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Green Arrow (2001) (Collected Editions) #1-5
Green Arrow: Archer's Quest Omnibus Vol. 1
#1 New York Times best-selling writer Brad Meltzer (Identity Crisis) and acclaimed artist Phil Hester (Green Arrow: Quiver) take Oliver Queen from the grave and onto the road for an adventure of past, present, and future!
Oliver Queen has recently returned from the dead and like all iconic ghosts he's looking to get closure on some unfinished business. Packing his bags and hitting the road, Green Arrow will travel cross country with his old apprentice, now known as Arsenal, in search of lost treasures.
Alongside encounters with Shade, Solomon Grundy, and Catman, Green Arrow will discover what it means to really live a life worth living. Honoring the Emerald Archer's past, present, and future Brad Meltzer and Phil Hester craft a quest that's sure to leave Green Arrow fan satisfied.
Collects: Green Lantern #162-164; Green Arrow #1-39; Green Arrow Secret Files & Origins #1.
Oliver Queen has recently returned from the dead and like all iconic ghosts he's looking to get closure on some unfinished business. Packing his bags and hitting the road, Green Arrow will travel cross country with his old apprentice, now known as Arsenal, in search of lost treasures.
Alongside encounters with Shade, Solomon Grundy, and Catman, Green Arrow will discover what it means to really live a life worth living. Honoring the Emerald Archer's past, present, and future Brad Meltzer and Phil Hester craft a quest that's sure to leave Green Arrow fan satisfied.
Collects: Green Lantern #162-164; Green Arrow #1-39; Green Arrow Secret Files & Origins #1.
1128 pages, Hardcover
Published March 11, 2025
3 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Smith
453 books962 followersKevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, director, as well as a comic book writer, author, and actor. He is also the co-founder, with Scott Mosier, of View Askew Productions and owner of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic and novelty store in Red Bank, New Jersey. He also hosts a weekly podcast with Scott Mosier known as SModcast. He is also known for participating in long, humorous Q&A Sessions that are often filmed for DVD release, beginning with An Evening with Kevin Smith.
His films are often set in his home state of New Jersey, and while not strictly sequential, they do frequently feature crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon in what is known by fans as the "View Askewniverse", named after his production company View Askew Productions. He has produced numerous films and television projects, including Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II.
His films are often set in his home state of New Jersey, and while not strictly sequential, they do frequently feature crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon in what is known by fans as the "View Askewniverse", named after his production company View Askew Productions. He has produced numerous films and television projects, including Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 30, 2025
The Archer's Quest is a return to form for the Emerald Archer, as he rejoins the mainstream continuity after his absence. While Connor Hawke might carry the mantle of Green Arrow, Oliver Queen holds our hearts as the titular character. This ode to Queen is a wonderful expose of social commentary, character study, and comic books in general. All the creators on this run are firing on all cylinders, as they truly understand the nuances of our favorite Robin Hood. The art is quite stylized, and perhaps an acquired taste for some, but don't let it be the reason you don't read this award-winning tale of Star City's protector.
May 9, 2025
(Zero spoiler review)
I've sadly had to learn to approach most omnibus with a certain degree of caution. The financial outlay is just too much and the secondary market to weak to risk dropping big bikkies on a book you don't like or want to keep. But Green Arrow was such a nailed on winner that I threw said caution to the wind. One of my favourite characters (singlehandedly thanks to Mike Grell's run), and set a few decades ago so as to be suer that little or no modern DC ideology creeps in. Well, as you can see from the score, I was wrong and then some.
As soon as I opened the book and looked at the art, I knew I had made a mistake. Phil Hester is a very good artist, but the inking and colouration throughout this book turns solid pencils into unappealing sludge. Honestly, I would rather stare at an eclipse than this crap. I'm not sure what the obsession was at DC with this blocky, cartoonish dross, as the Bruce Wayne Fugitive omnibus which came out around the same time as this utilised similar stylings, and was all the worse for it as well. So, if the art was a sad stain upon a once lovely tree, hopefully the writing could elevate it to at least hold my interest? Nope. I only read a couple of issues before giving up on Kevin Smith's whiny slop. The art may have had me turning my head forty five degree's as if trying to barely acknowledge it, but the writing was what truly broke me.
I then spent about fifteen minutes flicking through the book and trying vainly, begging even for something on the pages to spark something within me enough to give this book another try. But it was page after page of disappointment.
In all honesty, one star is a little harsh. It's probably two stars at most, but such is my disdain my my boy Ollie being done dirty, then my one star review will forever remain affixed to this utter bilge as a testament to the regret and dejection I now feel. Henceforth, no omnibus will be immune from my due diligence. Read The Longbow Hunters instead. 1/5
OmniBen.
I've sadly had to learn to approach most omnibus with a certain degree of caution. The financial outlay is just too much and the secondary market to weak to risk dropping big bikkies on a book you don't like or want to keep. But Green Arrow was such a nailed on winner that I threw said caution to the wind. One of my favourite characters (singlehandedly thanks to Mike Grell's run), and set a few decades ago so as to be suer that little or no modern DC ideology creeps in. Well, as you can see from the score, I was wrong and then some.
