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.
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