Summary
Warning! Spoilers ahead forGreen Arrow #12!As great as theBat-Familyis, another team of heroes has just reunited for the first time in years. After Green Arrow went missing, Team Arrow searched high and low to find him, but fate seemed to keep the team at a distance.
But it wasn’t fate that was keeping Oliver Queen and his family apart. Itwas actually Amanda WallerandGreen Arrow’s nemesis Merlyn. Through manipulation and powerful tech, Green Arrow’s family has been fractured. But now the team is finally coming back together, a good omen for the dark days ahead in the DC Universe.
Green Arrow’s Extended Family is Finally Back Together
InGreen Arrow #12by Joshua Williamson, Sean Izaakse, Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Troy Peteri, Oliver Queen is facing off with his most hated enemy, Merlyn. Merlyn has used the Sanctuary files to create hard-light constructs of Green Arrow’s family to attack him. Unfortunately, Merlyn and his army seem to have the upper hand. That is until Oliver mentions that the implants Merlyn and Waller installed in Team Arrow can be reversed. Instead of keeping Oliver’s family apart,Green Arrow uses the implants to bring them all together.
He takes them all to the island Oliver was shipwrecked on years ago so that the family can simply be together in a moment of peace.
Arrowette, Speedy, Red Arrow, Red Canary, Connor Hawke, Cheshire Cat, and Arsenal burst onto the scene, taking out their hard-light doppelgangers. Oliver points out that to get rid of the constructs permanently, they just need a loud enough sound. Black Canary suddenly appears and uses her Canary Cry to dispatch all the Sanctuary copycats. Merlyn attempts to kill Dinah, but Oliver stops him, leading to one final shoot-out between the two foes.Green Arrow hits Merlyn dead center with a taser arrow, ending his reign of terror.
Merlyn is apprehended by John Diggle while Green Arrow preps his family for one last transport. He takes them all to the island Oliver was shipwrecked on years ago so that the family can simply be together in a moment of peace. Team Arrow plays volleyball and frolics on the beach while Green Arrow and Black Canary discuss the future.Green Arrow knows that they still have to deal with Amanda Waller, but for now, he’s content to sit back and appreciate his family.
Green Arrow’s Long Journey to Reuniting His Family
At the end ofDark Crisis on Infinite Earths, the only hero not to return from Pariah’s paradise planet prisons was Green Arrow. Instead, he’d been sent far away thanks to a special implant placed in his head by Amanda Waller. Waller was inspired by Merlyn, who wanted his nemesis to suffer by always being apart from his family. Merlyn concocted an elaborate scheme andconvinced Green Arrow that if he ever reunited with his family, Team Arrow would cause a great disasterthat would kill millions.
While Merlyn had his own reasons for wanting to keep Green Arrow’s family apart, Waller had other plans in mind for the Emerald Archer. Waller has been mounting a concentrated effort against DC’s metahumans and needs the most skilled humans to help her win her upcoming war. She implanted similar tech in Oliver’s closest allies to hold leverage over him,promising that if Green Arrow works for her, she’ll make sure he’s reunited with his familyand that Queen would have a chance to get even with Merlyn.
Waller’s plans are finally going to be carried out this summer in DC’s summer event,Absolute Power!
In the time since the Dark Crisis ended, Oliver has traveled all across time and space. He’s fought old enemies, met new allies, and made compromises against his better judgment. But he was determined to bring his family back together, even if that meant working with someone like Waller and recovering the private Sanctuary files on the DC Universe’s heroes. It’s been a long, hard journey, butthe experience has taught Green Arrow that nothing is more important than family.
Green Arrow and Team Arrow Can Be the Heroes The DC Universe Needs
Though Oliver and his family were split up in different areas and even different time periods, they’ve come back together against all odds. Unfortunately, even Green Arrow knows that the peace Team Arrow has found is only temporary. While Queen doesn’t know the specifics of Waller’s plan, he knows thatshe’s out to get DC’s metahumans and some of Green Arrow’s closest allies. Worse, he’s agreed to work with her in this crusade (Oliver can even be seen wearing a Task Force uniform in previews forAbsolute Power).
While Oliver is doing his best to subvert what Waller is doing, the rest of Team Arrow can protect the powerless metahumans.
That said, Green Arrow has said he’s playing the long con against Waller. While that would have been a difficult task by himself, it’ll be a lot easier with his family behind him. Several members of Team Arrow have dealt with Waller in the past, and those that haven’t have plenty of reason to want to get back at her (namely the implants that have conscripted them into doing her dirty work).With Green Arrow about to go on one of the most dangerous missions of his life, things should go a lot more smoothly having Team Arrow with him.
Absolute Poweris going to see Waller strip the Earth’s metahumans of their powers. The only people who won’t be affected are those with skills like Green Arrow and his teammates. While Oliver is doing his best to subvert what Waller is doing, the rest of Team Arrow can protect the powerless metahumans. No doubt it’ll be a tough experience for the team, especially with Waller working with Failsafe and the Brainiac Queen. But as long asGreen Arrow’s family sticks together, there’s nothing they can’t accomplish.
Green Arrow and His Family’s Reunion is the Best Possible Outcome
Now more than ever, Green Arrow knows just how important family is. For the first time in years, his team of close-knit sharp-shooters are together and they’re not going to let Waller ruin it with some mad power grab. Team Arrow has spent enough time away from one another and they’ll do whatever is necessary to ensure no one ever drives them apart again. It’ll be hard, but at this point, adversity is just another day in the life of Green Arrow and his own little ‘Bat-Family’.
