Green Arrow

Green Arrow is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Mortimer Weisinger and George Papp and first appeared in More Fun Comics #73(1941). Green Arrow's alter-ego is Oliver Queen, a billionaire who is the owner of Queen Industries.

Green Arrow is an archer who uses his skills to fight crime in his home cities of Star City and Seattle, as well as alongside his fellow superheroes as a member of the Justice League. Green Arrow is one of the various superheroes of the DC Universe who does not possess any superpowers.

Publication History

Green Arrow and Speedy first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (cover-dated November 1941), which was illustrated by artist George Papp. When Mort Weisinger was creating the character, aside from the obvious allusions to Robin Hood, took inspiration from a movie serial, The Green Archer, based on the novel by Edgar Wallace. He retooled the concept into a superhero archer with obvious Batman influences. These include Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy, his use of an Arrowcar and Arrow-Plane for transportation, his use of an Arrow-Cave as his headquarters, his alter ego as a billionaire playboy, the use of an Arrow-Signal to summon him, as well as a clown-like arch foe named Bull's Eye, similar to Batman's arch-foe, the Joker.

Another Weisinger-created character, Aquaman, also appeared for the first time in that issue. These two back-up features continued to run concurrently in More Fun Comics until the mid-1940s, as well as then in Adventure Comics between 1946 and 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. Aside from sharing Adventure Comics with him, issue #258 featured an encounter between a younger Oliver Queen and Superboy. The Green Arrow and Speedy feature during this period included a short run in 1958 written by Dick and Dave Wood and drawn by Jack Kirby. For much of this period, Green Arrow's adventures were written by France Herron, who was the character's primary scripter 1947–1963.(1)

Fictional Character Biography

As a young child Oliver idolized his hero Robin Hood and was said to be a natural archer, frequently practicing with his bow and arrows. He was mildly traumatized the first time he accidentally killed an animal, but when his mother and father were mauled by lions in a tragic safari accident his hesitation to shoot cost them their lives.

Afterwards he was raised by his uncle and eventually inherited the family fortune and business. Queen grew into a rich, thrill-seeking, and drunken playboy with no real sense of responsibility or direction in his life. Everything changed when he fell off his boat in the middle of the ocean and washed ashore on the remote isolated Starfish Island, clutching a bow – a memento from a Robin Hood movie – which he had used to keep himself afloat, where he was completely stranded. During this time spent without food or shelter Queen developed his skills as a hunter to survive and gained mastery over his bow. Having previously taken everything in his life for granted, this experience taught him self-reliance and made him into a man. His second test of new character was the discovery of drug smugglers on the island run by the ruthless international crime lord China White. Using his new skills, he attacked and destroyed their heroin operation, then delivered them to the authorities before returning home. Realizing that he had found his destiny, he chose to use his abilities and resources as a crime-fighter. With a nickname coined by the press, he made it his mission to protect Star City.

Green Arrow would go on to become a member of the Justice League of America, although there are multiple versions of this story. Originally the Silver Age showed him joining after he rescued the League from an evil alien named Xandor. Post-Crisis stories retconned Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman out of this story, making several other changes. Queen Enterprises secretly funded the early League, never revealing his identity and speaking to them through Simon Carr. Eventually the team voted him in as their sixth member. Infinite Crisis brought back the League's original founders and beginnings. Green Arrow is shown to have joined at the same time as Black Canary, proving their value in combat against the League of Assassins. He would go on to have many further adventures with them.(2)

Skills and Abilities

Green Arrow is highly skilled archer. He has a number of other abilities including acute accuracy and dexterity, intelligent tactician, highly skilled martial artist, escapologist, marksman, bowman and swordsman, highly skilled acrobat and athlete and peak human physical and mental condition. He also uses a number of trick arrows.

He claims to be able to shoot 29 arrows per minute (he stated this himself, in the Sound of Violence story arc, when he corrected Black Canary for saying 26). He has a wide-variety of trick arrows, ranging from bola arrows to time-bomb arrows to his infamous boxing-glove arrow. In recent years, he has used these arrows sparingly, preferring the time-tested simple target arrow. Green Arrow has shown the ability to shoot an arrow down the barrel of a gun and split a drop of water at the narrowest part as it leaves a tap. He is capable of impaling almost any part of the human body, although he aims only to wound and not kill when he shoots at a person, except when he considers the situation extreme enough. He once shot two arrows down two different gun barrels while upside down, in mid-flip while somersaulting off a building.(3)

Supporting Characters

Allies

Green Arrow has a number of supporting characters sometimes called Team Arrow. Team Arrow consists of Connor Hawke, Mia Dearden, Roy Harper, Black Canary and Emiko Queen. he has other supporting characters including John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, The Flash and on occasion the Justice League.

Enemies

Green Arrow has a number of enemies including his archnemeses Merlyn. Other enemies include Count Vertigo, China White, Clock King, Cupid, Brick and one of his most famous villains since the 2000s, Deathstroke.

TV Series

Arrow(2012-)

On January 18, 2012, The CW green-lit a pilot for a proposed Green Arrow series with Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg producing. The series, Arrow, offers a fresh take on the character, and initially does not feature superpowers, as a way to take a realistic look at the characters in this universe. In addition to being the vigilante archer the series also features flashbacks to Oliver's time on the island and the events that shaped him into the hero in the present.Andrew Kreisberg reported in David Betancourt article in The Washington Post that "We designed [Oliver] as a character a little more tortured" than the comic series Green Arrow. Stephen Amell portrays Oliver Queen in the series. It premiered in North America on October 10, 2012, and was picked up for a full season later that month. On February 11, 2013, Arrow was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 9, 2013. On February 13, 2014, The CW renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on October 8, 2014. On January 11, 2015, Arrow was renewed for a 23-episode fourth season, which has premiered on October 7, 2015. Unlike in the comic books, Queen does not go by the alias "Green Arrow" until the fourth season. On March 11, 2016, Arrow was renewed for a fifth season. The series is tied in with other shows including The Flash and Legends Of Tomorrow. This universe is called by fans as the Arrowverse.

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Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Notable Comics(4)

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Sources

1.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Arrow#Beginnings.2C_1941.E2.80.931968

2.http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Arrow_%28Oliver_Queen%29

3.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Arrow#Skills_and_abilities

4.http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Arrow_Recommended_Reading