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"The Joy of Crime!": While at a charity poker tournament in support of the Seattle Art Museum, Oliver Queen can't help but overhear the other guests talking about how his companies Queen Industries and Q-Core have begun to fail as a res

Quote1 Don't know about you, buddy, but that chick you run with is twisted. She's going down, and taking you with her. Quote2
— Green Arrow

Green Arrow (Volume 5) #11 is an issue of the series Green Arrow (Volume 5) with a cover date of September, 2012. It was published on July 4, 2012.

Synopsis for "The Joy of Crime!"

While at a charity poker tournament in support of the Seattle Art Museum, Oliver Queen can't help but overhear the other guests talking about how his companies Queen Industries and Q-Core have begun to fail as a result of his recent disappearance.

Suddenly, the event is disrupted by two hooded marauders armed with bows and arrows. They call themselves the Dark Arrows, and they claim to be inspired by Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Their allegiance lies with Occupy Wall Street - a decentralized protest movement which believes that the banks support the rich 1% of citizenry while keeping the remaining 99% poor.

Though the girl - whose name Oliver overhears as Bunny - claims to have come from nothing, she purports an ability to determine real jewels from costume jewellery. She also tends toward violence, as the patrons try to resist, and she ends up knocking an older man to the ground and kicking him. Her male partner intervenes, and Oliver steps up to explain that the event is already charitable, so their Robin Hood idealism doesn't apply. Bunny tries to argue, but her partner drags her away.

As they make their escape, Bunny's partner Claude complains that she was too violent, and that their target was poorly chosen, as Oliver had pointed out. Likewise, he doubts her claims that she knows the rich type, given her claims about her background. Their bickering is interrupted by Green Arrow, who disarms them, complaining of their having usurped his persona in the name of thievery.

Green Arrow points out that the Occupy movement is non-violent, and warns that the Dark Arrows' activities will soon backfire. Despite this, the press seems to love them. Regardless, Bunny exclaims that Green Arrow doesn't seem to be doing anything to protect people from losing their homes to greedy bankers. All the while, the exchange is watched by a pair of cyclists who belong to the Occupy movement.

Bunny dismissively tells Green Arrow that he can keep his Trick Arrows for himself, because a water pistol filled with gasoline is more than enough firepower for her. She ignites the stream from the pistol, and Green Arrow is engulfed in flames. Horrified, her partner rushes over to smother the flames. Grabbing the man by his coat, Oliver warns that Bunny is crazy, and she will take him down with her.

The watching activists have growing mixed feelings about the Dark Arrows, as the violence and theft aren't completely in line with their ideologies. As Bunny escapes, she tosses them the stolen loot, and they struggle to decide what to do with it. Oliver gives chase, and catches Bunny in a bola, leaving her wrapped up for the approaching police. Before he leaves, one of the activists gives him something to ponder: what is he doing for the people of Seattle?

Later, Oliver cools off with a drink at a bar. A woman nearby comments that he looks upset, and he asks her what she thinks of the Occupy movement. She responds that she thinks they're kind of brave, sitting out there night after night in the name of something they believe in. She would certainly be too lazy to do any of that stuff, but she respects it. Oliver suggests that the movement needs a leader. The woman responds that the movement is decentralized, and a leader would contradict its being by and for the people. Oliver counters that Martin Luther King and Gandhi lead similar movements to great success.

The woman shifts her tone to indicate her interest in him, and Oliver has to put her off the scent, because he's trying to avoid relationships for a while. On top of that, he doesn't feel like he has any friends anymore, and he needs one. Thinking on the people in his life, he concedes that he considers Jax and Naomi friends - but that said, he is late for a meeting with them.

Jax and Naomi are actually planning to leave; to quit working for Oliver as Green Arrow. His having left them thinking he was dead put pressure on them that they didn't want to be responsible for, and now Walter Emerson has wrested control of Q-Core away from him. Meanwhile, rumours of Oliver's death caused the company's stocks to plummet - even after his return. Now Oliver owes the banks so much that he's risking foreclosure. Emerson sold the debt off to a Chinese businessman named Jin Fang, who is proposing to sell controlling stock back to Oliver in exchange for something Q-Core has.

Despite Oliver's feelings that the entire scenario involving Queen Industries and Emerson was orchestrated by his father, long in advance. Robert Queen was a master strategist, and Oliver wouldn't put it past him to put him through some kind of test like this. Naomi thinks that the good will clause in his will was actually put in place to protect Ollie, and speaking of his father, she and Jax have pulled one of his projects out of cold storage: a prototypical stealth jet. They introduce Ollie to Jimmy Crew, the mechanic and pilot of the jet. With the jet, Oliver prepares to meet this Jin Fang and consider his offer.

Elsewhere, Bunny has been bailed out of jail by her father, who is substantially well-off. As it turns out, she is a child of entitlement and wealth, seeking rebellion. Given that she is under age, her father warns that with a criminal record, he need only give his signature to see her sent to a psychiatric hospital.

Meanwhile, Claude leaves the sack of money he and Bunny stole from the charity tournament at the doorstep of a family whose house is being foreclosed on. With that money, they will be able to keep their house. He feels satisfaction knowing that he is really making a difference.

On the way to China, Jimmy and Oliver discuss the technological advances that are being worked on at Q-Core, including a proprietary facial recognition program that is the most advanced in existence.

When Oliver arrives in China, he meets with Jin Fang, who proposes that he will return controlling shares of Queen Industries and Q-Core to Oliver in exchange for the very facial recognition software that he had spoken of earlier. However, Jin Fang's intentions for the program are not honourable, and Oliver refuses.

Jin Fang warns that nobody knows that Oliver is in China right now, and so it wouldn't be a hassle to kill or torture him into giving it up. He unleashes a bevy of martial artists on Oliver, who uses a special mini bow and arrow with a grappling hook to steal Jin Fang's smart phone from a nearby table before he is attacked.

Appearing in "The Joy of Crime!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • The Dark Arrows (First appearance)
    • Bunny
    • Claude
  • Jin Fang (First appearance)
    • Chow Brothers (First appearance; unnamed)

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Notes

Trivia


See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

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