The Good

Well, that was an exciting and proper note for Jeff Lemire to leave on! Not only does he script an awesome action scene, but he manages to depart the book in a very praiseworthy way. You can really tell this chapter is his way of saying goodbye to the great series and you can't help but appreciate it. Aside from the ending with "Richard Dragon," he manages to tidy up a few plot points, leave others open for more potential, and pave the way for an all-new status quo. Let's just hope the upcoming team can make proper use of the mythos he's established!

The big fight was well worth the wait. As said above, the way it ends is a bit of a bummer, but man, Lemire's script really gave the art team the chance to go all out and obviously, they did a tremendous job. Not only does Lemire give Dragon the opportunity to show off his abilities as a fighter (a very cool POV shot returns), but he also uses this chapter to make me care even more about Emiko. Yes, she totally feels like a female version of Damian Wayne, but since when is having similar traits to a totally lovable character a bad thing? She had at least two lines in here that made me smirk and she's definitely a welcome addition to the cast. The dynamic between her and Oliver is loaded with possibilities. Even though the stakes are through the roof in this issue, Lemire also manages to sprinkle in a little more levity during a moment in an elevator.

As expected, artist Andrea Sorrentino and colorist Marcelo Maiolo create a final chapter that's overflowing with beautiful, creative, and memorable panels. From the execution of the big fight scene (there's an elbow attack that dropped my jaw) to the absolutely gorgeous final page (a nice contrast to the frequent shots at night and implies a bright future), my eyes were more than pleased by each and every page. Personal favorites include Richard Dragon's big "come get some" pose and the final splash-page, but there's so many good panels to choose from! It really is impressive how Sorreinto and Maiolo find a way to make each page stunning. The upcoming art team has some very big shoes to fill, that's for sure.

The Bad

My only noteworthy complaint is the conclusion with Richard Dragon. It feels pretty abrupt the way it all wraps up and, compared to his previous showings, definitely seems to downplay him (unless he was fazed by that tackle, but he seems tougher than that). They were building a lot of tension between these characters and, even though there's a good bit of dialogue, it feels like there isn't proper closure with that narrative. It really is a shame this is the creative team's final issue because there's so much potential with the way this issue ends. Maybe there's a lucky alternate universe out there where Lemire, Sorrentino, and Maiolo get to continue Oliver's adventures.

The Verdict

Can you believe it's already time to say goodbye to GREEN ARROW's stellar creative team?! It feels like not so long ago that Lemire, Sorreinto, and Maiolo took over and put this book in a whole new and legitimately exciting direction. It's a real shame they're now going off to different projects, but at least they're leaving us with a thoroughly satisfying conclusion and a meaningful ending. It's a bit of a bummer the way the conflict with Dragon was resolved and I would have liked to see a wee bit more closure with Fyff and Singh, but this is still a great issue and an especially great way to depart the book. GREEN ARROW went from a book that wasn't on many radars to one of the best books available. They did wonders with Oliver Queen's life and produced some excellent adventures. You'll be missed, Lemire, Sorrentino, and Maiolo! Here's hoping the next team can give this conclusion a proper follow-up!

I've never missed a comic book as much as I'm going to miss this one.

I thought the fight with Richard Dragon ended pretty abruptly too. It seems a sticking point with Lemire on this book. I felt the same way when Oliver first took down Vertigo several months back. This issue was full of great Emiko moments. I'm really going to miss her. Killer final page too.

You'll be missed, Lemire, Sorrentino, and Maiolo! Here's hoping the next team can give this conclusion a proper follow-up!

I'm gonna give the new team 3 issues, they allready said that Felicity is set to appear (even tough Naomi exist in here) and i'm pretty sure Diggle is going back tothe Green Arrow team so if they try to conver this in "Arrow" comic book i quit.

And this is my last issue of Green Arrow in this volume.

Green Arrow and Moon Knight both ends this week. So sad.

Still don't believe this creative just decided to leave the book, especially with Sorrentino now working on a Marvel project. Very disappointed with DC recently, I've gone from picking up a good number of books from them to in the near future looking like only 3 per month! And going from 1 Marvel title up to 5 within the coming months... AND I'M A DC GUY!

I don't think this is how Lemire planned to end the book. There seemed to be so much building left to do like he had more story to tell but had to end it.

What I think really happened is that DC kicked him off because it wasn't selling well enough.

I will pick this up next week but I sure hope Emiko isn't forgotten. I also don't want this to be arrow 2.0 I'm fine with two different portrayals

You and me both my friend...by far one of the best books of the New 52.

Dragon is a beast.

This was totally going to be a 6 issue arc. I'm surprised there was any conclusion at all considering how swiftly this team was canned. I was worried the ghosts of the Batwoman Annual would be haunting us.

