Green Arrow #23

Part three of "Blood of the Dragon" arrives with a cover by Dan Jurgens and Dick Giordano that frames Oliver Queen in a tilted snapshot — blond goatee, green clothing, and a submachine gun held at the ready — set against a warm, grid-patterned background. Coiling dragon imagery sweeps across the deep purple surrounding that inset image, giving the whole composition a tense, atmospheric mood that suits Mike Grell's mature-readers take on the Emerald Archer. With writer Grell and artist Jurgens working through the penultimate chapter of this four-part story, issue #23 is a compelling stop in one of DC's more grounded superhero series of 1989.