THIS WEEK: A standout run on Green Arrow concludes in Green Arrow #31. Plus, we look at the Absolute line’s final releases of the year and the last bouts of DC K.O. All Fight Month.
Note: The reviews below may contain spoilers.
Green Arrow #31
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Montos
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Buddy Beaudoin
I kind of understand why it’s not Green Arrow’s time. Or at least, why it’s not time for this version of Green Arrow to exist within DC’s publishing line. The All In era may as well be known as the Dan Mora era. It is packed with superhero comics that are bright, fun, and bombastic. In that regard, Chris Condon, Montos, Adriano Lucas, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou/Buddy Beaudoin’s time on Green Arrow has always felt like an attempt at counterprogramming. As though someone at DC said, “Hey, we could use at least one serious, gritty book in the main line, because some people like those.”
Some people do like those, including me. At least, when the stories are done right. When I say “serious” and “gritty,” I do not use them to mean violent, vengeful shoot-’em-ups packed with “mean streets” and “hard people.” I use them to say that, even though the stories under discussion star a man in a Robin Hood costume, they are about real people dealing with real problems in a world not unrecognizably different from the real world. “Serious,” as in concerned with real, weighty issues. “Gritty,” as in recognizing that, in the real world, most problems can’t be solved cleanly.
Over the course of the last fourteen issues, Condon, Montos, and co. have been telling those sorts of stories right. And here, in what is most likely their last at-bat, they do it again.
For me, while Condon’s Green Arrow stories have been quite strong, it’s the artwork that has really made this run stand out. And when I say artwork, I mean the whole package – the linework and blocking, the colors, and the lettering. Together, they create pages that look and feel like a modern version of some of the best DC comics of the ’80s. If your artwork has me thinking about and comparing it to Denys Cowan and co.’s work from The Question, then you’ve nailed that “gritty DC” vibe.
Here, the art team not only nails that vibe again, but also gets to do their best Neal Adams impression, as Condon’s story flashes back to an encounter from G.A.’s early days. Montos has what seems to be great fun depicting Arrow in his ’70s costume, and the team turns in an affecting set of pages, illustrating an encounter between Arrow and a young girl who happens upon him during a stakeout.
As you can see from the preview pages above, that girl is not experiencing a happy and safe home life. It is telling, and entirely in keeping with Condon’s approach to this series, that in his final issue, this is the problem he’s set Green Arrow to “solve.” The world is not ending. The streets are not overflowing with crime. A girl is dealing with her mother’s death and her father’s resulting anger and mental collapse. This, to Condon, is the correct final problem for his version of Green Arrow to tackle.
It is not an entirely solvable problem, especially within the confines of a mainline DC superhero comic. But Green Arrow does his best. He listens. He empathizes. He provides advice and a symbol that reassures the young girl she is not alone. He does not solve the problem, and it is entirely arguable that he should do more. (Again, you can feel the constraints of the structure and rules of monthly DC superhero comics at the edges of this issue.) But in the long-run, Green Arrow’s efforts pay off.
Green Arrow #31 is not a bombastic superhero tale, but it – and this run – will stick with me. Spoilers for next week’s Round-Up, but Green Arrow will feature on our Best DC Comics of 2025 list, because it’s been taking the time to beautifully tell more grounded superhero stories like this one, reminding readers that superheroes can and should look out for the little guy, too. It’s a shame to lose this series going into 2026, as the main DC line doesn’t have much else like it at the moment.
The Round-Up
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It’s a good week for Absolute DC fans, as Absolute Martian Manhunter #7 starts that series’s second run, Absolute Wonder Woman #15 sees the Absolute Amazon team up with Batman, and Absolute Superman #14 features Superman’s climactic (and emotional) showdown with Ra’s al Ghul. Here at the end of 2025, it’s worth noting that the Absolute line has not lost any steam, with each book’s creative team turning in the same kind of stellar work that’s made the line a hit since its debut. 2025 was absolutely the year of Absolute, and if these books maintain this energy and quality, 2026 may be, too.- Back in the mainline DC Universe, DC K.O. All Fight Month wraps up with The Flash #28, Superman #33, and DC K.O.: Red Hood vs. The Joker #1. While the All Fight books have been hit or miss (and perhaps a bit too steeped in nostalgia), I’ve appreciated the concept, and it’s clear the creators involved are having fun with it. Of this week’s entries, Superman #33 is the clear winner, featuring writer Joshua Williamson’s insights into the mind of Lex Luthor and three rounds of Lex vs. The Demon illustrated by artist Hayden Sherman, colorist Alejandro Sánchez, and letterer Ariana Maher. The Flash #28 and Red Hood vs. The Joker, on the other hand, are fairly standard and skippable. Next month’s DC K.O.#3 will surely fill readers in on All Fight Month’s results, as well as what Darkseid’s been up to throughout this month’s tie-ins.
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