Despite the fact the Green Arrow is grieving the loss of his partner, Oliver Queen is still on the most wanted list of The Citizen. But Oliver is in no mood to play, and when The Citizen ups the game, Green Arrow has to be on target to stop him, or die trying. It all goes down in Green Arrow #46  from DC Comics.

GREEN ARROW #46 REVIEW

Writer: Julie Benson, Shawna Benson
Artist: German Peralta
Cover: Alex Maleev
Publisher:  DC Comics
Release Date: November 7th, 2018
Cover Price:  $3.99

Previously in GREEN ARROW: A masked vigilante known as The Citizen has been taking his fight for a perverse justice to the people, capturing and placing prominent one percenters on trial for their secret crimes. He lets the people vote via the internet for life or death, and no one has received a reprieve yet. But even as Green Arrow attempts to save The Citizen’s targets from the unruly mob, he finds himself on the list of defendants and must stop The Citizen to save not only himself, but the very soul of the people.

AT HIS BEST, MAN IS THE NOBLEST OF ANIMALS…

The Citizen has returned to the Internet, encouraging his followers to attack the elite of the city where ever they may be. He reports to his followers that Green Arrow saved Alison Kim from her fate and attempted to kill him in the process (issue 45). Another target, Franklin Rossmore, committed suicide while in prison, which The Citizen believes is a call for celebration.  Now he believes his third target, Oliver Queen, is being hidden by Green Arrow to elude justice. You see, an old friend of Oliver’s says that Queen killed a young woman during a hit-and-run incident which was covered up by his father. Sadly, Oliver believes it may be the truth.

The followers of The Citizen have taken up his call to arms and they confront the perceived guilty wherever they can. At the Flanagan Mansion, The Citizen and a group of his followers have begun to assault party goers, until Green Arrow and Black Canary show up to put the kybosh on their antics. But it doesn’t take long to realize that this is not the true Citizen, but a wanna-be copy-cat trying to cash in, but that doesn’t save him from the wrath of the police, or Green Arrow.

Later, Black Canary has decided to investigate the circumstances of the first of The Citizen’s victim’s disappearances. Jubal Slade was last seen being driven away from a building demolition which nearly killed a young family (issue 44), but they were saved at the last moment by Green Arrow and Arsenal. The next time anyone saw Slade was when he was the victim of The Citizen’s trial by mob, and summarily beheaded as a result. Gets a lead on the Slade’s driver that night, and has an idea they might be The Citizen, or known who is.

Meanwhile, Oliver Queen, as Green Arrow, tracks down his old friend who gave “testimony” pointing to Queen as the culprit in the drunk driving death, and finds that testimony given under duress should not be trusted.

…SEPARATED FROM THE LAW AND JUSTICE, HE IS THE WORST.

With the Citizen’s Arrest storyline, which started in issue #43, writers Julie Benson (Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Green Arrow) and Shawna Benson (Green Arrow, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey) have given us a story with disturbing impact given the current climate in the world. While the concept of mob justice and superheroes is not a new one, the added twist of the villain allowing the private citizen to decide the fate of a perceived wrongdoer is chilling. While the idea of exposing people’s private sins to the world and allowing that world to decide their fate may seem attractive at first, the sibling writing team of Benson and Benson quickly show how the court of public opinion is a far cry different than the court of justice. While at first focusing on people who were “obviously” guilty, the focus shifts to Oliver Queen as the events which are true, from a certain point of view, are brought to light. To make it worse, Queen himself has self-doubt and admits there is a possibility the accusations are true. But as this issue shows, there is often more sides to a story than people want to admit, and half a truth can be used against someone as easily as a whole lie.

This issue marks a change in artist, as German Peralta (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Thanos) takes over the visuals. While the previous artist was good and an eye for action, Peralta provides a much more detailed illustration style that brings out the words on the page much more readily. His attention to detail includes not only his figures, but the backgrounds and the world as a whole. It makes for a more complete and visually compelling reading experience, one a story of this caliber deserves.

BOTTOM LINE: AN ACTION PACKED STORY THAT FEELS FAR TOO RELEVANT FOR TODAY

Let me get this out of the way, I really have enjoyed Julie Benson and Shawna Benson’s story thus far. They have taken an idea, one far too easy to conceive these days, and done yeoman’s work in showing both possible sides. It would have been easy to pick an opinion and run with it, but they managed to show there is a reason the courts are called a system and that due process and a full investigation of the evidence is vital. Yes, the people targeted by The Citizen are guilty of something, but by having Oliver become the target they show that not everything is as clear and dry as people may wish it. The Citizen has the potential to become a major thorn in Olive’s backside and a welcome addition to his sometimes sparse rogue’s gallery. The fact that he plays off a perverse sense of justice is a wonderful contrast to Green Arrow, who has been known to lecture his superhero compatriots about the rights of the people and due process.  It’s a great story and a wonderful direction for the hero.

GREEN ARROW #46, and the Citizen’s Arrest storyline in total, has the potential to be one of those great Green Arrow stories, and we never truly can have to many of those.