In this review of Absolute Green Arrow #2, already reeling from revelations about Oliver Queen’s past, Dinah Lance is forced to endure more than one humiliation in order to unmask the Green Arrow Killer.
ABSOLUTE GREEN ARROW #2
Written by PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE
Art and Main Cover: RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
Variant Covers: GERALD PAREL, RILEY ROSSMO, KAARE ANDREWS, MATÍAS BERGARA
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 6/17/26
This review contains spoilers
Absolute Green Arrow #2 begins as Dinah Lance wakes from a nightmare fueled by unanswered questions about Oliver Queen’s past as well as his unsolved murder. As Dinah grapples with the emotional fallout from loving a man with some apparently dark secrets, Star City is abuzz with news about the Green Arrow Killer’s latest victims (amoral billionaires).
Dinah suits up with some cool protective gear courtesy of her boss Hector Hammond (who lost a hand last issue) as she and her partner Malcolm Merlyn track down suspects. With millionaire Roy Harper out of town, the pair visit Mia Dearden at her gym, but Mia only agrees to talk if she gets to spar with them, so Dinah gets in the ring.
Mia recounts telling Oliver allegations about his business partner Jubal Slade while getting in a few good shots in before Dinah cleans her clock. Mia has a stunner of a revelation: Oliver had an illegitimate son named Connor Hawke. Dinah tracks Connor to a rented house where he reveals a few secrets about Oliver. A scream draws Dinah outside where she finds the Green Arrow Killer murdering another victim.
Connor opens fire, trying to kill the Green Arrow Killer, but a trick shot sends a toxic arrow through Connor’s back, killing him. The vigilante attempts to justify their actions (including killing Connor) and vanishes. The police arrive and explain that the murder victim is the owner of Connor’s house.
Absolute Green Arrow #2 ends as Dinah contacts Malcolm Merlyn who tells her that Roy Harper was back in town to dig up Oliver Queen’s grave.
Analysis
Absolute Green Arrow #2 ratchets up the tension and piles on the trauma as Dinah Lance is haunted by the unanswered questions surrounding both Oliver Queen’s life and his murder. After Dinah and Hector Hammond discovered Oliver’s secret lair last issue, (complete with a dead body covered in extra eyes), Dinah finds herself questioning whether she ever knew the man she believed she loved.
Writer Pornsak Pichetshote doesn’t make things easy for Dinah as she is forced to work for the cruel Hammond, but thankfully both Hammond and Dinah’s ailing father are both awol in Absolute Green Arrow #2, and in return for her services, Dinah gets some impressive gear while her partner Malcolm Merlyn comes off as a decent guy.
Duking it out with Mia Dearden in the boxing ring shows another side of Ms. Lance, as she appears almost gleeful trading blows with the gen alpha do-gooder while extracting information about Oliver’s past. In fact, Absolute Green Arrow #2 reveals a bit more about Oliver’s loyalty to former partner Jubal Slade, despite Mia’s accusations, and then there’s the surprise that Oliver had a kid.
Connor Hawke is for better or worse a done-in-one character, filling in Dinah with more of Oliver’s backstory before dying while trying to get revenge against the Green Arrow Killer. Also, “millionaire” Roy Harper is an interesting reference in the midst of this billionaire murder spree. Harper clearly has a secret, but it probably isn’t the being Green Arrow.
Rafael Albuquerque delivers another knockout issue, utilizing the sequential art format to depict Dinah’s dark dreamscape, while the imagery of the tumbling, blood-soaked puzzle pieces are on point. Colorist Marcelo Maiolo embellishes Albuquerque’s artwork with harsh and surreal tones. Albuquerque and Mailo also deliver an distinct look to differentiate the harrowing Oliver/Mia flashback from the main story.
Meanwhile the Green Arrow Killer is rendered as impressive and fearsome as ever, appearing and vanishing like a wraith after delivering blood-spattered justice that leaves victims eviscerated and ruined by the toxic arrowheads.
Final Thoughts
Absolute Green Arrow #2 provides more clues to the mysteries surrounding Oliver Queen, while the Killer’s victims continue to be dispatched in increasingly gruesome ways. Absolute Green Arrow #2 exhibits both film noir and horror/slasher tropes to great effect. The script is taut and the art is solid.
