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scans_dailySo, in case you haven't heard, this month was Green Arrow's 75th anniversary. Given that I was conveniently just reading lots of obscure Bronze Age Green Arrow stuff and was noticed more than little negativity towards the character here at the time, I decided to make a case that there is more to the guy besides preachy rantings and being a dick to everyone. I wished to do this for a while, but real life (and admittedly, Star Trek binge-watch) got in the way and what was meant to start three weeks ago, is on getting out now. I haven't seen anybody do anything else here, so here I go anyway.
Let's start with the origin of Green Arrow. No, not on the island, or in his first appearance. Green Arrow truly became the character we know-some would argue he became a character period-in Justice League of America 75 by Denny O'Neil.
In this issue, O'Neil started his reinvention of Ollie, first by stripping him of his wealth (a status quo so prevalent through-out his history, I was surprised The Arrow didn't use it, as it seems like a perfect way to not make him seem like a Batman rip-off-until I remembered that was actually exactly what they were going for) and then having to confront his evil self or something. Sorry, I had this prepared for a long time and I can't recall what was the deal with those.
Another thing O'Neil established was the romance with Black Canary, who you may not know, was originally was a native to Earth-Two, who came to Earth-One after the Crisis from the previous issue ended with death of her husband Kurt Lane, as this was way before they decided to have Golden Age and modern Black Canaries as separate characters. This meant Dinah was actually a bit older than Ollie originally, making it rather weird they tried to make Ollie having a thing for young girls a consistent character trait (Jesus Christ people...).
Yes, these two actually used to have some resemblance of chemistry. You might wondering about Ollie's public relations agency. Well, like I said the loss of his money actually stuck for a quite a while.
So, while still having some money left, Ollie had find a new job. Being a public relations man was the first one he tried.
I don't recall him ever quitting this job, but it does just kinda disappear. Next time he'll try to have a civilian career would be during his first candidature on mayor. Now, I was going to dedicate an entire post to it, but it seemed to end the next issue on a very disappointing end, so I decided to hell with it. Except it turned it was actually revisited few issues later and had a rather moving end to it. Oops. I might chronicle it later, but till then, just have this funny page.
Oh yeah, I wonder if anybody wants to see the first Dinah said the thing?
Anyway, back to the job hunt. His third try was to become a columnist-a job so perfect I again have to wonder why running a company has become THE job for him.
Speaking of poverty, if you are wondering what happened to the guy who made him lose his wealth, he got in trouble with a super-villain who wanted him dead, so he decided blackmail Ollie into protecting him, threatening to reveal his secret identity. Admittedly, figuring it out wasn't exactly hard, as he himself say points out.
Which of course leads to:
Yeah, being this cunning of a man, it's no surprise he gets himself killed by the end of the story.
Interestingly, this story has a rather subtle reference to a certain someone....
I think all people here at least heard about Snowbirds Don't Fly AKA the Speedy Does Drugs story. He and Ollie certainly did not leave on good terms here-something O'Neil disliked, but I think was for the best, as it didn't allow Ollie to be too easily forgiven for his reaction (that said, I think keeping it canon was stupid, it's like having Hal canonically call Thomas Kalmaku Pieface). While Roy would become almost purely a Teen Titans character after that for a very long time, there were two follow-ups to it.
And if that was sad, wait till Ollie says goodbye to another former partner of his.
I hoped to have a little more, but I really can't afford spending more time on this, so here are three moments from his JLA appearances to close this off.
Let's start with the origin of Green Arrow. No, not on the island, or in his first appearance. Green Arrow truly became the character we know-some would argue he became a character period-in Justice League of America 75 by Denny O'Neil.
In this issue, O'Neil started his reinvention of Ollie, first by stripping him of his wealth (a status quo so prevalent through-out his history, I was surprised The Arrow didn't use it, as it seems like a perfect way to not make him seem like a Batman rip-off-until I remembered that was actually exactly what they were going for) and then having to confront his evil self or something. Sorry, I had this prepared for a long time and I can't recall what was the deal with those.
Another thing O'Neil established was the romance with Black Canary, who you may not know, was originally was a native to Earth-Two, who came to Earth-One after the Crisis from the previous issue ended with death of her husband Kurt Lane, as this was way before they decided to have Golden Age and modern Black Canaries as separate characters. This meant Dinah was actually a bit older than Ollie originally, making it rather weird they tried to make Ollie having a thing for young girls a consistent character trait (Jesus Christ people...).
Yes, these two actually used to have some resemblance of chemistry. You might wondering about Ollie's public relations agency. Well, like I said the loss of his money actually stuck for a quite a while.
So, while still having some money left, Ollie had find a new job. Being a public relations man was the first one he tried.
