The comics that inspired Arrow (or Green Arrow in general)

I'm a big fan of Arrow; it's certainly got me appreciating Green Arrow a lot more than just a supporting JLA character.

So where can I find certain comics that inspired the show? I've already read comics where Oliver fights Merlyn, but how about comics of Oliver fighting Deathstroke or Bronze Tiger, for example?

From what I understand, Mike Grell's Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters miniseries was a huge influence on the modern GA mythology and thus, on Arrow. It also introduced Shado, as far as I'm aware.

I've been checking out the Green Arrow/Black Canary books that I can find at my library. There's definitely a lot of Arrow influences in there too.

You should also read Green Arrow: Year One by Andy Diggle. There's a reason they named a character after the writer.

edited 19th Mar '14 5:15:15 AM by supergod

I did. It's a good thing they didn't forget China White in Arrow; she's one of the few "core" members of the Arrow rogues.

Hopefully the TV series will expand the rogues gallery.

If you can dig 'em up from back issue bins, you might check out the Green Arrow back-up feature from Detective Comics from the late 70's/early 80's. That, I believe, is where Merlyn the Archer was introduced, as well as most of Green Arrow's signature rogues. I don't know that Ollie fought Deathstroke anywhere outside of, say, Identity Crisis, as for a long time Deathstroke was specfically a villain for the Marv Wolfman/George Perez era of the New Teen Titans.

Anyone know if there's a Showcase:Green Arrow collection?

I think I've seen one at my library. I'll have to double check that.

So apparently Deathstroke fought Green Arrow in his One Year Later arc, where he developed a huge vendetta against Ollie because of Identity Crisis.

Has that arc been compiled? It seems like a huge inspiration for Slade being the current Big Bad of Arrow.

Here. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the Winnick Green Arrow era.

Deathstroke also appears in the Green Arrow/Black Canary wedding special, which was included in Green Arrow/Black Canary vol. 1, also by Winnick.

What's your opinion on the current arc of Arrow being inspired by the Winnick Arrow, then?

I've only watched a few episodes of the first season so far, so I can't answer that. In what way is it being inspired by Winnick's run?

The current arc is about Deathstroke having a vendetta on the Arrow and taking revenge on him. Which is exactly what happened in Winnick's run, according to you.

I did a little research on the origins of Green Arrow; was he supposed to be a parody of Batman before he became the wisecracking liberal he's best known for now?

Not a parody exactly; but yeah, he was a copycat character — just like Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel (the Shazam one) were copies of Superman. That kind of thing was pretty endemic in comics back then: 'oh, Batman is selling well, let's do another Batman with... hmm... an arrow gimmick? Yeah, let's go with that'.

Only back then? I'd say it's never gone away.

Yes, only back then. I don't see Batman cracking jokes, or going on and on about liberalism and 'fatcats.' Or having a forked beard, for that matter. (Unless they've tried to make him more like Batman these days, which would be sad.)

I assume he meant the general tendency to go "Look popular !" and copy it, rather that Ollie is like Batman still. Avenger's Arena and the Hunger Games is a recent example.

Though I could be wrong.

Yes, that is it.

Ah. In that case, yeah, sure.

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

Arrow is very obviously Batman-ish, which I personally don't mind that much.

What about the New 52 Arrow? Did they turn him Batman-ish?

They did but they've since dialed it back a bit. The first few arcs very much played up the Bruce Wayne/Tony Stark-style element (namely focusing on his Crime Fighting With Cash M.O.) but when a new writer took over he ditched the corporate aspect in favor of a more gritty tone.

But for a long time pre-reboot, they'd really moved away from the billionaire playboy angle.

edited 4th Jun '14 3:11:35 PM by comicwriter

And thank God they did. I've been reading some old GA and JLA comics from the 60's, and back then, GA's name might have well been 'wet carboard', because that was the extent of his personality. Mind you, there wasn't that much characterization in most of DC's books at the time, but there was still something for most characters. Let's take a brief look at the JLA, circa 1965:

• Superman: Inspiring, the defacto leader
• Batman: The brains of the outfit.
• Wonder Woman: Kind, loving, and still kicking ass.
• Barry!Flash: Calm, laid back, and cheerful.
• Hal!Green Lantern: Occasionally cocky and brash.
• Aquaman: Nice guy, if a tad laidback.
• Martian Manhunter: Also a nice guy, but is also often stoic and solemn.
• Atom: The other brains of the outfit, though where Batman leans more to deductive reasoning, Atom veers more towards SCIENCE!
• Hawkman: An experienced, mighty warrior.
• Green Arrow: ...He has a nice hat?

And to add insult to injury, after the first year or two, he didn't even have much to do in the plot most of the time; even the Manhunter had more to do than him. And while I'm still reading through it, I've taken a sneak peak at some later issues, and it's pretty darn evident that as soon as Gardner Fox left and Denny O'Niel came on board, he realized what a sorry waste of space Arrow was and, rather than just axe him, decided to inject him with a personality for arguably the first time in his entire career. After that, he got the beard, lost his fortune, drove his ward into heroin, and history was made.

edited 4th Jun '14 4:29:35 PM by kkhohoho

Yup everyone pretty much agrees O'Neill has My Real Daddy status for Green Arrow at this point.

It's kinda telling even Superfriends, a haven for bland characterizations if there ever was one, didn't ever bother with Green Arrow (I keep hearing he had a single guest-star role once, but I've never caught on that episode, if it really exists).