Arrow Kids Day Begins!

[daggerpen]

As I announced in an earlier post, some of us have designated today Arrow Kids Day, a day meant to send DC a clear message that we want the Arrow family whole in the reboot. We picked today because it is the day JT Krul's first issue of Green Arrow is released, thereby launching the reboot of the Arrow family. As many of you also know, the current plans for this series are unlikely to include either Mia Dearden or Connor Hawke, the latter because he apparently ages Ollie up too much and the former because she tends to be more obscure. In addition, Lian Harper, Roy's daughter, has been confirmed not to exist, ostensibly because she also ages him up, nevermind that he had her when he was still Speedy.

But that's not going to happen if we have anything to say about it. Today, therefore, is a day not only to discuss and show your love for your favorites of the Arrow family, but also to let DC know that you love these characters, and you want them back. Send in a letter, post to their message board, tweet @jtrkul, @DCComics, @dc_nation and the like- hashtag #arrowkidsday preferred, if you can- anything else you can think of. The whole point of this day is to show how much we love these characters. So let's show how much we love these characters!

Scan for legality:



Don't worry, Connor. That jacket totally makes your costume unrecognizable.

EDITED TO ADD: Arrow Day Finale: An Open Letter to DC

Comments

[sigmund_droid]

I'm going to be perfectly honest here. The Green Arrow family is the only interesting thing in the Green Arrow lore. Ollie himself is annoying, self-centered, and frankly someone I have a hard time believing anyone could relate to. His rogue gallery are some of the most obscure and downright inane villains and he seems to end up fighting other heroes' rogues anyway.

Mia was interesting. Connor was far FAR better than Ollie as a character I found (kind of reminded me of Iron Fist) and Roy's relationship with Lian was great.

I really don't see the appeal of the series anymore.

[daggerpen]

I don't mind Ollie- though he can be written as overly assholish depending on the writer- but Connor, Mia and Lian were really what made the Arrow family for me. I know I'm not buying GA without them.

[sigmund_droid]

Ollie's fine...if he's in someone else's book. There he can clash with other heroes and whatnot and leech off their villains.

He's just so stale in his own.

[daggerpen]

Agreed. Ollie really does not work without his supporting cast. Both the rest of the Arrows and other heroes are required to make him fun to read.

[crabby_lioness]

Ollie was bearable when Grell wrote him, but only then. Even there he got stale before it ended.

[shadowpsykie]

i liked the way Krul has been writing him, also the way Smith wrote him (and at this point in time, i really can't stand Smith's work)

[sigmund_droid]

What? You don't like reading that Batman peed himself?

:p

[shadowpsykie]

....0_o....o_0....O_O *twitch*

no.... i do not....

[ardat_lili]

Honestly, it really comes down to writers for me. Under Grell or Smith or whatever, I loved the notion of a slightly-hypocritical but sincere quasi-Marxist superhero, one whose family had to endure lectures about recycling and plutocrats. I also love the fact that he's heroic as Green Arrow, but complicated as Ollie--that he can be self-centered, that he's a ridiculous horndog, that he keeps trying to pull off Batman's tricks with half the planning and a quarter of the genius but all of the panache to be had. But he's only really interesting to me in an ensemble--in his dynamics with Dinah or Connor or Roy or Mia. By himself, he's just sort of a gimmick and an opinion, but he really shines when butting up against a politically-opposed comrade or a family member who knows his foibles.

Maybe I say this because I do sort of identify with Ollie. Not all of him, but the ways he--he isn't Bruce or Clark or Diana or even Babs or whoever, you know? He isn't that focused or flawless or The Most Courageous and Brilliant, he's a guy who's made a lot of mistakes and keeps getting back up and trying, sometimes lopsidedly, to do the right thing. He's the guy who's terrible at maintaining his secret identity, who wears a silly little goatee and refuses to believe it's silly, who is kind of a dysfunctional parent not because he's cold and distant and focused but because he's kind of sloppy and doofy at it. He has earnest political beliefs that he's not always good at steering with, he obviously warmly cares for his crew even while pissing them off, he's in love with a woman who he knows full well is too good for him, and screws it up over and over.

But then, I also really grew to love Connor's run on the title, much as I was skeptical at first--I always go back to the scene where he fights the Chinese army on a snowfield, you know? It's gorgeous. And I adore Mia, and there were times Roy and Lian were exactly what I wanted to read about in the Titans, and, well. So.
I guess I'm saying I agree with you except for not seeing the point.

[looking2dastars.livejournal.com]

Under Grell or Smith or whatever, I loved the notion of a slightly-hypocritical but sincere quasi-Marxist superhero, one whose family had to endure lectures about recycling and plutocrats. I loved the notion of a slightly-hypocritical but sincere quasi-Marxist superhero, one whose family had to endure lectures about recycling and plutocrats. I also love the fact that he's heroic as Green Arrow, but complicated as Ollie--that he can be self-centered, that he's a ridiculous horndog, that he keeps trying to pull off Batman's tricks with half the planning and a quarter of the genius but all of the panache to be had.

Buddy, if that's all you think Oliver Queen is, you've been reading too many Judd Winick books.

Properly written, Oliver Queen is not a horn-dog and he's every bit as competent as Batman. And he's far more likely to lecture people on their own apathy to the casual evil around them than to the joys of recycling.

I've written the book on this point, so I'll just point you to my site and let you read up on how Judd Winick systematically destroyed Oliver Queen's character over the last decade.

http://www.mygeekygeekyways.com/search/label/Ollie%20Queen%20Is%20Not%20A%20Cheating%20Bastard

[fifthie]

Ollie is great if you think what comics needs more of is Fox News Liberals.

He'd be okay if they turned him into the Brave and the Bold version, but they didn't do it with Aquaman and they're sure as hell not going to do it with him.

[shadowpsykie]

ummm would FOX news qualify as Liberal if they seem to mostly favor the Republican Party and its ideals...

[daggerpen]

I believe the idea was that Ollie is what Fox News considers liberals to be, a caricature rather than an actual liberal.

[fifthie]

Nah like, I was using "fox news liberal" as a term for "fake liberal".

Sometimes Fox News, on its commentary shows, will sometimes put someone on as a "liberal" so they can either A. just be an incredibly ineffective, weak advocate for liberalism, or B. go "well I have to say, EVEN as a LIBERAL, [unqualified support for conservative/Republican policy preference]".

That's the sort of thing to which I was referring with that phrase.

[drexer]

If I may, here's a link to a TVtropes explanation so as to better illustrate what you meant.

Usual disclaimer applies for those who wish to have some time left in the rest of the day.

[kusonaga]

While I don't care for the fact that they're ignoring Connor and Mia, I imagine it's not so much about ageing Ollie up, as it is about streamlining Green Arrow, taking away some of his legacy.

Also, I'd rather have Lian not exist than dead.

[mrstatham]

The only time I've ever liked Ollie was Kevin Smith's run, where he actually seemed less of a jackass.

He was fucking hilarious in Dark Knight Strikes Again, though, basically telling the Question to go fuck himself and read some more Ayn Rand.