If you're still trying to process the events of Heroes in Crisis, or you just need an unbelievably good Green Arrow story, you absolutely need to read this. Read Full Review

Easily the best book of the week! An emotional rollercoaster sure to hit you right in the feels over and over again as the Benson sisters force Ollie to face his demons! Read Full Review

I've never been a fan of shock value deaths in comic events. Too often the characters affected don't have time to process the death and their grief, which makes this issue such a great read. The Bensons take Oliver through the stages of grief in one issue while sticking completely true to the character. While I'm still wrapping my head around Heroes In Crisis, this was a very strong follow up showing how deeply it impacted the DCU. Read Full Review

The issue ends with Oliver tears falling making a promise not to disappoint Roy again. It's unclear how Oliver will go about taking down Citizen from here. He does not seem to be unstable, but the loss of someone so close can leave you in an unclear state of mind and clearly an emotional wreck. Read Full Review

Of course this is just the opening salvo of the Heroes in Crisis storyline and related crossovers. It can only get better. For now though, this is an incredible issue of Green Arrow. Read Full Review

It hurts to see Roy gone, but for anyone who's a fan of him, as Arsenal, Speedy or Red Arrow, any fans of the Titans, and any Green Arrow fans, this comic is a beautiful, must-read tribute to one of DC's most relatable legacy characters. Read Full Review

In an era of comics where death holds very little power over our favorite costumed heroes, Julie and Shawna Benson craft a tale of finality that leaves the reader with enough closure to feel like this time, he may not return to us. Read Full Review

A strong narrative about grieving and loss. Read Full Review

Oliver has to move on and realize that he didn't do the best with Roy in life. How this will affect him in the coming issues? We don't know but it's apparent that Roy's death will not be an easy thing for him to live with. Read Full Review

Green Arrow #45 is a must read comic. Whether you are a Green Arrow fan or just reading Heroes In Crisis this comic is required reading. That is all thanks to the excellent job Julie Benson and Shawna Benson do in exploring the impact of Roy Harper's death. That impact created a phenomenal character arc for Oliver Queen that included key scenes with the Justice League. If you are reading Heroes In Crisis make sure you pick up Green Arrow #45. You won't be disappointed. Read Full Review

One side note: no-show out of Jason Todd. Wouldn't have minded if he made an appearance and clocked Green Arrow one time. Read Full Review

"Green Arrow" #45 is about as good a tie-in as one could hope for, giving the metanarrative of "Heroes" more room and still feeling appropriate content in the pages of this series. Read Full Review

The art, however, is a completely different kettle of monkeys. Faces look squashed, figures look more sketched than drawn, and the colors wash out most of what details may have existed beneath them. The group shots should have been a collection of easily identifiable faces, but I could not recognize the majority of them until they actually announced themselves, and that simply shouldn't have been. Javier Fernandez has turned in better work than this. Perhaps he was going for a different feel with this being a funeral issue, but it didn't connect with this reader. Read Full Review

While you won't want to miss this remembrance issue of Roy Harper, I feel that this issue didn't do enough to really show off the fallen character or why everyone really loved him.  Also, I wish we could have had a different artist here because I would have liked to have been able to recognize some of my favorite heroes.  Even with those gripes though, there are some really decent scenes here that will give you the feels.  I just hope the series reflects this going forward instead of just going back to business as usual. Read Full Review

This is an okay issue. While focusing on Roy's death feels strange to me, I like that the Benson sisters use it to deal with Oliver's choices as a mentor and a friend. It's nice to see some of that addressed and it makes the issue a little more interesting. Read Full Review

There isn't much to this issue. If you're reading Heroes in Crisis and feel the need to read this in order to get the full story, then I'm here to tell you this issue is completely unnecessary to the main event. Read Full Review

As rushed as it may be artistically and as many questions as the script leaves me with, this comic is still a grand acknowledgement of what a great character Roy Harper is and how tragically stupid his death was. Read Full Review

The end of the issue has a few good moments where Ollie meets a fellow addict who Roy helped and reflects on his own failings, but it feels like too little, too late. Read Full Review

THE GOOD:

-I really appreciate that this issue isn’t trying to be anything huge or epic. It’s a simple story, but it’s a remarkable one.

-I was in tears at the end of this issue. I’ll leave it at that.

-The Bensons sure know how to characterize Oliver Queen, that’s for sure.

-The interactions with the other members of the Justice League were really good. Emotional, and an excellent way of showing Oliver’s desperation for finding a way to bring back Roy.

-The splashes were an excellent and pretty original way of offsetting the main story using flashbacks.

-The end was incredible. Purely incredible.

THE BAD:

-The art wasn’t my favorite. It didn’t capture the emotion and feel of the issue enough for me, and the facial work didn’t appeal here. more

"Good-bye, Roy"

So Roy Harper really is dead. Up until this point, I thought that in Heros in Crisis #2 we will learn that maybe he and Wallman were just really badly beaten... I guess that won't happen.

The issue itself is a beautiful, well-written eulogy for Roy, with his friends and "family" attending the funeral and saying a few kind words. Only one person is spiraling down in their anger and remorse, feeling like there are responsible. Ollie can't forgive himself that till the very end he wasn't on the best terms with his sidekick/partner/son. His internal turmoil is shown really well and got me choked up a little bit at the very end of the issue.

A good tie-in that pushes Green Arrow's story forward without the necessity to read the main event. more

+ Like • Comments (2)

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Comix4fever - Oct 4, 2018

I hope that the Roy Harper last seen in Convergane Titans will take dead Roy’s place.

Comix4fever - Oct 4, 2018

With Lian, of course.

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I'm never a fan of comic book deaths. With that said, I do think it made for a very important Green Arrow issue and a good one at that. It has been a while since anyone has focused this psychologically on Ollie's character, which to me have always been the best Green Arrows. So, props to the Benson's for doing that right.

Some of the specific ways in which Oliver deals with the grief are just common tropes, though, like asking Hal to create something with his ring that brings Roy back. The flaw in this issue just comes from a lack of originality that could have made it more powerful. However, the Confucius quote about archers was a nice touch.

I've heard some complaints about the art which is interesting because I thought it was pretty expressive and had some nice imagery.

Great issue all around. more

I like these kinds of tie-ins. Ones that are not required to understand the main story, don't really impact it, but rather fill its gaps, explain motivations and emotions of important characters. It's a bittersweet issue, exposing Green Arrow's fragile, human side, and showing his grief, him blaming himself for what has happened. It's moments like that which flesh a character out, let us remember that underneath all these capes and masks, they are just humans, like you and me. If executed properly, it can be powerful and beautiful in its own morbid way.
So far that's the single genuinely good thing that came out of Heroes in Crisis, which really left an underwhelming and maybe even disappointed first impression on me. Time will tell if Tom King created something historic, or the entire event is a stinker with shock for the sake of shock. more

While the issue was great for us to remember Roy (R.I.P.) I cant forget how bad the art was. On some pages, it was hard to keep looking on the page. And while next issue is called Citizen Queen, I am afraid we will just brush off this issue and continue our current story arch with the Citizen out for Oliver which is a shame because would love more on Oliver's frustration with the Justice League and the Box.

Boohoo a character we've barely developed or talked about died off-screen.