales, has not just been about getting Ollie back, but has asked the question why can the Arrow Family never just all be together. Turns out it's not editorial issues or writers not wanting to do it, but a foe from Ollie's past who's been messing with him the whole time.
I don't know if the reveal is a surpise or not. If you were to ask me who Ollie's biggest enemy is I'd have said Merlyn, so him being involved feels natural. But on the other hand him having Ollie removed from time, making deals with figures like Paralax and Amanda Waller does feel different to what we've seen from him before, so him being behind all of that does feel different to past Merlyn schemes at least.
However this reveal sits with you, the issue doesn't give you a huge amount of time with it, as Oliver is soon joined by Lian and Connor, who help him to get away from the Dark Archer, and back to the real world, where they arrive on Starfish Island, where Dinah is waiting for them. She'd gone 'back to the beginning' in her search for Ollie, returning to the island whilst Roy and Cheshire followed their own leads, resulting in a small reunion between them. But, with Roy gone the entire family still isn't together yet.
This issue brings the first arc to a nice conclusion, and the reunion between Ollie and Dinah is a really nice moment, and will likely end up being one of the images from this arc that people will remember; the two of them embracing in the surf of Starfish Island as the sun shines down upon them. The further building of Waller and her schemes is a nice addition, and her continues machinations in the background of a number of titles has been an interesting mystery that feels nowhere near answered yet. I do wonder if this was the way the series would always have been ended if it hadn't have sold well, or is Roy was always going to go down this path. Good job we've got more to come so we can further continue this story.
The art on the issue is done by a number of people, with Phil Hester returning to the character to provide the art on the sections of the book that take place in the past. I really like this choice, and it absolutely helps the reader to feel like we've gone back into some of Ollie's history. The rest of the book features art by Trevor Hairsine, and Sean Izaakse, with Romulo Fajardo Jr. on colours. There are a number of really good looking moments in the book, such as the Merlyn reveal, and the final page, but as said earlier, Dinah and Ollie embracing on the beach is a beautiful moment from both a writing and art perspective, and might be my favourite part of the book.
Oliver Queen is back in the DC Universe, and now he has the chance to put his life back together; but first we're going to have to go save Roy; and I'm looking forward to seeing it.
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