Synopsis: The Watergate investigation is in full swing, the Vietnam war is raging, and Oliver Queen, millionaire industrialist playboy, has woken up abruptly from a dream--a dream in which he was washed overboard from his luxury yacht and marooned on a deserted island. Of course, it wasn't just a dream, since it actually happened to him 11 weeks earlier. Since then, he managed to foil a robbery at a costume ball while dressed as Robin Hood. His dry-witted butler, Stan Wilson, urges Oliver to return to work, but Oliver confides that money no longer holds the allure it once had for him. Finally returning to the office, Oliver is dismayed to find out he's scheduled to attend a fund-raising dinner for liberal Congressman James Reynolds--and also that the costume shop wants the Robin Hood costume returned. At the dinner, Oliver is bored with the political patter (even though he likes Reynolds' policies) and steps outside to get away from the crowd. He spots a sniper with a rifle climbing a nearby fire escape, and pulls the Robin Hood costume out of the trunk of his car. Oliver climbs a nearby building, and takes aim at the sniper just as Reynolds and his entourage leave the dinner. A pair of police officers discover Oliver and try to subdue him, but he fights them off just in time to get off an arrow that spoils the sniper's aim, saving Congressman Reynolds life. Oliver is hailed as saving the Congressman, and is introduced as Green Arrow to Reynolds' advisor and lover, Kelli Harris. Shortly thereafter, Reynolds and Harris call a press conference, announcing that Reynolds would seek the Democratic nomination for President. But not all is as it seems. Back in her hotel room, Kelli is on the phone with the sniper, chewing him out for nearly hitting her. The voice on the phone protests, saying Green Arrow spoiled his aim, but no harm's done, since Reynolds' political fortunes are skyrocketing as they'd planned. Hanging up, Kelli is surprised by Green Arrow on her balcony, who's heard everything. He greets her with "Hello, Brianna," and she counters with "Hello, Oliver," and they embrace in a passionate kiss.

Yeah, But Is It Good? The plot thickens right off. Who's this woman who isn't Black Canary? What's with the fake assassination attempt? What the heck is going on? There's a fun 1970s paranoia going on here, which nicely taps into the Watergate and Vietnam mood of the times. Oliver still hasn't committed to being the crimefighter Green Arrow--he's still playing a game, still thrilled by the adrenaline rush. Much of the issue is taken up with a recap of Green Arrow's origins, a more detailed account of the events first laid out by Grell in Secret Origins No. 38. Not really all that much happens here, but the set-up is effective, and Grell--criticized by some for his more violent take on the hero--shows he can write a very good Denny O'Neal-era Green Arrow story. A good amount of characterization is developed here in the pivotal days following Oliver Queen's inadvertent debut as Green Arrow.

Synopsis: Oliver recounts to Brianna (AKA Kelli Harris) how he stumbled into the role of Green Arrow, and chides him for not taking life seriously. The two met back in college, on a bus trip to a protest rally at the Alabama state capitol. Sparks fly immediately, both because of mutual attraction and the fact that Brianna viewed Oliver's major (business) a selling out, while he felt hers (poli-sci) was an idealistic waste of time. The couple finally broke up when Brianna joined "Revolutionary Youth Movement III" an underground rebel group in the tradition of two previous groups that'd been infiltrated and broken up by the FBI. After some intense philosophical and ideological bickering where Brianna accuses him of being a distraction from the real problems of society, Oliver leaves, warning her to lose some of her mannerisms and phrases from her protest days, since there isn't a statute of limitations on murder.

Yeah, But Is It Good? This entire issue plays catch-up. What wasn't recounted of Green Arrow's origin in the first issue is retold here, and in greater detail, along with Oliver and Brianna's tumultuous fling. Green Arrow's origin alone could fill a volume on it's own--which is about twice as much space devoted to it in Secret Origins. If nothing much happened in the first issue, then twice as much nothing happens here. I suppose Grell felt that since the modern update of Green Arrow's origin hadn't shown up in any of the official Green Arrow books, it needed to be put out there in a high-profile form (face it--Secret Origins was never a big seller, no matter what heroes were featured in it). Unfortunately, this bogs down the story for fans who already know Oliver's history--the audience this mini-series is aimed at. The story would've been served better by dumping all but the barest acknowledgement of Green Arrow's origins (RE: The Longbow Hunters book one) and combining issue one and two of The Wonder Year into a single book.

