Brad Simkulet’s review of Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters

When a comic store discussion kicks up about Mike Grell's GreenArrow: The Longbow Hunters, there is an almost religious hush that settles on the speakers as they stand around the stacks or lean against the glass display cases. There is a sort of mythic reverence these nerd acolytes try to pass on to the uninitiated, and having once been one of the latter, I myself was personally touched by the former.

Due to a peculiarity in me, however, I didn't take my copy home and devour it with a born-again religious fervour. I did take it home, that much is true, but as I am wont to do with most things other folks revere, I couldn't bring myself to start. Instead, The Longbow Hunters joined my bedside stack of things to read, then daunted me from that vantage. It took me years to finally pick it up and see what all that love was about.

I understand the reverence now even if I don't feel it myself.

The Longbow Hunters came out between DC's two granddaddy examples of comic book seriousness. Sandwiched between The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and The Killing Joke (1988), The Longbow Hunters features mature incarnations of Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance (stripped of her Black Canary persona), as they love one another, ponder parenthood (and the decision on this is particularly fascinating), come to accept their place as "super-heroes," and put their lives on the line for what they believe. Beyond their somewhat comfortable world, a sort of Jack-the-Ripper serial killer is slaughtering prostitutes, while a second bowman is taking out a series of seemingly unconnected, rich, powerful victims, and a plague of drug crime is polluting the streets the two love so much.

In the midst of all this gritty chaos is a favourite of all Green Arrow fans -- Shado. She is a Yakuza assassin, forced to kill a series of targets to regain her family's honour and pay off her blood debt, and her presence forces Green Arrow to consider his own ethics, and embrace the killing of foes. It is never clear if this acceptance of killing is due to a need for justice or a recognition of vengeance as a motivation, but both concepts are possible, and the lack of resolution is one of the story's great strengths.

The Longbow Hunters is a strong story. It is beautifully illustrated (brutally illustrated in some parts) intelligently conceived and plotted, and the dialogue mostly holds up for our contemporary audiences. It also goes some distance towards making Green Arrow a serious hero in the DC Universe, and it is a pivotal moment in what would be Green Arrow's finest years as a solo hero and a member of the Justice League.

Unfortunately, though, Green Arrow has never been and will never be as beloved as his fellow from Gotham City, so this comic will never have the readership the comics that include the BatFamily command. I think, ultimately, it is this underdog status that makes it such a religious experience for the nerdy followers of DC. If they know the The Longbow Hunters, if they've read it and appreciated it, if they can pass on their specialized knowledge to others, if they can proselytize their fervour for this high quality, nearly forgotten brother to the granddaddies, they can hold a tiny little niche of the comic book experience that makes them belong, makes them feel special, makes them safe in a world that they feel hates them. And that may just be The Longbow Hunters greatest accomplishment, maintaining a safe space within which to geek out.

I am glad I finally pulled it out of my stacks and gave it a read. It's not my favourite, but anything with Shado, especially Shado at her best, is a comic for me.

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