Green Arrow #44

In the last issue of Green Arrow, Seattle was introduced to the Citizen – a masked individual who is playing judge and executioner to the city’s one percenters. Through social media videos he told residents about a real estate tycoon’s sins and gave them the power of being the jury. It ended with a pretty disturbing beheading and the promise that the Citizen was coming after Oliver Queen next.

Issue 44 picks up with Oliver on the run as a frenzied group of Citizen followers chase after him. The Citizen reappears online to present his cases against Oliver and two other one percenters before promising that one of them will face justice that night. Keeping with the theme of brutal, archaic executions, the Citizen has something horrifying in mind for his intended victim – if Seattle votes for it, that is.

The current story by Julie Benson and Shawna Benson is very good. Being a horror fan, part of my enjoyment is the thrill of being scared because the Citizen’s methods are pretty twisted for a superhero comic.

Mostly, it’s interesting because it makes both sides of our hero – Oliver Queen and Green Arrow – very important to the story. Green Arrow is a vigilante who works outside of the law to bring justice, but he has self-control and limits. Oliver Queen is a very rich man with a messy past, who tries to do good with his fortune. So far Green Arrow isn’t having an identity crisis, but it could happen.

What’s also really interesting is the court of public opinion. After the first death someone calls into a radio show claiming that she voted for the person’s execution, thinking it wasn’t real. Well, what about the other angry people who actually do want to see the wealthiest suffer for their greed. It’s topical but not obnoxiously overt.

–Amanda Sheriff