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Green Arrow

Green Arrow – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

Updated April 18, 2025! The Green Arrow comic books definitive issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated April 2025 with titles scheduled for release through September 2025.

Green Arrow first appeared in 1941 as a hero in the Batman mold but with a twist – superhero billionaire Oliver Queen wore a costume reminiscent of Robin Hood.

He was a popular anthology character in the Golden Age, so much so that Green Arrow continued to appear through the 1950s – generally a barren period for comics. As a result, Oliver Queen was one of the few heroes outside of DC’s trinity to not be re-cast as a new character with the arrival of the Silver Age in the late 1950s.

Green Arrow began the Silver Age as member of Justice League of America, but his popularity reached new levels when redesigned by Neal Adams in The Brave and the Bold #85 and then transformed into a more socially-conscious hero by Denny O’Neil, culminating in his legendary run in Green Lantern / Green Arrow.

It wasn’t until after Crisis on Infinite Earths that Green Arrow merited his own ongoing series, which elevated him to a major starring role he has occupied ever since.

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DC New 52 Review: Green Arrow #1

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Green Arrow rounds out my first week of DC New 52 reviews – just in the nick of time, as I’ll be reading week two books in a matter of hours!

I don’t have much of a preamble about Green Arrow, which is maybe why I left him for last. I know he can be a bit angsty and I had his Kenner Super Friend toy. That’s about all I’ve got.

I have a bit more to say about the art on this book. Jurgens was the cornerstone of the 80s and 90s, penciling everything from Avengers to Superman. When I see his name I think of handsome, broad-shouldered heroes and their petite, curvy sidekicks and love interests. Here he’s inked by Perez, another Avengers alum, was the master of the team book, and the man behind Wonder Woman’s post-Crisis relaunch (which I own and adore).

This is about as cold as I can come into an long-established hero. Will this all new take on him be the perfect introduction, or was I better off not knowing a thing? And how will two old-school talents translate into a New 52 book?

Green Arrow #1

Written by J.T. Krul, art by Dan Jurgens & George Perez

Rating: 2.5 of 5 – Okay

140char Review: Green Arrow #1, Batman/Hawkeye model of a young/cocky xtreme hero on a narrowly interesting adventure. Felt 80s/90s, esp. w/Jurgens pencils.

CK Says: Consider it.

GA defeats a foe on the river Seine.

Green Arrow presents a cocksure hero who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty or bloody when necessary, which earns him enemies both in the villain department and from within his own Queen Industries.

Not much happens in this issue, strictly speaking, but you could never call it decompressed. Krul packs word balloons into every panel, providing a style of constantly narrating hero that the 2000’s have eschewed thus far. Yet, despite the retro writing, Green Arrow is a modern take-no-prisoners hero.

The issue’s art straddles the same old-but-new divide. The Jurgens/Perez team-up lends the issue a decidedly 80s rough-hewn look – except for on GA himself, who is drawn more crisply throughout. The effect makes him seem a bit more high-tech than his surroundings, even if he is a guy with a compound bow. Add to that a modern coloring job and the art has the same nouveau retro feel as the writing. Jurgens’ background shots of Paris are especially great.

Green Arrow is a fun single issue adventure – the kind that ought to be in the hands of every eight-year-old comic reader in the world. It feels a little skimpy coming off of some of the highs of week one, but it’s an effective and interesting issue that’s worth picking up for the throwback vibe.