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DC Comics is getting ready to nock and release Absolute Green Arrow #1 into comic book shops everywhere. The upcoming series by Pornsak Pichetshote, Rafael Albuquerque, and Marcelo Maiolo is a serial killer and murder mystery-informed take on the Emerald Archer. Ever since Oliver Queen died in Absolute Evil last fall, a new Green Arrow has taken up shop in the Absolute Universe. Instead of taking down enemies with a boxing glove arrow or another playful trick arrow, this new Green Arrow is out for blood - specifically, the blood of billionaires. Leaving a trail of arrowed bodies in their wake, it's up to Dinah Lance, the Absolute Universe's Black Canary, to unmask who this brutal Green Arrow is. 

Now, series artist Rafael Albuquerque is one of the brightest stars working in comics today, but he was originally set to debut in DC's Absolute Universe not with Absolute Green Arrow, but one of the line's core books: Absolute Superman. On the SKTCHD podcast, Albuquerque spoke about how the May 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods in Brazil interrupted his work on Absolute Superman, which he had been working on for two months with writer Jason Aaron at the time of the natural disaster, which killed 181 people in Brazil and Uruguay.

"We had the chance to work for maybe a couple of months before, doing what I call 'pre-production,' that's pretty much just designing stuff, especially in a new book. It's not just designing the main character, it's pretty much designing everything. We had worked on how Krypton would be, all that. It was like a world-building thing. I was about to start the very first issue [of Absolute Superman] when those floods happened. It was May 2024," Albuquerque began. 

"It was really awful because parts of my city, my hometown, Porto Alegre, that were flooded... Although I was fine, because my house was in a higher place, we were struggling with the lack of power, the lack of water. It was like a chaotic situation, and we had no idea how long it would take.” 

Since Albuquerque wouldn't have been able to complete drawing Absolute Superman #1 to meet the issue's deadline, DC had to put another artist, Rafa Sandoval, on the book. But Albuquerque has no hard feelings towards either DC or Sandoval. "I supported the decision to hand it to someone else, Rafa Sandoval did a phenomenal work on this book. I’m very happy to see that my kid is in good hands," Albuquerque said with a laugh. 

We're glad that Rafael Albuquerque was safe from the floods and that he was able to hop onto another Absolute Universe book with DC Comics. 

Absolute Green Arrow #1 will hit comic book shops on May 20, 2026. 

Need more? Here's our picks for the best DC Comics stories of all time, and here's a list of all the free DC comics you can look forward to as part of this year's Free Comic Book Day 2026 and Comics Giveaway Day 2026.