Green Arrow

Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) is a DC Comics superhero. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (1941).

Dressed like Robin Hood, Green Arrow is an archer, who invents arrows with various special functions, such as a glue arrow, a net arrow, a boxing glove arrow, etc.

Throughout his first twenty-five years, Green Arrow was not a significant hero. But in the late 1960s, after he lost his fortune, writers gave him the unique role of streetwise crusader for the working class and the underprivileged. In 1970, he was paired with the more law-and-order-oriented hero Green Lantern in a groundbreaking, socially conscious comic book series. Since then, he has been popular among comic book fans and most writers have taken an urban, gritty approach to the character.

Inspirations

The Green Arrow character was inspired by a few different sources, including Edgar Wallace's The Green Archer (and the 1940 Columbia Pictures serial of the same name based on the novel), and Fawcett Publications' earlier archery-themed hero Golden Arrow. The Arrowcar was yellow in color and shaped reminiscent of the land-speed record holder of the 1920s, the British Golden Arrow. The name "Oliver Queen" likely alluded to Ellery Queen, a popular fictional detective (and mystery writer) of the time.

Green Arrow was also created as an archery-themed version of the earlier character Batman, as several similarities between the two characters can be spotted, especially in Green Arrow's earlier incarnation: Green Arrow had a teenaged sidekick named Speedy just as Batman has Robin; Green Arrow and Batman were/are both millionaire playboys in their secret identities; Green Arrow had an Arrowcar and an Arrowplane similar to Batman's Batmobile and Batplane; Green Arrow had the arrowcave while Batman had the batcave; Green Arrow was summoned by the Arrow-signal, just as Batman is summoned to police headquarters by the Bat-signal; in the Golden Age stories, Green Arrow had a clown-like archfoe named Bull's-Eye who was a thinly-disguised version of Batman's archfoe, the Joker. Some of these similarities have been explained in-continuity as inspired by a meeting between Green Arrow and Batman in their early careers, as Green Arrow looked toward Batman as an inspiration.

Publishing history

Beginnings

Created in 1941 by writer/editor Mort Weisinger and artist George Papp, who remained with the series for almost twenty years, Green Arrow and Speedy first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (cover-dated November 1941).

Another Mort Weisiner-created character called Aquaman also appeared for the first time in that issue, and these two back-up features continued to run concurrently in More Fun Comics until the mid-1940s, and then in Adventure Comics from 1946 until 1960. Green Arrow and Speedy also appeared in various issues of World's Finest Comics until issue #140 (1964). The Green Arrow and Speedy feature was one of five back-up features to be promoted in one of the earliest team-up books, Leading Comics.

Green Arrow was one of the few DC characters to keep going after the Golden Age of Comic Books. The longevity of the character was due to the influence of creator Mort Weisinger, who kept Green Arrow and Aquaman as back-up features to the headlining Superboy feature first in More Fun Comics and then Adventure Comics. The Green Arrow and Speedy feature had a relatively undistinguished publishing history, though the main exception in this period was a short run in 1958 by Jack Kirby.

Green Arrow was made the first non-charter member of the Justice League of America in 1959, a team which guaranteed the character's being continually featured, in some way or another, until 1998.

Neal Adams and Dennis O'Neil

In 1969 artist Neal Adams decided to update the character's visual appearance by giving him a goatee beard and costume of his own design. Inspired by Adams' redesign, writer Dennis O'Neil followed up on Green Arrow's new appearance by completely remaking the character's attitude in the pages of Justice League of America #79 (cover-dated November 1969), giving his personality a rougher edge like that of Marvel Comics' archery-themed hero Hawkeye. This revision was explained by having Oliver Queen lose his fortune and become an outspoken and strident advocate of the underprivileged in society and the political left wing. For instance, he once saved a child's dog playing in a railyard, but instead of feeling satisfaction, he brooded on the larger problem of how the poor child apparently had nowhere else in the city to play safely.

In short, he became a kind of superheroic hybrid between Robin Hood and Abbie Hoffman. In addition, the Green Arrow began a long running romantic relationship with Black Canary II (Dinah Lance). As a member of the Justice League, he became an argumentative figure who often acted as the team's political conscience.

In the early 1970s, he became a co-feature with Green Lantern in the latter's series in an acclaimed, but shortlived series of stories by O'Neil and Adams that dealt with various social and political issues in which Green Arrow spoke for the liberal argument (thus a voice for O'Neil himself) while Green Lantern was an establishment figure, half-heartedly serving the conservative viewpoint. Oliver Queen convinced Hal Jordan to see beyond his strict obedience to the Green Lantern Corps, to help those who were neglected or discriminated against. The duo embarked on a quest to find America, witnessing the corruption, racism, pollution, and overpopulation confronting the nation. Denny O'Neil even took on current events, such as the Manson Family cult murders, in issues #78-79 ("A Kind of Loving") where Black Canary falls briefly under the spell of a false prophet who advocates violence.

Later in the series, Oliver Queen would land a job as a newspaper columnist, which allowed him to articulate his political beliefs in a more public field. It was during this period that the most famous Green Arrow story of all time appeared, in Green Lantern #85-86, when it was revealed that Speedy was addicted to heroin. In his zeal to save America, Oliver Queen had failed in his personal responsibility to Roy Harper -- who would overcome his addiction with the help of Black Canary. This story prompted a congratulatory letter from the mayor of New York, John V. Lindsay. Unfortunately, the series did not match commercial expectations because of its mature topics and it was cancelled with issue #89 (April-May 1972).

The duo were moved to the back-up feature in The Flash (issues 217 through 219). The socially relevant themes would continue, as the story opens with Ollie killing a criminal (albeit accidentally). Ollie shed himself of the remaining trappings of his super-heroic life (including crashing the Arrowplane into a mountain) and withdrew to an ashram monastery. He would find no peace there, and returned to the outside world at the request of Hal and Dinah. This storyline would prove very important to the character in the 1990s.

In 1976, the Green Lantern title was re-launched starring Hal and Ollie, and the Green Arrow/Green Lantern partnership returned to more traditional superhero storylines. In May through August of 1983, Green Arrow appeared for the first time in his own comic book, a four issue limited series of murder and betrayal that established potential for a full series. It was in this miniseries that Green Arrow would gain a running rivalry with the supervillain Count Vertigo.

Mike Grell to Chuck Dixon

In 1987, the character was changed once more in Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, written and illustrated by Mike Grell, who had previous experience dating back to Green Arrow features in "The Flash." In this three-issue prestige format limited series, Green Arrow abandons gadget arrows and fights crime in Seattle, Washington, where he now lives with Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance). The series took on a more gritty, violent, and urban tone, befitting the series' mature audience label. While fighting drug runners, Oliver Queen encounters the enigmatic Japanese archer, Shado, whose family suffered in a World War II internment camp. While uncovering the connection between the drug operations and Shado's quest for vengeance, Green Arrow also kills a murderer to save Black Canary. This was the first time that he had deliberately killed someone. He could have disarmed the man, but in his rage over the torture (and implied rape) of Black Canary, he chose to kill him instead. This was the first of many that he would kill during Mike Grell's run. Shado and Green Arrow join forces against the criminals, later becoming occasional allies and, on one occasion when Oliver was injured and delirious, lovers.

The Longbow Hunters mini-series led to a long-running regular series (Green Arrow), which Grell wrote for 80 issues. Grell tried to redefine Oliver Queen as a realistic and flawed character, purging the series of any superhero characteristics. This incarnation of Green Arrow would still team up occasionally with Batman (as in the graphic novel Poison Tomorrow), but his past with the Justice League rarely came up. Dinah Lance remained Oliver Queen's domestic partner for most of the series, although she lost her 'sonic scream' ability during her ordeal. Green Arrow even lost his mask a couple of issues into the regular series when he learned it no longer obscured his identity. His overall look underwent slight changes, as he began to don a hood instead of the cap, and his outfit was given long sleeves. Dinah explained this as being a costume more suited to the Pacific Northwest, most likely referring to the cold climate and rain.

The Green Arrow series dealt largely with serial killers, terrorists, and street gangs, with Oliver Queen sometimes working with Seattle Police Lieutenant Anderson, who sometimes resents Green Arrow's penchant for vigilante justice. During one story-line, Green Arrow wounds a teenager with a paintball gun, thinking him a criminal. This near-tragedy forces a crisis intervention from Hal Jordan, who rallies his depressed friend. Another notable episode involves Oliver Queen's framing for a terrorist bombing, which destroys his heroic reputation until he is given a presidential apology. During his disgrace, Queen travelled across Great Britain, Europe, and much of Africa before returning to Seattle.

During The Longbow Hunters, Green Arrow fell afoul of renegade CIA agent Greg Osborne, who begins to monitor Oliver Queen's activities. At first, mercenary Eddie Fyers is introduced as Oliver Queen's adversary, but he becomes a companion of necessity when Green Arrow is forced to leave Seattle. This event is accelerated when Dinah Lance discovers Shado has had Oliver's son, Robert. When she catches Oliver kissing their houseguest, Marianne (who had a long case of hero worship for Green Arrow), Dinah permanently breaks off their relationship. The matter was dropped with issue 60 being the last, this is not due to Grell leaving, his last issue was 80. More than likely it was actually from the formation of Vertigo and Green Arrow being too much of a mainstream character to go over to it. This also led to Green Arrow's eventual return to the DC Heroes mainstream in the Crossroads story arc.

Connor Hawke

Under later writers, such as Kelley Puckett, Kevin Dooley, and Chuck Dixon, some superheroic elements of the DC Universe were re-introduced, such as Hal Jordan's transformation into the villainous Parallax. In the 1994 Zero Hour storyline, Green Arrow was forced to try to kill his former comrade in order to save the universe. During the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series, Oliver Queen had fled to a meditational retreat after killing a criminal in Star City, and now returned there after believing he had killed Parallax. There he met a young monk named Connor Hawke, who teamed up with Green Arrow and Eddie Fyers. Connor was later revealed to be Oliver Queen's son, conceived during Ollie's stay at the retreat. In 1995, Dixon and other DC editors decided that Oliver Queen's storytelling possibilities had been exhausted, and he died in Green Arrow #100-101. This was implemented by having Ollie infiltrate a group of eco-terrorrists known as the Eden Corps, climaxing with him defeating their leader on a airplane over Metropolis. In his attempt to prevent a bomb from being dropped, his arm was trapped, and Superman was unable to save him when the bomb went off (safely over the city).

Like many DC superheroes in the mid-1990s, the "old" Green Arrow was immediately replaced with a young successor, in this case, Connor Hawke. Chuck Dixon, Green Arrow's writer during this period, explored Connor's difficulty adjusting to the world after spending years in an ashram. In marked contrast to his father, Connor was awkward around the opposite sex, sparking some fan speculation that he might be gay. Dixon strongly denounced such theories, though other writers have kept the question open. Dixon and Green Lantern writer Ron Marz recreated the partnership of Green Arrow and Green Lantern, who had also been recently replaced (by Kyle Rayner). Green Arrow II became an active member of the Justice League, using some of his father's old gadget arrows to some advantage against more powerful foes, but left after a few issues. Connor Hawke starred in the series (as "Green Arrow II") from issue 102 until issue 137, when it was canceled in 1998. Since the resurrection of Oliver Queen, he is now a recurring supporting character in the restarted series.

The 21st century

In 2000, Oliver Queen was revived in a new Green Arrow series, written by Kevin Smith and illustrated by Phil Hester and Ande Parks. Smith's storyline returned the character to life from a point before the Mike Grell period which includes his use of gadget arrows, although the world around him still reflected the changes that had taken place — for example, the introduction of Wally West, Kyle Rayner and Connor Hawke to replace Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, and Queen himself, respectively. Smith's fifteen issues were followed by a story arc by Brad Meltzer, who in 2002 handed the title over to Judd Winick. Hester and Parks remained as the art team throughout these changes.

In the story, the soul of Oliver Queen had been contacted by Parallax, who wanted to bring Ollie back to life because he regretted not being there to save him. Queen refused, preferring the peace of Heaven, but allowed Parallax to resurrect his body. Unfortunately, the body was a hollow shell, as it had no soul and only remembered events up until a few years before his death. The memory loss was done deliberately; his memories terminated during his time travelling with Hal Jordan where Ollie felt happiest. Shortly after that point, Ollie had accidentally killed a criminal, after this point Ollie felt he was no longer a true hero. The body kept on getting warnings from the demon Etrigan, who attempted to destroy him as he was a veritable gateway for demons wishing to enter the world. His lack of a soul made him perfect for Stanley Dover's calling of "The Beast with no name"; Stanley had summoned the Beast, but he was unable to find it, so he intended to transfer himself into the body (as it had no soul, it would be easy to take over) and then gain access to the JLA watchtower and find the Beast using the monitors. Oliver Queen's soul finally made a decision to leave Heaven to return to Earth when Connor Hawke ended up fighting a mass of demons in an attempt to save Ollie, both Green Arrows knowing Connor couldn't last on his own.

Following Smith's run, Meltzer took Ollie and Roy, his former sidekick, on a trip across the DC universe recovering old possesions (including a Green Lantern power ring). At the end of the arc an old photo and Ollie's inner monolougue reveal that he had been present at Connor's birth but later ran from the reponsibility of being a father.

One of Winick's most-publicized innovations was to reveal that Mia Dearden, a former prostitute unofficially adopted by Green Arrow during Kevin Smith's run, had tested positive for HIV. Winick had published a graphic novel (Pedro and Me) about a gay friend who died of HIV/AIDS, and subsequently wrote a Green Lantern storyline about homophobia, so some critics have pigeonholed him as a writer of social-commentary storylines. In response, Winick noted that socially relevant storylines are part of the Green Arrow tradition, and that he intends to show Mia living a normal life, "living with HIV, as many people do." ^*

In recent years, Green Arrow has been depicted as having a confrontational relationship with fellow superhero Hawkman. While their arguments seemed to center on politics, Identity Crisis revealed that their differences went deeper than that, and was rooted in their disagreement over whether to mindwipe a particular villain.

He has also been briefly depicted as being somewhat aloof and cold towards Kyle Rayner, likely due to his inability to accept anyone else in Hal Jordan's place (He described this once as it being similar to finding a kid at Halloween dressed as your dead best friend). In the "Archer's Quest" storyline, Ollie has shown signs of growing to like Rayner, even going so far as to invite him to a boxing match. Since then, they have warmed to each other, with Kyle jokingly giving him a beat-up green lamp, with a note attached saying "from a two-bit Green Lantern." Kyle also saved Ollie Queen from death at the hands of Sinestro in Rebirth.

Ollie has never built up a Rogues Gallery to the extent that Batman or Superman have (a fact of which he is proud), instead battling corrupt businessmen and social injustice. His enemies include the assassins Merlyn the archer and Constantine Drakon the Greek martial artist, the Japanese vigilante archer Shado (infamous for being the mother of Ollie's son Robert, after raping Ollie while he was wounded and drugged), Brick the superpowered mob boss, the illusion-casting Count Vertigo, and the enigmatic Onomatopoeia.

The last issue before One Year Later, has Ollie in a showdown with Merlyn on the rooftops of Star City. As Green Arrow is about to win, Dr. Light detonates a series of explosions destroying a large portion of the city while a horrified Green Arrow looks on. This gives Merlyn the opportunity to turn the tables on Ollie apparently killing him right before the jump occurs.

One Year Later

In the One Year Later jump after Infinite Crisis, Ollie is the newly elected mayor of Star City, continuing his fight on the streets and through the system. Brick is also seen helping fight crime for a change in Star City. Deathstroke returns as well, looking for a rematch from the events in Identity Crisis. Deathstroke loses the rematch and makes the observation that during the one year absence, Green Arrow has become a much better fighter and (perhaps as a nod to the legendary Robin Hood) now carries a sword which he wields proficiently. He also has a new costume, which appears to be a combination of the Neal Adams costume and the Mike Grell Longbow Hunters costume.

Other media depiction

Green Arrow of Earth-Two

There was an Earth-Two version of Green Arrow who was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and All-Star Squadron in the 1940s along with his sidekick Speedy. Aside from their origin, having been trained on a mesa top together, their history nearly parallels the history of the Earth-One version up until the point when Arrow and Speedy along with their teammates were thrown into various periods of time during a battle with the Nebula Man. He and his teammates were later retrieved by the Justice Society and the Justice League in order to assist them in saving Earth-Two from the machinations of their old foe the Iron Hand. Years after returning to the present, Arrow came out of retirement until he died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Elseworlds and other visions of Green Arrow

Oliver Queen was a major player in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and the sequel The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

The death scene in Green Arrow #100-101 pays tribute to the Dark Knight, where Oliver Queen resurfaces as a hard-bitten old revolutionary missing one arm. Never on the best of terms with Queen, Superman intends to rescue Green Arrow by removing his arm, but Ollie refuses to let him, thus bringing about his apparent death.

In DK2, Oliver's situation has improved to the point where he's been fitted with a robotic arm. He is usually seen debating with the right-leaning Question on a point/counterpoint news program.

A similar version of the Green Arrow, but with both arms, would later appear in Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come, where Oliver Queen has joined forces with Batman and also shows some enmity towards Superman. Although Oliver is politically opposed to Superman, in the final battle, the two work together. Other appearances of Green Arrow include an appearance in League of Justice, a Lord of the Rings inspired fantasy where the character is renamed "Longbow Greenarrow", a mysterious wizard resembling Gandalf. Also, in Age Of Wonder, Green Arrow is seen as an opponent of the inventor's consortium run by that book's Superman, defending ghetto communities against oppression, much as he does in the present day. In the alternate reality of The Nail, Queen was crippled in a fight with Amazo, leaving him bitter at the metahuman community. Later on, in the sequel Another Nail, his brain was, somewhat ironically, transplanted into Amazo, but Queen/Amazo was then forced to give his life to save the world from a pan-dimensional creature that was damaging the timelines.

