Green Arrow (Volume 5) #23 is an issue of the series Green Arrow (Volume 5) with a cover date of October, 2013. It was published on August 7, 2013.
Synopsis for "The Shados, Conclusion"
The neural implant that gives Count Vertigo his abilities have malfunctioned since Green Arrow used an EMP arrow to evade its effects. Now one of Vertigo's doctors struggles to repair the damaged circuitry in the implant, while Vertigo plans his eventual recapture of both the interloping American hero and Shado - the woman Oliver stole from him. Despite the fact that the implant is not finished being configured, Vertigo leaps off of the operating table when he hears that Oliver and Shado are being pursued by his men, intent on capturing them himself. Though his doctor warns that the implant may be uncontrollable, Vertigo insists.
Meanwhile, Oliver has just learned from Shado that the little girl Emiko is not Komodo's daughter at all. She is Shado's daughter by Oliver's father Robert. His confusion is disrupted when they are surrounded by Vertigo's men. When he reaches for his bow, he finds that it is missing - because Shado has taken it, and knocked three arrows to it. Unleashing them all at once, she hits all of her targets with surprising accuracy - all non-fatal wounds. Stealing one of his grappling arrows, she launches it into a secure point, and gives Oliver permission to resume his rescue, as the one remaining uninjured member of Vertigo's men feebly begs them to stop.
In Hungary, Oliver's support team of Henry Fyff and Naomi Singh have holed up in a hotel. In the bathroom, Henry struggles to prepare himself for his intended confession of love to Naomi, knowing full well that it will not likely be well-received. He emerges to find Naomi monitoring Oliver's movements, but she is troubled by something. Cautiously, she reveals that she has feelings for Oliver. After all that happened to both her and Oliver, she now sees him a bit differently; more clearly. She swears Henry to secrecy, failing to notice that Henry himself is crushed. Distracting himself, Henry points out that Oliver is heading towards the rendezvous point, and they need to go and meet him.
Oliver still disbelieves Shado's claim that Emiko is his half-sister, so Shado explains how Komodo killed Robert Queen, and took Emiko from her. Oliver responds that his father loved his mother, and wouldn't be involved with someone like Shado. The woman takes offense, admitting that she knew Robert loved Moira, but their relationship was different. She gives up on explaining it, so Oliver presses her for the answers to other questions, like why Magus sent him to find her in the first place.
Shado reveals that she wasn't much older than Oliver is now when she met Robert Queen. He and Simon Lacroix had been in Tokyo on business, but the man he had come to see, a Mr. Ito, was secretly a member of the Yakuza. Shado had been an assassin, and she had not had a pleasant relationship with the Yakuza. She wanted revenge, and she took it on Mr. Ito. She had thought she was an untouchable - a master - but she learned wrong when Robert and Simon found her. Though she fought for her life, she soon realized that they weren't trying to kill her. They were testing her. They had hired her to kill Ito as a test of her skill.
Robert Queen had wanted to be the best archer in the world, and in order to do that, he had to learn from the best - and that was Shado. The pair were also looking for something even greater than learning. They sought the Green Arrow, an ancient artefact that even Oliver's grandfather had been seeking when he died. Shado had heard her own father speaking of it in hushed tones, and knew that it was important. Unfortunately, there were others who sought the Green Arrow - the Outsiders.
The Outsiders' legacy spanned history, standing outside all empires, regimes, and monarchies, to ensure that none became too powerful or corrupt. However, a schism within their ranks caused some to become as corrupt as the governments they were meant to protect the world against. Simon Lacroix, unlike Robert, was weak, and became seduced by the offers of power the Outsiders made to him. After being given the name Komodo, Lacroix killed Robert - his only rival for leadership of the Arrow Clan - and then took whatever he wanted. In the interim, Robert and Shado had inadvertently fallen in love and had a child together. Once Robert was dead, Simon took Emiko and handed Shado over to Count Vertigo. Fortunately, the Outsiders could not simply kill Shado, because she knows where the Green Arrow is hidden.
Suddenly, Shado collapses, affected by a concentrated attack by Count Vertigo. Oliver retaliates with an arrow, ripping through Vertigo's ear. At the same time, Vertigo sends another blast of disorientation toward Oliver, and it similarly affect's his own ear. Fortunately, Shado recovers quickly and begins killing Vertigo's men, one-by-one. She stands over Vertigo, whose implant cannot do anymore damage after the last two blasts, and explains that while she wants to kill him, she needs Vertigo to deliver a message to Komodo: she has Robert's son, and she is coming for him. With that, she leaves him in the snow, packs Oliver into his truck, and drives away.
Meanwhile, in Seattle, mob boss Jimmy MacGowan receives an unexpected call from Billy Tockman regarding their mutual problem. Someone has been moving in on their territories. Whoever is doing it has already killed their rival Jin Fang, and midway through the call, someone comes for Jimmy, too. Before throwing Jimmy from an upper floor window, the killer introduces himself as Richard Dragon, and announces his intent to take control of everything in Seattle.
Appearing in "The Shados, Conclusion"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Shado (Flashback and main story)
- Team Green Arrow
Antagonists:
- Billy Tockman
- Billy Tockman's Gang (Cameo)
- Count Vertigo (Zytle)
- Vlatavan Army
- Vlatavan doctor (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed)
- The Outsiders (Flashback only)
- Fist Clan (First appearance) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Komodo (Simon Lacroix) (Flashback only)
- Shield Clan (First appearance) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Spear Clan (First appearance) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Sword Clan (First appearance) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Richard Dragon (First appearance) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Axe Clan (Flashback only)
- Jimmy MacGowan (Dies)
- MacGowan's Gang (Single appearance) (All die)
- Moira Queen (First appearance) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Robert Queen (Flashback only)
- Yakuza (Flashback only) (Behind the scenes)
- Mr. Ito (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Dies in flashback)
- Emiko Queen (Mentioned only)
- Jin Fung (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- The Magus (Mentioned only)
- Queen Industries (Mentioned only)
- Shado's father (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
- Green Arrow's Bow
- Shado's Bow (First appearance) (Flashback and main story)
- Totem Weapons
- The Green Arrow (First appearance) (Flashback only)
Concepts:
Notes
- This issue is collected in Green Arrow: The Kill Machine.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Green Arrow Recommended Reading
- More Fun Comics (Volume 1): More Fun Comics #73–107
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1): Adventure Comics #246–269
- World's Finest (Volume 1)
- Action Comics (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 1): Detective Comics #521–567
- Green Lantern (Volume 2): Green Lantern (Volume 2) #76–124
- The Flash (Volume 1): The Flash #217–219
- Green Arrow (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow (Volume 2)
- Green Arrow: The Wonder Year (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow (Volume 3)
- Black Canary (Volume 3)
- Green Arrow and Black Canary (Volume 1)
- Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood (Volume 1)
- Justice League: Rise and Fall
- Green Arrow (Volume 4)
- Green Arrow (Volume 5)
- Green Arrow (Volume 6)
- Event Leviathan
- Justice League (Volume 4) #59-75
- Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League - Green Arrow
- Green Arrow (Volume 7)
- Green Arrow: Year One (Volume 1)
- Black Canary (Volume 1)
- Black Canary (Volume 2)