Absolute Green Arrow #5 Review

 

Absolute Green Arrow #5 Review

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo

Cover Artists: Rafael Albuquerque & Marcelo Maiolo

Variant Cover Artists: Gerald Parel, Seba Fiumara & Mirka Andolfo

1:25 Variant Cover Artist: Karl Kerschl

Editors: Sabrina Futch, Katie Kubert & Chris Conroy

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $4.99 US/Variant $5.99 US (Card Stock)

Release Date: September 16, 2026

 

Her mother broke her father's heart. Then, cancer broke his body. Like her parents, Dinah Lance had planned on a career in the Star City Police Department. Instead, she has worked as a professional fighter and a bodyguard to society's elite.

 

Now, Dinah works for Hector Hammond. The billionaire employs a surgeon to experiment on people. Hector claims it's all about achieving Longevity Escape Velocity. But really, he's just a rich kid who wants to play with people like toys and turn them into monsters.

 

Can Dinah Lance escape Hector’s House of Horrors? And can she bring down his empire like Kal-El imprisoned Ra’s al Ghul and forced Lazarus Corp into bankruptcy? Or will the "Black Canary" and the mysterious Green Arrow become two more of Hector Hammond’s playthings? Let’s grab our bows, leap into Absolute Green Arrow #5, and see!

 

Story

When Dinah helped Hector Hammond enter Oliver Queen's Arrow Cave, the Green Arrow took Hector's hand. Later, when Roy Harper led Dinah to Jubal Slade's "Island," the Green Arrow used Hector's hand to infiltrate Hector Hammond's security. As Dinah and the Green Arrow battled Solomon Grundy, Hector's monster took the Green Arrow's hand. Then, as they sit together in Hammond’s House of Horrors, the Green Arrow broaches the subject of Dinah’s mother.

 

Hector and Solomon Grundy's return cuts short the Green Arrow's revelation. But then, Hector gets a surprise when he removes Green Arrow’s mask. While the discovery shakes him, Hector quickly regains control. He’s too used to treating people like disposable commodities to feel the sting of betrayal.

 

As Absolute Green Arrow #5 begins with an insight into the past, more revelations follow as the Green Arrow reveals what prompted them to pursue this course. These insights link evidence from Dinah's investigation with Oliver and the Green Arrow's past. Yet flashbacks reveal two sides of Oliver Queen as the Green Arrow tries to empower Dinah, while Hector seeks to disillusion her.

 

Amid the action and drama, the narrator contemplates the world Dinah inhabits. These ponderings dovetail with Dinah's concerns and why she refused Hector's employment until he threatened her father's life. Pornsak Pichetshote’s story is filled with plot twists and leaves the reader hanging. Yet in this story about the forces that sicken society, the people who struggle with their conscience emerge as heroes and antiheroes, even if they walk on feet of clay.

 

Art

While Hector Hammond conducts business elsewhere, Dinah Lance and her fellow captive sit back-to-back in Absolute Green Arrow #5. Unable to face each other, Green Arrow studies his bandaged stump as he broaches a difficult subject. Dinah cranes her head as far toward him as she can and shouts in reply. Panels frame a wide shot of Hector and Solomon Grundy’s entrance. While Solomon Grundy seems an unbeatable monster, the eyes staring at them from his limbs and torso evoke the child found in Oliver Queen’s Arrow Cave.

 

As Rafael Albuquerque’s detailed art fuels drama, revelations, and action, Marcelo Maiolo applies a limited palette to Absolute Green Arrow #5. Green Arrow relates his backstory with green, indigo, and violet, while Hammond retells history in green, yellow, and orange. Yellow, orange, red, and green dominate Hector's House of Horrors. Yet half of a red, orange, and yellow close-up fades to black, comparing Hector Hammond with the Controller of MU in Absolute Green Lantern.

 

Black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons grow bold for intonation, shrink for lowered voices, and enlarge for raised voices. Dark green letters in green balloons convey recollections of Oliver Queen, while painful utterances, whether small or large, fill cloudy balloons. Letters in green boxes show the narrator's words, while sound effects heighten a battle to survive a nightmare. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

Hector Hammond's security advisor, Malcolm Merlyn, wanted Dinah Lance to protect Hector Hammond and Reese Tyler while investigating the Green Arrow. The former Star City police detective's search for truth won her entry into Hector Hammond’s private lair. While a prisoner awaiting medical experimentation, torture, or death, Dinah learns more about the people in her life and aspects of society the media never reports on. Yet Hector Hammond, who believes he is one of the few Humans who can handle cosmic insights, clings to assumptions and refuses to accept the truth in Absolute Green Arrow #5.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To look inside see Absolute Green Arrow #5 Preview. 

