Green Arrow is an American comic superhero created by artist George Papp and writer Mort Weisinger for DC Comics. For his Robin Hood-like appearance and manner, he was nicknamed the “Emerald Archer.” Green Arrow first appeared in More Fun Comics No. 73 (November 1941).
Origin of Green Arrow.
From the start, Green Arrow attempted to replicate one of DC’s most significant and successful, Batman. After being shipwrecked on a desert island in the North China Sea, wealthy playboy Oliver Jonas Queen undergoes five years of hell. To survive, he takes a bow and arrows and trains himself to become an expert. Arrow had an almost unlimited supply of trick arrows. After two fishermen go to the stranded island to fish save Oliver Queen and he returns to civilization only to embark on a career as a crime fighter.
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After teaming up with a sidekick, Speedy, Green Arrow became a regular feature in comics such as World’s Finest and Adventure Comics. Throughout World War II, Green Arrow and Speedy were members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in Leading Comics. In addition, the duo fought minor villains like Clock King, the Wizard, and the Rainbow Archer throughout the 1940s and ’50s. By the late ’60s, Green Arrow and Speedy became comics’ most talked about heroes.
In late 1969 writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams dramatically redefined the character. He was given a new costume with a goatee beard and was relieved of his fortune by a crooked business partner. Arrow now became a crusader against social injustice. Queen then moved to the inner city, where he met Black Canary. She became his love interest for the next few years. He co-headlined with Green Lantern in a series of comics by Adams and O’Neil.
Green Arrow and Green Lantern
The comics tackled race relations, business corruption, ecology, politics, and drugs. The award-winning run generated vast publicity, and readers embraced an older Oliver Queen who was hotheaded, passionate, belligerent, and radical. Finally, a character had gone from a one-dimensional cipher to an embodiment of the zeitgeist, hero, rabble-rouser, and equal parts hippie. Meanwhile, Speedy personified the era’s darker side as he was involved in drug usage and addiction in the widely appreciated Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues no. 85 and 86.
Despite the critical praise, the Green Arrow and Green Lantern partnership was relatively short-lived. The archer was later given only guest appearances throughout the 70s. Wisecracks replaced the rhetoric of the O’Neil and Adams years, and later writers smoothed the character’s rough edges. Arrow was given his first solo comic in 1983. Still, Mike Grell’s hard-hitting Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (1987) limited series was much more significant. The following year, The Longbow Hunters story was continued as Green Arrow, volume 2. An ongoing title intended for mature readers because of its grim, violent tone.
Resurrection of Arrow.
As part of its wide-ranging Zero Hour event in the mid-1990s, Queen was killed in an airplane explosion. His son, Connor, became a new and youthful Arrow. Queen was later resurrected, reclaimed Green Arrow’s mantle, and married Black Canary. However, their happiness was short-lived. Arrow responded to the destruction of his hometown of Star City by killing the man responsible for the act. Black Canary ended their relationship. When DC rebooted its entire comic universe in 2011, Green Arrow again received its title. Still, fan and critical response to the latest incarnation of the Emerald Archer was mixed at best.
Inspired by the success of Smallville, a long-running television series about a young Superman, the CW network premiered Arrow in 2012. The series revisited Green Arrow’s Golden Age origin. They focused on his early years as a crime fighter in Star City.
You can watch the Arrow Series on various streaming platforms. It is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as well.
