Green Arrow #75
Green Arrow (Vol. 2) #75 is the emotional and narrative climax of Mike Grell's landmark six-year run on the character, serving as the issue in which Dinah Lance (Black Canary) finally ends her long relationship with Oliver Queen after years of his infidelity — a farewell that had been building since Grell relaunched the title with The Longbow Hunters in 1987. The story carries added generational weight because it brings together virtually every significant figure in Oliver's life — Dinah, Shado, Roy Harper, and even Lian Harper — and forces him to confront the personal wreckage his choices have caused, making it one of the most character-complete issues in the entire run. It also features Roy Harper wearing his new Arsenal costume within Grell's book, a visual bridge between the gritty, largely DCU-isolated Grell era and the broader superhero universe that editorial was already reintegrating. As the series' milestone 75th issue, it was published in an oversized 52-page special format, signaling DC's awareness of the run's significance at the halfway point toward its conclusion.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Mike Grell launched the Green Arrow ongoing in 1988 directly off the success of The Longbow Hunters prestige-format miniseries, taking Oliver Queen from Star City to Seattle, stripping out trick arrows and supervillain fare, and carrying a 'suggested for mature readers' label unusual for a mainstream DC title at the time. By issue #75, Grell was nearing the end of his tenure on the book — he would conclude his run with issue #80 — and the oversized anniversary installment gave him room to pay off the romantic and emotional threads he had been weaving for years. Interior art for this issue was provided by Rick Hoberg, who illustrated much of the run's later stretch, while Grell himself supplied the cover.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Written by Mike Grell; interior art by Rick Hoberg; cover by Mike Grell. Published June 1993 by DC Comics.
- Story titled 'Auld Acquaintance': set on New Year's Eve, Oliver Queen is caught kissing a woman named Marianne by Dinah Lance, who ultimately leaves him permanently at the issue's conclusion — a decisive endpoint for the Oliver/Dinah relationship within Grell's continuity.
- Roy Harper appears in his new Arsenal costume in this issue, making it the first time the Arsenal identity and outfit appear in the pages of Grell's Green Arrow series; however, the official in-continuity debut of Roy Harper as Arsenal is New Titans #99 (July 1993) by Marv Wolfman and Tom Grummett, which was published the following month.
- The villain Gregory Osborne — previously presumed dead — returns, having brainwashed Roy Harper into targeting Oliver Queen; the issue ends with Shado, Arsenal, and Green Arrow all loosing arrows at Osborne, with his fate left deliberately ambiguous.
- Shado also returns in this issue, reuniting the three central archers of Grell's run (Green Arrow, Arsenal, Shado) for the first time in the same story.
- Issue #75 is collected in Green Arrow Vol. 9: Old Tricks (DC Comics trade paperback, 2018), the ninth and final volume reprinting Grell's complete run, collecting issues #73–80 alongside the Green Arrow: The Wonder Year #1–4 miniseries. The cover of that trade paperback is taken from this issue.
- An excerpt from this issue was also selected for inclusion in Green Arrow/Black Canary: For Better or for Worse (DC collected edition), underscoring its standing as a key chapter in the Oliver Queen–Dinah Lance relationship.
Cast · 5 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
At a New Years Eve party, Marianne tells Green Arrow she loves him and Dinah catches them smooching. Despite the intervention of Shado, Green Arrow is shot by a mysterious bowman hired by the Yakuza. When their assailant is unmasked, it turns out to be a brainwashed Roy Harper. Once they break his conditioning, Roy helps Ollie, Dinah and Shado take on the Yakuza. Dinah kicks Ollie out.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).