The End of Green Arrow Rebirth

In a huge surprise to me, Green Arrow ended with issue #50. I didn’t find out until last week while I was on vacation, because idiot me didn’t read it as soon as I got it. So when I did read it while on the plane ride home from Orlando, it took an incredible amount of energy to not yell, “WHAT THE FUCK?” For one, it would have disturbed everyone else on the plane who, most likely, didn’t care about Green Arrow as much I do. It also wouldn’t have been a good precedent for my kids, who were sitting next to me.

So no, I did not see this coming. I thought #49 ended weirdly with Black Canary getting that visit from a robot who ordered her, out of the blue, to kill Green Arrow.

Okay, we knew that BC was a spy before, but she’s still one? I feel like I’ve missed something entirely, but I have a feeling I haven’t. Just another example of DC shoehorning something in at the last minute to fit their sudden, new narrative.

The US government somehow knows about the JL-killer box that Ollie received from J’onn in Justice League: No Justice. Despite the fact he has told no one, and I’m pretty sure J’onn hasn’t mentioned a thing, the government knows about it. And, heaven forbid an “ordinary citizen” possess it. Since he is a vigilante, they’ve decided he’s become too dangerous to keep his bow and arrow, much less the box. Lucky, lucky Dinah, she gets to be the bearer of bad news.

Naturally, Ollie doesn’t take it kindly. She gets mad at him for lying to her, which I get, but sweetie, you’re asking him to stop being who he is or die. When he refuses both options, she tells the government he won’t do it, and they respond by bombing their house. That seems like a completely rational, calm reaction.

When push comes to shove, however, Canary won’t let the government soldiers kill Oliver. She helps him escape, without her, with the box still in his possession. When he’s alone, he opens the box to see what weapon of mass destruction could possibly be inside. There’s nothing. There’s absolutely nothing inside.

GA goes on a tirade right then, letting J’onn know he knows what they all really think of him. It’s a pat on the head to try to keep him, a loose cannon, in line with them. He vows that he doesn’t need a MacGuffin to take them all down; he can do it on his own just fine, and he will do exactly that when the time comes.

In a rather dramatic fashion, Oliver takes off the mask and his uniform, places the mask in the empty box, and leaves the box next to his pile of clothes.

And that’s it. According to CBR, Green Arrow will return in a new series. This Green Arrow end only marks the end of his Rebirth era. There is no mention as of yet when the new series will start. If I had to guess, it will start after Justice League finishes destroying the Source Wall/multiverse and/or after the conclusion of Doomsday Clock, which seems to signify some sort of end coming for the Rebirth era.

Or is the box actually a MacGuffin after all that will herald the end of all of Rebirth? I just realized this means all the series will have a reboot after this. Lord help us all.

This is DC, so only God knows. I doubt anyone at DC actually knows.