For how Dinah learned Oliver Queen's fate, see Absolute Green Arrow #4 Review. 

For what happened before that see Absolute Green Arrow #3 Review. 

For what happened even before that, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #2. 

For how this series started, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #1.

For how Oliver Queen died, see my preview of Absolute Evil #1. 

For more on the series, see Pornsak Pichetshote on Absolute Green Arrow. 

Absolute Green Arrow #5 Preview

 

Her mother broke her father’s heart. Then, cancer broke his body. Dinah Lance’s need to care for him forced her to leave the Star City Police Department and seek higher-paying jobs. 

 

Now, Dinah works for Hector Hammond. The billionaire likes breaking people. He employs a surgeon to create monsters. Hector claims it’s all in the cause of achieving Longevity Escape Velocity. But really, he’s just a rich kid who wants to play with people like toys.

 

Can Dinah Lance escape Hector’s House of Horrors? And can she bring down his empire like Kal-El imprisoned Ra’s al Ghul and forced Lazarus Corp into bankruptcy? Or will the "Black Canary," and the mysterious Green Arrow, become two more of Hector Hammond’s playthings? 

 

Here's all the info from DC Connect:

 

 

Absolute Green Arrow #5 Preview

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist & Cover Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Variant Cover Artists: Gerald Parel, Seba Fiumara & Mirka Andolfo

1:25 Variant Cover Artist: Karl Kerschl

Publisher: DC Comics

Issue Length: 32 Pages

Series Length: Six Issues

Price: $4.99 US/Variant $5.99 US (Card Stock)

Release Date: September 16, 2026

 

 

Who will be sacrificed?

 

 

At the mercy of Hector Hammond, Black Canary and the Green Arrow Killer finally bear witness to the depraved horrors Hammond has been hiding. But when a horrible sacrifice evens the odds…will Dinah have traded one threat for an even more terrifying danger?

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

For how Dinah learned Oliver Queen's fate, see Absolute Green Arrow #4 Review. 

For what happened before that see Absolute Green Arrow #3 Review. 

For what happened even before that, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #2. 

For how this series started, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #1.

For how Oliver Queen died, see my preview of Absolute Evil #1. 

For more on the series, see Pornsak Pichetshote on Absolute Green Arrow. 

 

Absolute Green Arrow #4 Review

 

Absolute Green Arrow #4 Review

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo

Letterer: Jeff Powell

Cover Artists: Rafael Albuquerque & Marcelo Maiolo

Variant Cover Artists: Gerald Parel, Kris Anka & Martin Simmonds

1:25 Variant Cover Artist: Tirso Cons

Editors: Sabrina Futch, Katie Kubert & Chris Conroy

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $4.99 US/Variant $5.99 US (Card Stock)

Release Date: August 19, 2026

 

So, you've become a millionaire? Congratulations! Welcome to the club! Its membership is swelling. Still, it's a place to start. Now, you can get to work on something impressive, like becoming a billionaire!

 

Hector Hammond stripped Dinah Lance's father of the health insurance he needed to fight his cancer. Then, the billionaire refused to give it back unless Dinah agreed to protect his friends while investigating their murders. But as the bodies of the club members rise, Dinah "Black Canary" Lance makes a disturbing discovery. Did the billionaires who hold people's lives in their hands unlock the secrets of life and death? And are their experiments responsible for the monster that is destroying them? Let’s grab our bows, leap into Absolute Green Arrow #4, and see!

 

Story

When Dinah found Roy Harper, she realized how frightened he was. Like her, Roy had been close to Oliver Queen, until life and circumstances separated them. But when he brought her to Hammond’s secret laboratory beneath the airport, Solomon Grundy attacked. And in the process, Dinah lost sight of Roy.

 

In Absolute Green Arrow #4, Dinah Lance has sacrificed her career to ensure her father receives the treatments he needs. She feels guilty that she cannot do more. Yet, there is a hole in her family that has nothing to do with her father’s cancer. It concerns her mother: how she hurt her father and put a wedge between him and his closest friends. As Dinah wards off Solomon Grundy’s attacks, she thinks of what her father taught her. Yet, her mother’s admonishments rise to the forefront as Dinah fights for her life.

 

As Pornsak Pichetshote blends action with drama, Dinah learns more about her former boyfriend. Oliver Queen belonged to an exclusive club of billionaires. Despite his success with Green Arrows Trading, Oliver allowed his peers to manipulate him. Unlike Roy Harper, Oliver Queen doesn’t seem to have realized the depths of their depravity. Yet as Dinah Lance seeks to make the billionaires pay for their crimes, escaping Hammond's secret laboratory proves more difficult than entering it in Absolute Green Arrow #4.

