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One of the beautiful things about storytelling, for me, is that it keeps me sane. Or rather, finding other stories written by people who care passionately about the world they live in makes me feel less insane for feeling that way. As much as I'd love to scream at the top of my lungs at the state of the world, I don't, because my neighbors and their dogs wouldn't like that. So this outrage has to be redirected in other ways. 

This feeling is why I love Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams' Hard-Traveling Heroes storyline from Green Lantern/Green Arrow so much. The Emerald Archer himself, Oliver Queen, practically comes alive on the page from the combination of Adams' art and O'Neil's words, as he screams at his best friend, Hal Jordan, for not stepping up in the fight for social justice. Under Adams' pen, every fibre of Green Arrow's body contorts in an expression of rage at how the marginalized are treated in society. It's almost like Adams drew every panel of Hard-Traveling Heroes like it would be his last - a fitting accompaniment to Dennis O'Neil's writing, which never pulled any punches. 

As you can see, there's a special place in my heart for Green Arrow, thanks to O'Neil and Adams. And DC's announcement of the plot and other details for the upcoming Absolute Green Arrow series from writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Rafael Albuquerque further crystallized some observations I had percolating about the Absolute Universe these past few months. Executive editor Chris Conroy described Absolute Green Arrow at ComicsPRO 2026 as a "slasher horror" story where a "serial killer called The Longbow Hunter is hunting down billionaires responsible for Oliver Queen's death... This is Scream, Halloween, meets Green Arrow." Considering that we got a story last year in the Absolute Batman Annual from Daniel Warren Johnson where our big, beefy, lovely Dark Knight battles hordes of white supremacists, the Absolute Universe is continuing full steam ahead with timely stories that, in the vein of Denny O'Neil, pull no punches.

I'm painting with a broad brush here, but these are some angry books. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, they make me feel seen. I was once a child, just a rat forged in the fires of Smashing Pumpkins tapes, who took a quiz to find out which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle I was and got Raphael ("You are angry and can't sit still" - read for absolute filth there). And as I've grown up and learned how to talk about my feelings with other people, I've found that I'm not alone. In fact, the success of the Absolute Universe books underscores how angry so many of us are today, and how much we all need an outlet like the Absolute Universe where we can reflect on the weight of the world bearing down on us. And for the record, I don't endorse violence, but the fictional world of the Absolute Universe is a space where we can turn the tables on billionaires. 

I don't think it's surprising that DC's Absolute Universe books are some of the best-selling books in comics right now. Beyond the fact that each of the Absolute series has a dynamite creative team firing from all cylinders, these books provide a space to channel our rage, grief, and confusion at the world around us today like never before. For the most part, the Absolute Universe has eschewed subtlety - and it's fucking awesome. It's refreshing to see Absolute Batman beat the crap out of white supremacists not just "because he's Batman," but because Absolute Bruce Wayne has a raw, relatable, and honest sense of outrage about him. 

Listen, I try very hard to live my life like Superman. I ask myself, "What would Superman do?" so I'm not just going around punching reality like Superboy-Prime. But there is a special kind of catharsis in seeing Absolute Superman get so enraged by humanity's xenophobia that he literally is on fire. He's in control of his flames, his anger, but they're there for everyone to see. 

Likewise, because of an act of injustice by patriarchal Zeus, Absolute Wonder Woman was raised in Hell instead of Paradise Island. But not even Hell can dim Diana's light, nor her desire to make things right, even if it means taking on the Gods, the universe's ultimate authority figures, themselves. Diana riding around on a pegasus skeleton, wielding a massive sword that gives Guts' Dragonslayer sword from Berserk a run for its money, is such a badass encapsulation of the central thesis of the Absolute Universe: forging light from darkness. 

History has left its fingerprints all over American comics, all the way back to 1938's Action Comics #1. And while I haven't been alive to witness each historical moment in American comics, it's books like Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams' Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr.'s Daredevil, or hell, J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, and Kevin Maguire's Justice League International that provide a window into a time and place I never experienced. I have a feeling that the Absolute Universe books will have a similar legacy for future generations.  

Absolute Green Arrow #1 arrives in comic shops on May 20, 2026. 

Need more? Here's our picks for the best DC Comics stories of all time, and here's a list of all the free DC comics you can look forward to as part of this year's Free Comic Book Day and Comics Giveaway Days.