Synopsis: Tragedy strikes for Oliver when he discovers his treasured Robin Hood outfit's been picked up by the costume shop. He calls the shop, and when he finds out they don't have any in stock (they've become popular with Green Arrow in the news) he commissions them to sew him one. Meanwhile, Congressman Reynolds is exhausted after a day of campaigning, and is having second thoughts about seeking the Presidency, but Brianna (Kelli Harris) assures him it's the best thing to do. When Oliver picks up his costume, the seamstress assures him he'll make a great Green Arrow, and Oliver grouses once again about the name being stupid. He'd rather be called something cool, like Shaft, but the seamstress points out that Richard Roundtree and Isaac Hayes have already used that one. Oliver returns home, and begins working on trick arrows. Brianna calls, asking what he plans to do about her, and Oliver admits he hasn't decided. The next day, Brianna lags behind when Reynolds gets into his limousine, which explodes violently, killing Reynolds and his FBI escorts. Brianna goes into hiding at an abandoned warehouse where her former revolutionary group had cached weapons. Oliver, in his new Green Arrow costume confronts her there. She tells him that Reynolds' death wasn't her fault, that she was supposed to be in that car, too. Oliver's none too happy, and reminds her of Hubert Zimsky, a janitor at the college who was killed when a car bomb Brianna's group exploded with much more power than intended outside the Biochemical Research Lab at Star City University . Brianna's been hiding under an assumed identity ever since, and confesses to Oliver that Del Zoukas, another of their old college buddies, was the sniper from the first attempt on Reynolds' life. At that point, a car pulls up outside, and the driver pulls a LAW rocket out of the trunk and fires it at the warehouse.

Yeah, But Is It Good? Finally things begin to happen. The background exposition is much more seamlessly integrated into the storyline this issue, and the cliffhanger is fantastic. Oliver begins to make the first of his trick arrows. The mystery and conspiracy only seems to deepen. The only annoyance is Del Zoukas being introduced this late in the storyline. It's obvious he's heavily involved in this mess, a key player, but by hiding him as a suspect for so long, Grell's cheating.

Synopsis: Oliver's low-tech golfball arrow, precursor to the infamous boxing glove arrow, explodes the LAW rocket just outside the warehouse allowing Oliver and Brianna to survive. The cache of weapons explodes, and the pair barely escape that only to have their unknown assailant spray automatic weapons fire at them when they try to flee the burning building. Brianna empties a revolver at the attacker, who's also run out of ammo. Oliver has a chance to shoot him, but hesitates, unwilling to kill. Brianna berates him, to which Ollie replies "I'm not a killer." Brianna tells him he will be if he keeps carrying that bow around. Oliver and Brianna flee to an old lake house of Oliver's and once there, Brianna phones Del to warn him that someone's out to kill them, since it's obvious now that Congressman Reynolds wasn't the target. Oliver makes one other phone call, then he and Brianna get down to some heavy lip-lock. At nightfall, a raft full of commandos paddle up to the lake house. Using weighted blunt-tipped arrows, a strobe-light arrow and a sleeping-gas arrow, Green Arrow takes them out one by one--with a little help from Brianna. They search their captives, and discover they're all with the FBI. Enter Del with a gun. He'd been an FBI plant in Brianna's group, and doctored the bomb so it'd cause more damage than intended, turning public opinion against Brianna and her protesters. With the death of Hubert Zimsky, though, the FBI couldn't risk being exposed as being behind the death of an innocent man. Del and the other agents who were involved had finally decided to kill Brianna to cover up their involvement and protect their careers, and now Del intended to kill both her and Oliver in an explosion at the lake house, making it look like she was constructing another bomb when Green Arrow caught her. At that point Oliver checks to see if the local TV news crew hiding in the barn got all of Del's confession on their live pickup. Green Arrow prevents Del from shooting himself, and then tells Brianna she's now got the audience she's been looking for all these years, and if she wanted to make a statement, now was her chance. He cautions her, though, that this big chain of events started with her and her revolutionary movement, and she was going to have to answer for her actions somewhere down the line. Looking back on the deaths of Hubert Zimsky and Congressman Reynolds that she caused, Brianna announces that she has nothing to say, calmly picks up the detonator, and walks into the lake house, and blows herself to kingdom come.

Yeah, But Is It Good? The best of the series. Often the final installment of a mini- series falls short of the setup, but Grell's finale packs a wallop. For all the fans used to seeing the "urban hunter" side of Green Arrow in Grell's regular series, seeing a more flamboyant, trick- arrow using archer is a treat. Even so, the story stays rooted in Grell's "reality rules" premise, which de-fabulizes the character once known for impossibly goofy trick arrows and shots not possible according to the laws of physics. It works well in this context, and even at this early, innocent stage of his career, Oliver learns that nothing comes without a price. Unfortunately, the finals scenes where Brianna comes to face her actions and atones for her sins with her own life happen way too fast. The emotional impact is there, but it's over immediately. There's no wrap- up, no real catharsis. Just boom and "The End." It reads almost as if Grell ran out of pages before he ran out of story, and hurriedly wrapped things up a couple of pages before he planned to. The fact that there's no letters column or editorial comments at the end of issue four lends support to that, since the previous issues each had similar features.