Oliver Queen / Green Arrow and his family of superheroes might be tied to one of DC’s biggest events. Spoilers for Green Arrow #3 from Joshua Williamson, Sean Izaake, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Troy Peteri below! Only look if you want to know! The issue sees Oliver, Lian Harper, and Connor Hawke stuck in the 31st century with the Legion of Super-Heroes, as they try to get to the bottom of the random teleporting they’ve been doing. Lian explains that she’s been stuck doing so since her presumed death in Justice League: Cry for Justice, and that it might be tied to Amanda Waller and an unseen shadowy figure who were there right after her death. Oliver later reveals that he was the person with Waller, and plays a video message — from his much older self. In the video, an older, one-eyed and bald Oliver sends a warning to his younger self.
“Hey Ollie, if you’re listening to this it’s because they’re finally taking us out. We screwed up. Big-time. There is this thing called The Great Disaster. Billions of people die. And we cause it. And by “we” I don’t me you and I. I mean all of us. Our family. So I made a deal with someone who could help me go back in time and take some… preventative measures. None of our family can ever be together. I made it so we could have a chance at happiness on our own. Just not with each other. Especially me. There’s a reason I was stranded on that island all those years ago. And I can never leave.”
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What Is DC’s The Great Disaster?
First appearing in Jack Kirby and Mike Royer’s Kamandi #1 in 1972, The Great Disaster is a canonical event that led to the creation of “Earth-AD.” After a war between the humans and a seemingly-peaceful group of aliens led to the creation of Brother Eye and OMAC, the Great Disaster swept across the world in the form of earthquakes and nuclear war. Kamandi, dubbed “The Last Boy on Earth”, navigated the post-AD world.
It is unclear at this point exactly how Team Arrow could lead to these existing events of The Great Disaster, but the connection between both corners of DC canon is interesting, especially when Kirby was an instrumental part of Green Arrow’s comic tenure as well.
What Is the New Green Arrow Series About?
In Green Arrow, the Emerald Archer is lost, and it will take Oliver Queen’s whole family to find him! But dangerous forces are determined to keep them apart at any cost! Spinning out of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Green Arrow by DC architect Joshua Williamson (Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman) and artist Sean Izaakse (Thunderbolts) is an action-packed adventure across the DCU that sets the stage for major stories in 2023! The series was recently upgraded to twelve issues, doubling the previous order of six.
“It’s been a blast writing this series,” Williamson explained in a recent post on his Substack. “A dream come true. My goal for this series to tell a kind of “Hush” level story with Ollie and his family. We’re only 3 issues in and we have a lot of characters to bring in for this Arrow Family reunion.
Did you enjoy Green Arrow #3? How do you feel about Oliver Queen supposedly being responsible for The Great Disaster? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!