Oliver Queen's Curious Sense of Justice

We all know that Oliver Queen kind of went off the deep end during the Bronze Age.

But I really didn't just quite how far off the deep end Ollie was until I read this story in World's Finest #281 (1982).

There's been a bunch of arson lately in Star City, you see...

So Oliver vows to "bring him to justice." Remember that.

Meanwhile, a homeless woman is actually burned to death in yest another building fire:

So Green Arrow leaps into detective mode, and, well, it's really not too hard to figure out who could be profiting from all of these fires:

So Oliver arms himself with an evidence-gathering device...

...and proceeds to record the goons doing the actual firebug work admitting their acts on tape before busting them.:

All right, just so we're clear: a wealthy developer has paid some mooks to burn down buildings so he can rebuild high-priced properties in their place; an innocent civilian has died in the process; and Green Arrow has caught the mooks, and has audio recording of them admitting their crimes and implicating their boss.

So, given Ollie's vow to "bring him to justice," we know what's going to happen when Green Arrow goes to confront Starkwether, right? Right?

No, we don't:



So now Ollie has Starkwether himself confessing. Open and shut, right? Right? Right, Oliver?!?


Wait...

WAIT A MINUTE!!

Are you freakin' kidding me?!?!?!?!?!

Are you telling me that Green Arrow is going to let a murderer off the hook? That a member of the Justice League Of America, instead of arresting the crook, is going to blackmail him into supporting one of Ollie's pet causes?!?!? And let him go if he does?!? That is a hero?!?!

I can just see if other heroes adopted this posture:

"Joe Chill, you killed my parents...but if you make a sizable donation to the Wayne Foundation Orphans Fund, you can walk!"

"You murdered my Uncle Ben!! But if you help Aunt May pay the mortgage, I'll give you a mulligan on that, OK?"

Let's note also that Ollie's scheme only works if he lets the two henchman go, as well. If they're arrested, they'd sing against Starkwether, so Ollie's little blackmail scheme would be worthless.

Just to reiterate one more time the sheer outrageousness of this: scripter Joey Cavalieri would have us believe that Green Arrow believes that it's perfectly acceptable to let someone guilty of multiple arson and felony murder off scot-free...as long as he builds a homeless shelter and names it after the victim. That Oliver Queen believes it's all right for a wealthy perp to buy his way out of punishment.

Where's the Spectre when you need him?

So if you're ever murdered in Star City, don't worry--your killer may still be walking the streets, but thanks to their "hero," at least your name will be on a building...