In this review of Absolute Green Arrow #4, Dinah Lance’s obsession with discovering Oliver Queen’s fate and punishing Hector Hammond leads he into danger, and ugh…more body horror.
ABSOLUTE GREEN ARROW #4
Written by PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE
Art and Main Cover: RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
Variant Covers: GERALD PAREL, KRIS ANKA, MARTIN SIMMONDS, TIRSO CONS
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 8/19/26
This review contains spoilers
Absolute Green Arrow #4 begins as Dinah Lance is attacked by Solomon Grundy and the reluctant bodyguard handles herself well against the undead monstrosity. Dinah is no shrinking violet here, squaring off against the monster armed only with her wits and her trusty sidearm. She puts Grundy down and looks for Roy Harper who led her to this house of horrors. Elsewhere in the facility, the Green Arrow killer uses Hector Hammond’s severed hand to access sensitive computer files.
As Dinah maneuvers past a series of failed horrifying experiments, she discovers the computer the killer used (unaware of who accessed it). Meanwhile, deeper in the facility the rest of Hector Hammond interrogates a man named Hallway (Oliver Queen’s former bodyguard), believing he is the Arrow killer. Hammond introduces another specialist in his employ, the creepy Doctor Iker who has done some experimenting on Hallway.
Hammond gloats as Dinah gets the drop on her employer, demanding to see Oliver. A flashback to two years earlier reveals Ollie’s frustrations over rumors of his previous association with human trafficker Jubal Slade, but it appears that Ollie might have a shot at a big opportunity. Back in the present day, Hammond leads Dinah back out to the lab (where Grundy fell) and she gets an eyeful of Ollie, dead, another of Iker’s twisted experiments.
Hammond commands Solomon Grundy to wake up, and the creatures rises, more horrific looking than before. The Green Arrow Killer appears and gets the drop on the hulking creature, but the behemoth shrugs off the attack as Grundy chases Dinah and the Killer.
Absolute Green Arrow #4 ends as Grundy catches up with the pair and tears off the Arrow Killer’s forearm in retaliation.
Analysis
Absolute Green Arrow #4 ramps up the intrigue, graphic violence and body horror as the mystery surrounding Hector Hammond and Oliver Queen unfolds. Writer Pornsak Pichetshote crafts an increasingly grisly and gruesome storyline filled with cruel and horrifying experiments and deeply flawed characters. Dinah Lance again comes off as a compelling and sympathetic focus, although much different than her Earth One counterpart.
Dinah has finally had enough of the monsters in her life (both the home grown and lab grown varieties) and her deft handling of Solomon Grundy shows an ability to overcome fear that rivals Green Lantern. Her obsession with Oliver Queen is her Achilles heel, but she was in love with him. Hammond’s declaration of Oliver’s complicity in the longevity experiments isn’t shown in the flashback, while it appears that Oliver’s political ambitions were cut short.
The identity of the Arrow Killer is hinted at (could it be Roy Harper?) by Pichetshote, but it could just as easily be Oliver Queen. The experiments could easily involve cloning. Speaking of which, the strange side effect of eyes growing over Grundy’s body is the least of the unsettling experiments.
Artist Rafael Albuquerque ably depicts the various organic horrors that rival early John Carpenter. Albuquerque’s imagination, sense of scope and use of shadows amplify the dark storyline.
Incidentally, Doctor Iker was a character originally created in the 1940s as a nemesis to the Golden-Age Hourman.
The story in Absolute Green Arrow #4 is somehow both fast-paced and loaded with exposition. The resolution to this unsettling story arc (and the Killer’s identity) should be revealed in issue #6. As DC Comics just extended the series run to issue #12, what do Pichetshote and Albuquerque have in story? The story mixes current events (especially those surrounding billionaires and their unusual pursuits), with a dark revenge thriller and a masked killer.
Final Thoughts
Absolute Green Arrow is by far the darkest of the Absolute DC titles, but at its core is a beating heart named Dinah Lance, whose flawed hero continues to be a character to champion. The gory (but engaging) mystery, the energetic artwork and dark, unsettling but grounded world make Absolute Green Arrow #4 a standout.