 

Art

Solomon Grundy is a hulking giant. Yet eyes cover his muscular body, just like the body Dinah discovered in Oliver Queen’s secret cave. The former police officer and MMA fighter demonstrates her agility as they battle. Yet instead of trading blows as she did with Mia Dearden, Dinah defends herself with her pistol. While she beholds slanted tables laden with Human experimentation, the Green Arrow Killer garrots another of Hector Hammond’s doubles. When Dinah reaches the room filled with boxes adorned with the Hammond Pharmaceuticals logo, she discovers that Hammond's lost hand wasn't an accident.

 

As Rafael Albuquerque fills Absolute Green Arrows #4 with pulse-pounding action and horrific discoveries, Marcelo Maiolo adorns Hector Hammond’s lair with a limited palette. Green clashes with yellow and orange as Dinah struggles for answers and survival. Green dominates the Green Arrow Killer’s attack and tinges a flashback. Blue makes a rare appearance, providing a brief respite of hope. Yet red links the experimenter with his subjects. It also signals danger. Still, the bodies that best meet the experimenter’s goals glow violet and indigo beneath yellow-orange light.

 

As Jeff Powell fills white balloons and boxes with black uppercase letters, words grow bold with intonation, shrink for lowered voices, and swell with raised voices. Dinah’s lowercase thoughts fill scraps of yellow. Green balloons convey dialogue in green-tinged recollections. Gunfire reverberates through the labyrinth, while a roar signals that Hector Hammond’s millions were well spent. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

After discovering a corpse covered with eyes that defied decomposition in Oliver Queen’s secret lair, Dinah Lance learned that Guillermo Garcia was a runaway. Now, as she stumbles through Hammond’s secret lair, Dinah discovers how and why someone turned Guillermo into a monster. Caught in a nightmare, Dinah struggles to find meaning behind the madness as the Green Arrow Killer pursues his agenda in Absolute Green Arrow #4.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To look inside see Absolute Green Arrow #4 Preview.

For what happened before that see Absolute Green Arrow #3 Review. 

For what happened before that, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #2. 

For how this series started, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #1.

For how Oliver Queen died, see my preview of Absolute Evil #1. 

For more on the series, see Pornsak Pichetshote on Absolute Green Arrow. 

 

Absolute Green Arrow #4 Preview

 

So, you've become a millionaire? Congratulations! Welcome to the club! It's fairly large these days. Still, it's a place to start. Now, you can get to work on something really impressive, like becoming a billionaire!

Hector Hammond stripped Dinah Lance's father of the health insurance he needed to fight his cancer. Then, the billionaire refused to give it back unless Dinah agreed to protect his friends while investigating their murders. But as the bodies of the club members rise, Dinah "Black Canary" Lance makes a disturbing discovery. Did the billionaires who hold people's lives in their hands unlock the secrets of life and death? And did their experiments create the monster destroying them?

Here's all the info from DC Connect:

 

Absolute Green Arrow #4 Preview

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist & Cover Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Variant Cover Artists: Gerald Parel, Kris Anka, And Martin Simmonds

1:25 Ratio Variant Cover Artist: Tirso Cons

Publisher: DC Comics

Issue Length: 32 Pages

Series Length: 6 Issues

Price: $4.99 US/Variant $5.99 US (Card Stock)

Release Date: August 19, 2026

 

 

Born On A Monday...

Rises Absolute Solomon Grundy!

 

 

Dinah’s search for the Green Arrow Killer has led them both to discover the truth behind the Island—a place far more horrifying than either of them could ever dream. But most disturbing of all is who they discover there—as Absolute Green Arrow debuts the first appearance of a new Absolute take on a classic DC character.

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

For what happened last time see Absolute Green Arrow #3 Review. 

For what happened before that, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #2. 

For how this series started, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #1.

For how Oliver Queen died, see my preview of Absolute Evil #1. 

For more on the series, see Pornsak Pichetshote on Absolute Green Arrow. 

 

Absolute Green Arrow #3 Review

 

Absolute Green Arrow #3 Review

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo

Letterer: Jeff Powell

Cover Artists: Rafael Albuquerque & Marcelo Maiolo

Variant Cover Artists: Gerald Parel, Dan Panosian & Kyuyong Eom

1:25 Variant Cover Artist: Becky Cloonan

Editors: Sabrina Futch, Katie Kubert & Chris Conroy

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $4.99 US/Variant $5.99 US (Card Stock)

Release Date: July 15, 2026

 

Oliver Queen knew he was risking his soul. Yet as he built his empire, he ignored the detestable acts of the friend who tutored him through college. By the time he and Jubal Slade made Green Arrows Trading a success, Ollie had tarnished his soul. Still, Dinah Lance loved him. And when his body washed ashore, his ex-girlfriend mourned Ollie's passing.

