Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest (Vol. 4) [Paperback]

Brad Meltzer (Author), Phil Hester (Illustrator), Ande Parks (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

Green Arrow: Archer's Quest continues the acclaimed rebirth of a classic character...Oliver Queen - the Green Arrow - was dead. There was even a funeral, attended by the cream of the superhero community...along with a shifty-looking man the now resurrected Queen has no memory of. Intrigued Queen begins to track this individual down, and finds the efforts he made to protect his secret identity in case of his death are haunting him in ways he couldn't possibly have imagined! Green Arrow: Archer's Quest follows on directly from the spectacular run written by director Kevin Smith (Jersey Girl, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back), as best-selling thriller novelist Brad Meltzer (The Tenth Justice) takes up the archer's bow!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Green Arrow died. Then he came back to life. But in the meantime, the Shade dropped the ball on a job Green Arrow had asked him to take care of in the event of his death: gathering various artifacts to protect Green Arrow's identity (and, by extension, his family and friends). So the reborn superhero and his old sidekick, Speedy, now known as Arsenal, embark on "The Archer's Quest," gathering those artifacts and taking several trips down memory lane. Crime novelist Meltzer (The Millionaires; The Zero Game) does a good job of giving the Emerald Archer some depth in this installment, but it isn't the quest structure that does it-it's Meltzer's tongue-in-cheek dialogue and the excellent rapport between Green Arrow and Arsenal that reveal more of the character than usually meets the eye in DC Comics' stories. If anything, the contrived search for various mementos of his career detracts from Meltzer's intimate depiction. For one thing, if Green Arrow is alive, why does he need to collect what he wanted destroyed in the event of his death? For another, most of the relics give no indication of his identity-so why were they to be destroyed in the first place? But Meltzer's humor almost makes up for it. Hester and Parks continue to give Green Arrow a fresh, cartoony feel that is just right for the kind of story Meltzer is telling: while it doesn't take itself too seriously, it's bold and exciting.
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About the Author

Brad Meltzer is a newcomer to comics, but has reputation as a thriller writer. His novels The Tenth Justice, Dead Even and The First Counsel were all New York Times bestsellers. Phil Hester has worked on a number of comics including Swamp Thing, Negative Burn, Foot Soldiers and Deadline USA. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401200443
• ISBN-13: 978-1401200442
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #808,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fun Just Keeps On Going !, August 31, 2004

By 

Alton Johnson "Ollie Fan" (Kentucky United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest (Book 3) (Hardcover)

I had read the two previous Green Arrow trades, "Quiver" and "Sounds of Violence" written by Kevin Smith, and I enjoyed them both immensely, Kevin Smith left the book after issue number 15.

Which from #16 to #21 Brad Meltzer takes over the writing duties.

I didn't know anything about Brad's storytelling other than his current "Identity Crisis" arc for DC. so I was very skeptical about buying this 3rd in the series Green Arrow trade "Archer's Quest", since I had enjoyed Kevin Smiths prior work on Green Arrow so much.

but....BOY, AM I GLAD I BOUGHT IT !!

It's really good, and keeps you interested throughout the entire book, and the ending revelation ! wow !

And it is in NO way a ripp off of the road trip that Ollie took with Hal (Green Lantern) in the 70's. it's more of an ohmage to those classic stories.

Brad writes a Green Arrow story every bit as good as Kevin Smith's run on the book. plus there is none of the "beavis and butthead" type adolescent humor that Kevin Smith peppered throughout his story. (which was my only beef about Kevin's run)

If you don't know anything about the Green Arrow, you will still enjoy this book, but if you know alot about his history or even an adaquete amount (like me) you will LOVE it !!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The archer returns!, March 11, 2004

By 

Brian Reaves (Anniston, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest (Book 3) (Hardcover)

This is a compilation of several issues of the Green Arrow comic book series. The thing that makes these particular issues special is the fact that it was written by Brad Meltzer ("The Millionaires", "The Zero Game", etc). This is one incredibly amazing book! Green Arrow has just come back from the dead (don't they all?) and now has some unfinished business to take care of. Along the way, we see the return of a grown-up Speedy (now Arsenal) helping GA collect artifacts from his life. Most are surprising, and a couple are very puzzling as to their meaning--until the end of the book. I don't want to go into details because that's part of what makes the story so great.

