Green Arrow

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

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. Green Arrow was also obviously 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; while Batman is summoned to police headquarters by the Bat-signal, Green Arrow was summoned by the Arrow-signal. The Arrowcar was yellow in color and shaped reminiscent of the land-speed record holder of the 1920s, the British Golden Arrow. (These similarities have been explained in-continuity as inspired by a meeting between Green Arrow and Batman in their early careers)

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