 

Now, Dinah hunts a man who seems the opposite of Ollie. He hunts down billionaires and slays them without a shred of mercy. Who is the Green Arrow Killer? And why did he murder the one person Ollie sought to protect? Let’s grab our bows, leap into Absolute Green Arrow #3, and see!

 

Story

When Dinah got suspended for being too protective at a pop star's exclusive party, Hector Hammond canceled her father's health insurance to force her to work for him. But after the Green Arrow Killer murdered Reese Tyler, Dinah investigates suspects alongside Malcolm Merlyn. Even though Hammond hired Dinah because she used to be a Star City cop and knew Oliver Queen, Hammond and Merlyn don't share what they know with her. So, Dinah reaches out to a former friend still working as a Star City detective, only to discover she knows more than he does about the boy they found in Oliver’s Arrow Cave.

 

While Malcolm Merlyn quietly gathers facts, Dinah throws herself into the hunt for answers. After she shocked him by unleashing her MMA fighting skills on one of their suspects, Malcolm has let her investigate on her own. Although an employee told Malcolm that his boss had been out of the country for months, Dinah tracks down Roy Harper in Absolute Green Arrow #3. And once again, she’s not above threatening a suspect to get to the truth.

 

As readers follow Dinah’s investigation, Pornsak Pichetshote weaves another Green Arrow attack into his story. Once again, the serial killer survives to slay another day. Yet the attack reveals the mood in society. Dinah carries a lot of guilt over her inability to help her father. And people like Hector Hammond, who serve as the gatekeepers of the economic system, are targets for her wrath. When Dinah finds Roy Harper, he enhances her understanding of the relationship between Hector Hammond, Reese Tyler, and Oliver Queen. And Dinah Lance makes a discovery that explains the boy’s mutated body in Ollie’s Arrow Cave, and hints at the possible identity of the Green Arrow Killer in Absolute Green Arrow #3.

 

Art

As Dinah studies a headshot of Guillermo Garcia, she remembers her first MMA fight. The window above their booth fills with Dinah’s memory of finding the young boy in Ollie’s survival bunker, with eyes staring back at her from his neck and torso. Dinah may no longer be paid to fight. Yet a bandage adorns her cheek as she grabs her helmet. Outside the diner, the rebel with a cause mounts her motorcycle and roars through traffic, leaving a trail of smoke in her wake.

 

While Rafael Albuquerque portrays Dinah’s investigations and reveals memories, yellow light fills the daytime. Objects in sunlight thrive in orange, while green clings to the shade and tinges the night in Absolute Green Arrow #3. When Marcelo Maiolo reveals another Green Arrow Killer attack, the killer’s eyes glow red through his mask, along with the forces arrayed to halt his killing spree. Compared with Dinah’s MMA memory cast in blue and indigo, Roy’s memories are faded red, yellow, and green against yellow backgrounds.

 

As Jeff Powell fills white balloons and boxes with black uppercase letters, words grow bold with intonation and swell with raised voices. Red uppercase letters fill yellow balloons amid Roy’s yellow-tinged memories, while sound effects enhance the Green Arrow Killer’s attacks. But as a vigilante kills for justice in this upside-down world, his costume and weapons glow bright green. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

Dinah Lance exists in a perpetual state of simmering rage. She's angry because she has no choices in her life. At every turn, economic factors determine her social status and limit her ability to help others. Yet as Dinah investigates millionaire Roy Harper and his relationship with billionaire Oliver Queen, she discovers that their wealth failed to bring them happiness and isolated them from the people they loved in Absolute Green Arrow #3.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #3.

 

For what happened last time, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #2. 

For how this series started, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #1.

For how Oliver Queen died, see my preview of Absolute Evil #1. 

For more on the series, see Pornsak Pichetshote on Absolute Green Arrow. 

 

 

 

Absolute Green Arrow #3 Preview

 

Oliver Queen knew he was risking his soul. Yet as he built his empire, he ignored the detestable acts of his childhood friend. By the time Ollie made Green Arrows Trading into a success, he had tarnished his soul. Still, Dinah Shore loved him. And when his body washed ashore, his ex-girlfriend mourned Ollie's passing. 

Now, Dinah hunts a man who seems the opposite of Ollie. He hunts down billionaires and slays them without a shred of mercy. Who is the Green Arrow? And why did he kill the one person Ollie sought to protect?

