Green Arrow Vol. 5

This volume is issue #5 of the Green Arrow series following DC's "New 52" reboot, part of the middle section of "The Midas Touch" storyline. In the New 52 setting, Oliver Queen is a young billionaire who remains wealthy, leading the high-tech subsidiary Q-Core of Queen Industries by day and taking to the streets of Seattle as the hooded Green Arrow by night, with hacker Naomi and engineer Jax providing support behind the scenes. In this issue, the female assassin Blood Rose, who has a grudge against Green Arrow, is scolded by her partner Midas for acting recklessly; Midas was a scientist researching the bacterial treatment of toxic waste, and when his experiment was sabotaged by eco-terrorists, he fell into the waste liquid during an explosion and was transformed into a monster almost entirely composed of toxins. To avenge the injured Blood Rose, he smashes through a window into Q-Core and takes Oliver's assistant Adrien hostage—without knowing that Oliver is the target he seeks. Meanwhile, the Queen Industries board uses an authorization document to weaken Oliver's control over the company, leaving him beset on both sides. This issue presents Midas's origin and shows Green Arrow's predicament and improvisation when facing an opponent against whom arrows are nearly ineffective.