A Green Arrow 80th Anniversary special is on the way this June, DC Comics has announced.

Specifically, the book is titled the Green Arrow 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1, and it features some of the creators most-closely associated with the character (past and present) as well as rising star talent DC has increasingly been working with of late. From the Green Arrow alumni group comes Mike Grell, Jeff Lemire, Phil Hester, Otto Schmidt, Ben Percy, Tom Taylor, and Devin Grayson. While the Green Arrow rookie group includes Stephanie Phillips, Mariko Tamaki, Ram V, Vita Ayala, Nicola Scott, Chris Mitten, Laura Braga, Max Fiumara, and Brandon Thomas.

The announcement from DC notes that the book will also pay homage to long-time Green Arrow cast members like Black Canary, Connor Hawke, Arsenal, Red Arrow, Speedy, Onomatopoeia, and Count Vertigo.

This book will also be getting the decade-themed variant cover treatment that has marked these 80th anniversary celebrations at DC. The list of the artists doing those can be found below:

1940’s Variant: Michael Cho
1950’s Variant: Daniel Warren Johnson
1960’s Variant: Neal Adams
1970’s Variant: Derrick Chew
1980’s Variant: Gary Frank
1990’s Variant: Howard Porter
2000’s Variant: Jen Bartel
2010’s Variant: Simone Di Meo

The main cover (which is fantastic and can be found below) will come courtesy of Dan Mora. The book is slated to hit shops on June 29, with a price tag of $9.99.

Green Arrow first appeared in 1941’s More Fun Comics #73, and over the years has been a vocal and perpetual champion of the underdog. He is the most recent DC character to get this giant anthology treatment, following Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Catwoman, and The Joker.

While Green Arrow’s solo title has been on an extended hiatus as of late, this is actually the second piece of good news for Green Arrow fans (a group in which I count myself) in the past 24 hours, with Brain Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev announcing that their team comic, Checkmate, would finally be arriving in June following a long COVID-spurred delay. The book itself looks like a satisfying one for GA fans, with no-brainer creators like Mike Grell returning and an exciting crop of new creators working with the characters. Kevin Smith is a notable absence, although it’s really nice to see his collaborator Phil Hester on here. Hester (who is presumably going to be inked here by Andre Parks, once again) is the one you really want anyway, with the other big name writers he worked with — Brad Meltzer and Judd Winick — also absent.

Anyway, looking forward to this one!

Green Arrow 80th Anniversary