As soon as I opened the book and looked at the art, I knew I had made a mistake. Phil Hester is a very good artist, but the inking and colouration throughout this book turns solid pencils into unappealing sludge. Honestly, I would rather stare at an eclipse than this crap. I'm not sure what the obsession was at DC with this blocky, cartoonish dross, as the Bruce Wayne Fugitive omnibus which came out around the same time as this utilised similar stylings, and was all the worse for it as well. So, if the art was a sad stain upon a once lovely tree, hopefully the writing could elevate it to at least hold my interest? Nope. I only read a couple of issues before giving up on Kevin Smith's whiny slop. The art may have had me turning my head forty five degree's as if trying to barely acknowledge it, but the writing was what truly broke me.
I then spent about fifteen minutes flicking through the book and trying vainly, begging even for something on the pages to spark something within me enough to give this book another try. But it was page after page of disappointment.
In all honesty, one star is a little harsh. It's probably two stars at most, but such is my disdain my my boy Ollie being done dirty, then my one star review will forever remain affixed to this utter bilge as a testament to the regret and dejection I now feel. Henceforth, no omnibus will be immune from my due diligence. Read The Longbow Hunters instead. 1/5
OmniBen.
November 10, 2025
This book collects the first half of the era of Green Arrow comics that introduced me to the character (and DC as a whole) and it was very nice seeing them collected in a concise format.
The book is largely split into three parts, these being the opening Kevin Smith run (around fifteen issues), an inbetween portion starting with Brad Meltzer’s Archer’s Quest arc (around six issues) followed by a crossover with Green Lantern, then Judd Winick takes over the book.
Phil Hester’s art is the throughline for all of these (save for the Lantern crossover where it was a nice surprise to see the Walking Dead’s Charlie Adlard take the reigns) and Hester’s art is what I think of when I think Green Arrow. He does a great job of making the book gritty but fun, balancing street level stories with superhero action pretty seamlessly.
Kevin Smith’s opening run does a great job of getting Ollie back on his feet after his death inbetween this book and the Mike Grell omnis. He firmly establishes Oliver as a main player in the DC Universe again and it’s nice seeing his history being acknowledged after Mike Grell’s run kept Ollie in his own corner of the DC Universe. Kevin’s second arc “Sounds of Violence” is a fan favourite and it’s easy to see why, it’s very fun but dark.
Then we have Meltzer’s Archer’s Quest, a fun road trip arc and a trip down memory lane for Oliver. There’s a fantastic fight with Solomon Grundy and it’s nice seeing a book not afraid to take its time.
The Lantern crossover was the book’s weak spot I found. Similar to the Brave and the Bold in Longbow Hunters, it’s a story Oliver is in but it’s not really about him. It’s a Green Lantern story and Oliver just happens to be there. That’s not to say it’s bad but it wasn’t what I was reading the book for.
Then Judd Winick has the final two arcs (and a few stand alone issues) and they’re both really fun. Sharp Shooter was my first Green Arrow story and it was nice to reread it with the context of the earlier runs. A nice thing about this book is how seamlessly the different writers’ stories flow into one another.
From what I understand Winick wrote the rest of the run that would be collected in a second volume and I will definitely pick it up when it gets released. This book is definitely more superheroic than Mike Grell’s legendary run but that’s by no means a bad thing, it hits the perfect sweet spot for Green Arrow and I can’t wait to read more.
The book is largely split into three parts, these being the opening Kevin Smith run (around fifteen issues), an inbetween portion starting with Brad Meltzer’s Archer’s Quest arc (around six issues) followed by a crossover with Green Lantern, then Judd Winick takes over the book.
Phil Hester’s art is the throughline for all of these (save for the Lantern crossover where it was a nice surprise to see the Walking Dead’s Charlie Adlard take the reigns) and Hester’s art is what I think of when I think Green Arrow. He does a great job of making the book gritty but fun, balancing street level stories with superhero action pretty seamlessly.
Kevin Smith’s opening run does a great job of getting Ollie back on his feet after his death inbetween this book and the Mike Grell omnis. He firmly establishes Oliver as a main player in the DC Universe again and it’s nice seeing his history being acknowledged after Mike Grell’s run kept Ollie in his own corner of the DC Universe. Kevin’s second arc “Sounds of Violence” is a fan favourite and it’s easy to see why, it’s very fun but dark.
Then we have Meltzer’s Archer’s Quest, a fun road trip arc and a trip down memory lane for Oliver. There’s a fantastic fight with Solomon Grundy and it’s nice seeing a book not afraid to take its time.
The Lantern crossover was the book’s weak spot I found. Similar to the Brave and the Bold in Longbow Hunters, it’s a story Oliver is in but it’s not really about him. It’s a Green Lantern story and Oliver just happens to be there. That’s not to say it’s bad but it wasn’t what I was reading the book for.
Then Judd Winick has the final two arcs (and a few stand alone issues) and they’re both really fun. Sharp Shooter was my first Green Arrow story and it was nice to reread it with the context of the earlier runs. A nice thing about this book is how seamlessly the different writers’ stories flow into one another.
From what I understand Winick wrote the rest of the run that would be collected in a second volume and I will definitely pick it up when it gets released. This book is definitely more superheroic than Mike Grell’s legendary run but that’s by no means a bad thing, it hits the perfect sweet spot for Green Arrow and I can’t wait to read more.
March 23, 2025
Great revival of the iconic character. A little uneven in places - there's a section here where the book has no regular team on it, and it shows - but the majority of the book is great, solid writing with excellent art.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews