GREEN ARROW 1980 thru Today

Bullet Points: Raging Bullets online DC Comics TPB/HC reviews

Green Arrow: 1980’s thru today!

Matthew G. Guy

October 28, 2006

Green Arrow a.k.a. Oliver Queen has been called the ‘Emerald Archer’, by others just ‘Batman with a bow’. For me personally, Green Arrow has been a B-list hero that assisted the big three (Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman) in their adventures in the comics, but as time passed, Green Arrow has taken on greater importance when dealing with various serious issues from the 1970s thru today in comics. In this edition of Bulletpoints we will highlight the history of Green Arrow in comics also including his newest arena on television, Smallville.

In 1970, Green Lantern was re-launched as Green Lantern Green Arrow. Green Lantern playing the law and order type of the duo while Green Arrow had a much more liberal or radical slant for a hero. America doing what is right was not always clear as this series pointed out from race relations, Native American rights, pollution, religion & even drugs (the speedy issue). The Speedy issue had an impact on the Comics Code Authority by changing it from its beginnings of the 1950s to modernize the code to deal with tough relevant issues in an appropriate manner for readers of comics. The series only lasted two more issues past the Speedy issue ending with issue 89 in the April/May issue of 1972. This series of issues was reprinted in 1983 and 1984 & also in 2 trade paperbacks.

In the 1980s, two issues of Brave and the Bold have Green Arrow on the cover 168 and 185 of the series. In late 1982, Green Arrow was a backup feature in Batman Detective Comics from issue 521 until one of the last regular pre-Crisis of Detective Comics with issue 567. The featured stories varied from no-name criminals such as Ozone using aerosol cans to commit robberies to real life issues of Russian terrorists attacking Star City wanting to start the next World War III with nuclear missiles. Though Green Arrow was not in every issue of Detective Comics during this time he was indeed a B list hero that had a more noticeable profile from the stint inside a Batman comic and was given his own four part miniseries running from May through August 1983 to spotlight the character in his own series. The series highlighted the origins of Green Lantern in greater detail & his battle with a villain named Count Vertigo.

In 1987, in the Prestige Format from DC Comics came a 3 issue miniseries, Green Arrow: Longbow Hunters that gave the character a mini revamp that made him more realistic and imperfect to readers. Mike Grell’s influence on this miniseries and the first sixty issues of a new series are a testament to the impact on the Green Arrow for almost a decade. The influence also changed Green Arrow from liberal minded to more conservative when battling crime with little for the consequences. When Kelley Puckett was writing for the series came the greatest change to Green Arrow in his “death” in issues 100-101 and his son Conner Hawke picks up the title mantle as Green Arrow until 1998 with issue 132 and this series is cancelled.

However in the world of comics cancelled is not forever, in 2000 Kevin Smith and later Brad Meltzer do the writing for the new series.

Judd Winick has covered the controversial topic of HIV/AIDS during his run. Judd Winick is over the writing duties over Green Arrow currently (as of 2006). In the OYL arc, Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) is the mayor of Star City as he battles villains and face new challenges as mayor being the liberal minded hero but this time has a person who now has the power to change things as Oliver Queen, mayor of Star City.

In the sixth season of Smallville, Oliver Queen (played by Justin Hartley) is showcased in triangle plotlines between Oliver-Lois-Clark and Oliver-Lex-Clark that are enjoyable to many fans of the series. The seven episodes that show Oliver Queen will lead up to a episode entitled “Justice” bringing back heroes from previous seasons of Smallville, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman & Green Arrow but will not include Batman or Wonder Woman for various reasons between DC Comics and Warner Brothers and the producers of the series. In any event, season six has provided much enjoyment to many fans with the addition of Oliver Queen as a guest star in Smallville.

Connor Hawke gets his own six part miniseries entitled Dragon’s Blood starting in late November. In 2007, Green Arrow will get his own Year One miniseries by Andy Diggle and Jock. The future for the Emerald Archer looks to be bright as the character changes from a B list hero status into a greater supportive role as the DC Universe faces challenges that steam from Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, 52 & beyond. Check back next week for another installment of Bulletpoints.

“Comics are the prefect combination for art & writing that one should treasure every month (unless it is 52 then it is every week)”