No matter, another writer ended his run this month and it was just a shadow of what it started as. These guys breathed new life into this series and ended on a very high note. Although I don't want it to end I'm still happy with this issue.

@madeinbangladesh: Aye this is a bitter sweet week. Giving them both a chance with new creative teams but hard shoes to fill.

When Jeff Lemire announced he was leaving this book he announced he was doing two creator own books so he just did not have the time for Green Arrow since he is doing Justice Leauge United and is one of the writers on Futures End.

So check your facts before saying stupid things he left of his own accord as far as we know.

Good luck to the new creative team following Lemire's brilliant arc.

Lemire said:

...it was our choice to end out run there and move on the new things. Lots of exciting announcements coming soon!

Kreisberg said:

We actually approached DC. We thought there was a real opportunity here not to do another adaptation of the TV show, but infuse the comic world of Oliver Queen with some of the stronger elements of the show.

If you look at both statements something doesn't fit in there

Why is everybody forgetting about next month's Future's End tie in? They still have one more issue, do they not?

@marcosvergara14: I don't usually subscribe to a lot of speculation and conspiracies that get thrown around all the time but past interviews always gave me the impression that Lemire wasn't anywhere near finishing up with GA before they were announced to leave. Still such great send off.

@dabee:Yeah I'm still looking forward to the last issue of Lemire and Sorrentino in the Future's End tie in but this was the end. That's just icing on the cake.

@timelord: Fired, quit, it all amounts to the same thing: their Green Arrow run has come to an abrupt halt. Often times in this business it's best to keep quiet while creative teams are unceremoniously removed. Do you really think you know the whole story? Sorrentino is working at Marvel and Lemire seems to be testing the waters at Valiant and elsewhere.

No I don't know the whole story and neither do you.

It piss me off there is such a double standard for Marvel and DC it is sickening. Marvel team moves off , move along nothing to see here business as usual , creative team change at DC get your pitchforks out folk's it's roasting time.

@timelord: whatever, I can speculate all I want, it's a freakin' message board on comicvine not a grand jury hearing. Also, I think when teams switch at Marvel it seems more amicable because it generally is.

Can any PM me what happened between the Oliver and Richard fight?

@harashkupo:

It's beacuse this team was a fan-favourite and DC it's trying to change the book to look like Arrow, and when the same guy who has written two failed versions of Oliver (Green Arrow/Black Canary and Arrow digital comic) replaces someone like Lemire who had longtime plans for the comic you can't be happy.

When Kreisberg took on GA/BC the first thing he did was get ridd of Connor and Mia, and don't have any doubts he's not gonna do the same for Emiko, Naomi and Fyff and replace them with Diggle and Felicty.

It's really dumb to think this is gonna atracct TV show fans i've been on Tumblr and the only thing they want from a comic is to the c#@p called "Olicity" to become canon so they can bash the Oliver and Laurel with a backup reason. They don't like comic fans pointing thing wrong about their shows, last week i posted a comment saying that it was dumb to have Sarah and Felicity as love interests since Oliver allways ends up with Dinah and least then an hour i've got more than 20 notes telling me to Shut the F@#k up and "If you want a comic accurate version read a comic".

Judge by yourself who are the real fans that support Green Arrow and who are the Arrow version fans.

Very sad Lemire and Sorrention are gone. Hate to be a pessimist but im not looking forward to the new team that much. Ill give them a shot though

@mars8254: If you like Arrow this is a prefect jumping point, if you don't this is gonig to be a hard run to you. Just take a look at this.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/comics/dc_comics/news/?a=103106

@marcosvergara14: That's so weird. If those dummys would just read The Longbow Hunters they would understand why their favorite tv show sucks. lol.

But they won't beacuse "It doen't feel the same as Arrow". Belive it or not last week i read a post saying it was really racist that Iris was white in the comics and DC shoud change her race to being accurate to the TV shows beacuse if they didn't it was a misogynistic aptitude to fans of the TV version.

Man, I don't want things to be like Arrow. I want things to be like Green Arrow. That's like fans of Lois and Clark Adventures of Superman (a decent show to be sure) feeling they have the right to criticize Superman's mythos because they know exactly nothing.

Agreed. And now I'm worried both titles will be cancelled (I normally like Wood's writing, but X-Men has been fairly mediocre for awhile now and just can't seem to pull out of its tailspin, and, while I think Arrow is a good show, I don't need or want to see another version of the same stuff).

this issue marks the very last dc comic on my pullist, and now its gone, done, off my list. i am sad to say that dc has lost me, completley.

Moon Knight ended? It just started like a few months ago?

What's really drawn me to this book has always been the art. The story I've found just really okay and cluttered with too many supporting characters and villains. However I must say this issue was fantastic, great build up and the last few pages were pretty satisfying.