Absolute Green Arrow #3 (DC Comics, 7/15/26): Writer Pornsak Pichetshote and Artist Rafael Albuquerque connect Dinah Lance with Roy Harper, the manic millionaire ready to uncover multiple secrets. The issue brims with twists and turns but almost completely omits the title character. Verdict: For Black Canary fans only.
Credits:
- Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote
- Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
- Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
- Letterer: Jeff Powell
- Cover Artist: KyuYong Eom(cover A)
- Publisher: DC Comics
- Release Date: July 15, 2026
- Comic Rating: Teen
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Page Count: 26
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of Absolute Green Arrow #3:
First Impressions:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t a Green Arrow comic (Absolute or otherwise) be about Green Arrow? So far, Pornsak Pichetshote thinks the titular character makes more sense as an afterthought three issues into a series that, as of this writing, has been extended to twelve issues. I guess Pichetshote needed the late addition of extra issues to figure out how to get Green Arrow to appear.
Recap:
In Absolute Green Arrow #2, Dinah and Merlyn paid a visit to Mia Derden to question her about her association with Oliver Queen. Mia only agreed to talk with Dinah if she stepped into the ring for fighting practice. During the physical and verbal sparring session, overflowing with far-left socialist talking points, Mia confirmed that she distanced herself from Ollie due to his association with Jubal and his Epstein-like accusations.
Later, Dinah found the location of Ollie’s son, Connor, in the hope that he would be brought in for his own protection and to find out if he knew what Ollie was up to before his death. During the visit, Absolute Green Arrow magically appears and kills Connor and Evin Zytle (who just happened to be in the same mansion for some reason).
The issue ended with a video feed recording Roy Harper digging up Ollie’s grave.
Plot Analysis (SPOILERS):
In Absolute Green Arrow #3, Dinah catches up with Roy Harper after a trap to catch Absolute Green Arrow goes wrong. Roy explains he became friends with Ollie as a fellow tech-bro millionaire, but they drifted apart when Roy couldn’t keep up with Ollie’s billionaire lifestyle.
Roy offers to provide answers by taking Dinah to “Jubal Island,” which is really an underground facility in the heart of the city. Roy believes Jubal wasn’t just a sex trafficker of underage girls, but that he was also obsessed with medical experiments to reverse aging. That’s when he drops the bombshell that he was digging up Ollie’s grave to prove it was empty and that Jubal used his ill-gotten research to bring Ollie back to life.
The issue ends with Jubal showing Dinah an underground bunker filled with grotesque human experiments, including a white-skinned monstrosity named Solomon.
How is the story in Absolute Green Arrow #3?
Pornsak Pichetshote’s tale of woe is messy, convoluted, frantic, and mildly annoying. As the First Impression pointed out, this series is legitimately not a Green Arrow story. It’s a Black Canary murder mystery, and an unfocused one at that. Too many characters come in and out of the narrative to stick with you and carry weight, killings have no apparent rhyme or reason other than “everyone rich is a scumbag who deserves to die,” and Dinah spends more time reacting than acting.
Worse, Pornsak Pichetshote took the concept of Green Arrow as a far-left social warrior and cranked it up to eleven for every character in the series. You can’t turn a single page without one or multiple ripped-from-the-headlines references to make the political grandstanding as heavy-handed as possible, but again, coming from everyone BUT Green Arrow since he’s barely in the book.
How is the art in Absolute Green Arrow #3?
The art is fine. If you’re looking for mood and atmosphere to go with the detective noir vibe of the comic, Rafael Albuquerque delivers with long, dramatic shadows and a gritty aesthetic. That said, Albuquerque frequently struggles in all his comics with weirdly misshapen faces, and you get some of that here with frequently distorted mouth placements and nose shapes. If you know Albuquerque’s work, you get used to it, but new readers may be put off.
Characters
If it wasn’t clear by now, Dinah is the main character (?) in Absolute Green Arrow, and for her part, she carries the weight of confusion and discovery that goes with doing detective work on a murder mystery. Dinah acts in a believable manner, and the bits of history she has with Ollie help to explain her motivations. The kaleidoscope of characters around Dinah, however, is too rushed and chaotic to leave an impression.
Originality & Concept Execution
In fairness to Pornsak Pichetshote, a Green Arrow comic that doesn’t star Green Arrow is a bold creative choice. It may not be a smart choice, but still, it’s a bold one.
Pros and Cons
Art Samples:
The Scorecard:
Writing Quality (Clarity & Pacing): 1.5/4
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): 3/4
Value (Originality & Entertainment): 0.5/2
Final Thoughts:
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Absolute Green Arrow #3 continues the murder mystery surrounding a menagerie of terrible people who get killed at the drop of a hat. Pornsak Pichetshote’s script bizarrely writes a Green Arrow series that makes Dinah Lance the main character, and Rafael Albuquerque’s stylized art sometimes works, but not always.
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