Here's all the info from DC Connect:

 

Absolute Green Arrow #3 Preview

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist & Cover Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Variant Cover Artists: Gerald Parel, Dan Panosian & Kyuyong Eom

1:25 Variant Cover: Becky Cloonan

Publisher: DC Comics

Issue Length: 32 Pages

Series Length: 6 Issues

Price: $4.99 US/Variant $5.99 US (Card Stock)

Release Date: July 15, 2026

 

 

Dinah on the Trail of the Green Arrow Killer!

 

 

After the horrifying events of the last issue, Dinah must capture the Green Arrow Killer as she finally finds Oliver Queen’s protégé, Roy Harper. But as the killer’s attacks intensify and Dinah discovers the unsettling effect they're having on Star City, Harper’s trail takes her on a journey darker and more twisted than she ever imagined.

 

 

 

 Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

For what happened last time, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #2. 

For how this series started, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #1.

For how Oliver Queen died, see my preview of Absolute Evil #1. 

For more on the series, see Pornsak Pichetshote on Absolute Green Arrow. 

 

Absolute Green Arrow #2 Preview

 

Dinah Shore has drifted from one job to another. The former Star City Police officer tried her hand at MMA fighting. Then, Dinah reinvented herself as an Executive Protection Specialist. Working for people she despises necessitates regular chats with her psychiatrist. Still, she needs the money from her well-heeled clients to pay for her father's medical treatments.

Privately, Dinah may be glad that this mysterious Green Arrow is cutting through the exclusive club of billionaires. Still, Dinah is a professional. And her father will die unless she works for Hector Hammond. Can Dinah protect a man she despises while discovering the serial killer's identity? And why did Oliver Queen lock a strange corpse in his Arrow Cave?

Here's all the info from DC Connect:

 

Absolute Green Arrow #2

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist & Cover Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Variant Cover Artists: Gerald Parel, Riley Rossmo & Kaare Andrews

1:25 Variant Cover Artist: Matías Bergara

Publisher: DC Comics 

Issue Length: 32 Pages

Series Length: 6 Issues

Price: $4.99 US/$5.99 US (card stock)

Release Date: June 17, 2026

 

 

New Archers! 

And New Murders!

 

 

Is the Green Arrow Killer merely a psychopath or something more? Is he a monster Absolute Black Canary should be fighting against—or with? Still reeling from the disturbing discoveries of last issue’s final pages, Dinah investigates one suspect on her list of DC archers—Mia Dearden—and stumbles on a secret from Oliver Queen’s past that will change everything.

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

For what happened last time, see my preview of Absolute Green Arrow #1.

For how Oliver Queen died, see my preview of Absolute Evil #1. 

For more on the series, see Pornsak Pichetshote on Absolute Green Arrow. 

Absolute Green Arrow #1 Preview

 

In theory, no one's above the law. But when money can buy influence, the rich just get richer. Jubal Slade may have gotten forced out of his company. Still, he's living the high life. At least Jubal was, until someone slipped past his defenses and slaughtered his security detail. Then, they came after him.

After Oliver Queen's death, who has taken up the mantle of the Green Arrow? And who will Jubal's billionaire friends hire to protect themselves?

Here's all the info from DC Connect:

 

Absolute Green Arrow #1 Preview

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist and Cover Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Variant Cover Artists: Gerald Parel, Guillem March, and Tula Lotay

1:25 Variant Cover Artist: Reiko Murakami

Foil Variant Cover Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

Also Available: logo cover

Publisher: DC Comics 

Price $4.99 US/$5.99 Card Stock

Issue Length 32 Pages

Series Length: 6 Issues

Release Date: May 20, 2026

 

 

Without the trick arrows…

Without the money…Without mercy…

What’s left is the Absolute Hunter!

 

 

A serial killer is slaughtering corrupt billionaires. The only clue to his identity is the mysterious green arrows sticking out of his victims’ corpses. Executive protection specialist Dinah Lance, a.k.a. Absolute Black Canary, is one of the people tasked to uncover this murderer’s identity as she investigates her suspects…all familiar DC archers uniquely linked to a recently murdered Oliver Queen. I Know What You Did Last Summer for billionaires, Absolute Green Arrow reimagines the Emerald Archer’s mythos into a dangerous, urban horror murder-mystery by Eisner winners Pornsak Pichetshote (Dead Boy Detectives, Infidel) and Rafael Albuquerque (Detective Comics, American Vampire).

Now, let's take a look inside:

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

For what happened to Oliver Queen, see my preview of Absolute Evil #1.

For more on the series, see Pornsak Pichetshote on Absolute Green Arrow.