We get to see a new side of the Emerald Archer here too, with a return to the things of the past that can bring back some memories for those of us who read the old series and remember his original JLA days. At one point, he even takes on Solomon Grundy with nothing but his bare hands and two arrows (you've got to read it to believe it--it's incredible!). As an added bonus, you get the script to the first issue, as well as Brad's original pitch for the storyline (it's different from the book, and it's good that he improved on it for the actual series).

All in all, I can't recommend this one highly enough. It's got everything you could ever look for in a comic book story, including the most startling plot twist ending I've read in a long time. That one panel changes everything we've known about GA's past. You definitely want to read this one, and I hope Brad comes back again sometime to write a few more!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Character-Driven Green Arrow Story Ever!, April 28, 2004

By 

Edmund Lau Kok Ming (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest (Book 3) (Hardcover)

Kevin Smith brought Oliver Queen back from the dead in "Quiver" and "Sounds of Violence". Brad Meltzer, in his first comic work to date, picks up the book where Smith left off and gives us the best character-driven Green Arrow story ever - a story that brings Ollie back to LIFE!

The premise of the story is simple - Ollie and his long-time ward, Roy Harper (aka "Speedy" aka "Arsenal) goes on the road to find pieces of Ollie's life. Brad Meltzer gives us a story reminiscent of the classic "Hard Travellin' Heroes" on-the-road stories of Ollie and Hal Jordan, but with a twist! While those classic stories showed the duo in search of the true heart of a nation, this story is the search for Ollie's true heart. That makes this story intensely personal and refreshingly sentimental.

It is ultimately an introspective look into who and what is Oliver Queen, a man with ties to almost every important person in the DC Universe, who has more heart than almost anyone and at the same time harbors some of the darkest secrets - and by the end of the book, we see some of those secrets surfacing and the gnawing effect it has on the man. But this book is never pessimistic or bleak. In fact, ever since the beginning of this new series (with Smith's "Quiver"), there is an overwhelming sense of triumphant joy displayed throughout the storytelling. Perhaps this has to do with the very expressive art of Phil Hester and Ande Parks - who are soon turning to be the definitive G.A. artists of our generation. I admit that I wasn't immediately taken to their more "cartoonish" style since most of the great G.A. artists of the past employ a far more realistic art style; e.g. Neal Adams and Mike Grell.

The book also includes the full script to chapter one, a foreword by some senator and afterwords by Brad Meltzer and Greg Rucka along with the reproduced covers and some notes about the creation of those Matt Wagner painted covers.

Lastly, I'd like to say something about the current trends in comics-storytelling. In recent years, there seems to be a general aversion towards stories built over decades of continuity. The clearest representation of this are works of the Nu-Marvel folks - especially those involve in the "Ultimate" books. The reason is simple - books not-mired by continuity make easier "jump-on" points and thus the possibility of hooking new readers. Well, this Green Arrow story, along with those by Kevin Smith, are rooted in DECADES of continuity. And that's why is works! The storytelling acknowledges everything that came before - giving the characters of Oliver Queen, Roy Harper, Dinah Lance, Connor Hawke, etc a surprising amount of depth and emotional realism - while reinterpreting these Silver Age characters with the more-informed complexities of our age. In my book, that's the meaning of "Ultimate" - not rootless but the genuine and best version of something. Take my challenge - give this book, "Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest" to anyone, any non-comic reader, and see his/her reaction. The high chance is that he/she may soon become a fan and start digging deeper to understand the history and background of it all. This is the Ultimate Green Arrow.