Animation

With the new found popularity of the O'Neil/Adams version, the once ignored character began to attract some interest in televised adaptations, as well as the collectible toy market.

The first television appearance was a single guest spot in an episode of the original 1973 incarnation of The Superfriends where his politics became irrelevant, given the nature of Saturday morning cartoons format and timeslot. In "Gulliver's Gigantic Goof", Green Arrow rescues his fellow superheroes, who have become shrunk by a mad scientist. He also swore oaths such as "By Robin Hood's Bow", and in short, conformed to the bland characterizations of his fellow Superfriends.

During the 1970s, Mego Enterprises commissioned the first Green Arrow doll as a part of its DC Superheroes line, which still features as a collectible. Since then, several action figures and models have emerged during the 1980s and 1990s, appealing to the Emerald Archer's moderate fanbase. For a brief period, a Green Arrow television series had been bruited about in the late 1980s. This series would have likely been based upon the Longbow Hunters incarnation of Green Arrow, based in Seattle. But after Mike Grell's Jon Sable pilot episode failed on ABC in 1988, nothing came of this proposal.

A more faithful and mainstream portrayal is used in the animated television series, Justice League Unlimited. In this version, his strong political convictions (and his sometimes irreverent advocacy of them) are key reasons the Justice League insists on recruiting him as a populist voice of the team, although it took an alluring encounter with the Black Canary to finally persuade him. He becomes close friends with Supergirl whom he worked with during the Leages first mission. That decision proved a wise one with Queen providing a valuable perspective for the team during the "Project Cadmus" story arc. He, like Batman understands Cadmus's fear of metahumans, being one of the few non-powered heroes and his political sophistication allowed him to explain the situation to his peers in a diplomatically effective manner. In addition, Queen is still a billionaire, having sold his company to devote to his volunteer and activist activities exclusively. He is voiced by Kin Shriner.

Video Games

Green Arrow also appeared in the Justice League Task Force Sega Genesis fighting game.

Green Arrow will be an unlockable character in the upcoming video game Justice League Heroes, played by Ralph Garman.

Smallville

In the pilot of the television series Smallville, a headline is visible on a newspaper stating "QUEEN INDUSTRIES CEO MISSING," an obvious reference to Green Arrow. Lionel Luthor is shown reading this paper in a helicopter with his son Lex Luthor during the sequence, just before Smallville's 1989 meteor shower.

Additionally, it has been revealed that the Green Arrow will come to Smallville in Season Six which beings September 28, 2006. His story arc will last "atleast seven episodes" says Alfred Gough, co creator of smallville.

Secret origins

Green Arrow has had several official "secret origins" attributed to his character, but most versions agree that Oliver Queen began as a wealthy playboy who lived like Robinson Crusoe on a semi-deserted Pacific island, after having been washed overboard during an ocean cruise. Forced to hunt for survival, Queen developed his natural archery skill to a peak level. When criminals (originally pirates, but later changed to drug-runners) came to the island, he captured them and returned to civilization. The Longbow Hunters gives this origin a humorous twist, as Queen recounts that the "drug runners" were two ordinary guys with a small boat growing pot on the island. He claims that when he reached civilization, and the story got out, the media and urban myths trumped it up to something else entirely.

Green Arrow's code against outright killing is established firmly, with the development of trick arrows to subdue or outwit opponents. Perhaps the most mature origins tale came from Mike Grell's four-part 1992 limited series, Green Arrow: The Wonder Year. Grell portrayed Oliver Queen as a thrill-seeker who inherits his family business at a very young age. Changed by his sojourn on the island, Ollie decided to take up crimefighting as a means of rebelling against his responsibilities. During his first adventure in Star City, Oliver Queen meets an old flame, Brianna Stone, a former college radical who warns him if he continued to carry his bow, he would one day have to use it for real. Grell's limited series also established Queen's attraction toward dangerous women.

During his early days, Oliver Queen also befriended a boy living with a Native American tribe, Roy Harper Jr., whom he nicknamed Speedy when the youth collared a criminal before Green Arrow could. Harper eventually becomes Ollie's adopted son, as well as Green Arrow's sidekick. Speedy, who would eventually become the grown-up hero Arsenal, battled a heroin addiction in Green Lantern #85-86 (Sept. & Nov. 1971).

External links

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