I don't recall him ever quitting this job, but it does just kinda disappear. Next time he'll try to have a civilian career would be during his first candidature on mayor. Now, I was going to dedicate an entire post to it, but it seemed to end the next issue on a very disappointing end, so I decided to hell with it. Except it turned it was actually revisited few issues later and had a rather moving end to it. Oops. I might chronicle it later, but till then, just have this funny page.
Oh yeah, I wonder if anybody wants to see the first Dinah said the thing?
Anyway, back to the job hunt. His third try was to become a columnist-a job so perfect I again have to wonder why running a company has become THE job for him.
Speaking of poverty, if you are wondering what happened to the guy who made him lose his wealth, he got in trouble with a super-villain who wanted him dead, so he decided blackmail Ollie into protecting him, threatening to reveal his secret identity. Admittedly, figuring it out wasn't exactly hard, as he himself say points out.
Which of course leads to:
Yeah, being this cunning of a man, it's no surprise he gets himself killed by the end of the story.
Interestingly, this story has a rather subtle reference to a certain someone....
I think all people here at least heard about Snowbirds Don't Fly AKA the Speedy Does Drugs story. He and Ollie certainly did not leave on good terms here-something O'Neil disliked, but I think was for the best, as it didn't allow Ollie to be too easily forgiven for his reaction (that said, I think keeping it canon was stupid, it's like having Hal canonically call Thomas Kalmaku Pieface). While Roy would become almost purely a Teen Titans character after that for a very long time, there were two follow-ups to it.
And if that was sad, wait till Ollie says goodbye to another former partner of his.
I hoped to have a little more, but I really can't afford spending more time on this, so here are three moments from his JLA appearances to close this off.
no subject
Date: 2016-11-30 03:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-30 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-30 04:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-30 04:48 pm (UTC)Funny bit with Ollie being mistaken for Batman, since that's the knock on him: he's a derivative of Batman (like his TV show). Of course, that beard is a dead giveaway, but it was a fun story, along with Ollie facepalming. :)
I really enjoyed him and Dinah in the Bronze Age. They were a couple that had fun and she never let him get away with too much of his b.s.
Always was sorry to see the relations between Ollie and Roy go downhill, but they needed shock value with the addiction story, I guess.
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Date: 2016-11-30 08:27 pm (UTC)One way to do it I can think of, is to switch the drugs and Roy's thing with Shado. Have that be the reason for them falling out and Roy then doing drugs as a means of coping with it. Ollie would have a good reason to be upset, but still be a dick to him (I can see him punching Roy, breaking his bow and telling to get out of his life) and Roy to feel abandoned and have a need for escape.
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Date: 2016-12-01 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-30 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-01 12:13 am (UTC)It's a shame Arrow is so weirdly shy of politics, considering how important the revolving door of mayors is. I would have enjoyed seeing Oliver debate Mrs. Darhk.
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Date: 2016-12-02 12:21 am (UTC)Actually I think we viewers are overdue for an explanation on how Ollie can manage to fund his crusade at this point in the show. He lost his company and most of his money In season 3 (late season 2 maybe)? Felicity ends up being CEO there for a bit but gets axed by the board in season 4. Possible theories:
-Being mayor of Star City comes with hazard pay. ;) My own theory, not that likely
-Felicity got a VERY generous "golden parachute" from PalmerTech.
-Merlyn left a very considerable amount of money to Thea after his "death."
And IIRC from Stephen Amell himself, "a broke billionaire is still a millionaire." Don't know how that works exactly...
And I disagree with mastermahan in that I'm glad that Arrow does not veer into politics. At best you're gonna piss off half your audience. That said, I really hope to see a 100% comic-faithful take on the character in the DC films. The irony isn't lost on me that maybe the Amell Green Arrow would be more at home in the DC movieverse, giving a chance to showcase a classic Green Arrow on TV...
One last Arrow observation while I'm at it...I wonder if the writers have the same problem as me when it comes to John Barrowman, the poster child for heel/face revolving door. He SHOULD be a villain at this point, he crossed the line of redemption to me for one particular thing in season 4. But I love seeing him as a Team Arrow ally so much that I still hope he does manage to redeem himself somehow.
no subject
Date: 2016-12-02 12:44 am (UTC)Seasons 1 & 2 - Trust fund, inheritance, his cut from from Verdant/his (presumably large) salary from Queen Consolidated.
Season 3 - Inheritance & whatever savings he had left/was able to recover after Rochev stole them. Plus, he still had all of his shares from Queen Consolidated, so there was probably a pay-off when the company was sold to Ray, albeit not a large one due to the fact that the company was struggling & the share prices would've been low. It's also established that Thea has since inherited Malcolm's estate, so she bought the loft, not Oliver.
Season 4 - Same as last season, plus Felicity was embezzling from Palmer Tech whenever it suited her (Not that it was ever addressed).
Season 5 - Salary as mayor.
no subject
Date: 2016-12-02 03:24 am (UTC)I mean, I love an all-points multi-Batmobile crash attack, but it's nice to see something from the other side of the spectrum.