Happy Cinco De Mayo!!

Green Arrow hangs out with the Green Arrow of Mexico. From "The Green Arrows of the World", by Bill Finger and Jack Kirby from Adventure Comics #25, July 1958

Not-So-Secret Origins of the JLA - Green Arrow

Much like Aquaman, Green Arrow spent most of his early career as a back-up feature. In fact, Green Arrow (and Speedy) debuted in the very same issue of More Fun Comics as Aquaman. Later,Green Arrow moved to Adventure Comics, followed shortly by Aquaman. Hey, us ruggedly-handsome blonde guys have to stick together.

In Justice League of America #4, Green Arrow became the first new member of the JLA since their first appearance in Brave and the Bold #28.

Green Arrow already had an origin (it involved Speedy, a lost plateau and an old Indian dude) , but it seems that 1959 was a good year for re-writes. From Adventure Comics #256, January 1959 here's "Green Arrow's First Case" by Ed Herron, drawn by Jack Kirby.

Can We Stop Reprinting This Story Already?

This being St. Patty's day, I decided to treat you all to a story that has a tenuous connection to the "wearin' o' the green". And nobody wears more green than Green Arrow. Some of you may not know this, based on previous posts, but I actually like Green Arrow. Really. I also like Jack Kirby. A lot. So, you would think that Green Arrow drawn by Jack Kirby would just be like Christmas in July for me. Not so.

Not only does Jack Kirby draw the butt-ugliest Green Arrow of all time, but for the longest time, you couldn't ever find reprints of gold and silver-age Green Arrow stories- except THIS one. I don't know how many times I've bought an 80-page giant or an annual or a World's Finest collection which promised a "Vintage Green Arrow Story Inside!" just to get another copy of this freakin' story!

So, to further the chain of abuse, here it is:


Yep, giant arrows falling from space. How often do you see that? Certainly a few less times than we've seen this same reaction shot from Kirby:

"Some kind of spaceship, isn't it? Is it?" Are you sure it's not Galactus, or Darkseid, or Superman? But don;t worry, the media is on top of things:

Well, I thought it was a job for Ambush Bug, but if you say so...



After doing battle all over town, trying to minimize the damage done by these giant arrows, G.A. and Speedy discover a giant arrow in the park with a giant rope tied to it, they're dragged back through a tear in the fabric of space into an alternate dimension and become...

Yes, that's right, the "Prisoners of Dimension Zero". Except they're not prisoners. And I'm not sure who decided to start numbering alternate dimensions at zero. But, hey, they meet a kindred spirit:

??? What the F*** does "Xeen" mean? Seriously! I mean, Green Arrow wears green. It's a color theme. So does Xeen Arrow. Are we to believe that in Dimension Zero there's a color called xeen that we perceive as green? Do the inhabitants of D-0 speak English which is the same in every respect except they say xeen instead of green? I don't get it. Still, he's a more original imitation of Green Arrow than Hawkeye!

G.A. and Speedy help X.A. fight a bad guy and then he sends them home and patches the tear in the universe. End of story.

Now, why can't I get a nice Green Arrow story drawn by Lee Elias in color??

Some of Green Arrow's Arrows are Dumb, All of Arrowette's Arrows are Obnoxious

In 1956, DC comics set a weird sort of precedent with the debut of The Batwoman. That precedent was this: When a woman turns to fighting crime, no matter what her costumed persona or crime-fighting theme, all of her gadgets will have to do with being a woman.

Miss Arrowette is a steadfast example of this philosophy. An archer of the first order, and a spunky young woman who wants to fight crime and help her hero- Green Arrow, she has a quiver of ingenious, homemade trick arrows. All of which have to do with cosmetics.

Is she a beautician in her alter-ego of Bonnie King? A cosmetologist? We don't know. But what we do know is, when you let a girl fight crime, she inevitably invents things like a hairpin arrow, a hair tint arrow, a hairnet arrow (a lot of hair things), and a lotion arrow.

Of course, the plot revolves around Miss Arrowette trying to help the Battling Bowmen, who feel that "This isn't a game for girls!" (because only full-grown men should dress up like Robin Hood and prance around the streets lobbing phallic symbols at baddies). Of course, GA and Speedy get captured by some crooks (after slipping on one of Miss Arrowette's lotion arrows) and have to be rescued by the girl. But don't worry, once Miss Arrowette finds the heroes, it's Green Arrow who does the rescuing, taking away Miss Arrowette's bow and arrows and using them himself. Wouldn't want to leave that sort of thing to a girl.

Miss Arrowette agrees to retire, but she returns at least once.

Green Arrow's Arrows. A Quiver full of Whoop-Ass.

Green Arrow isn't just some tool in a Robin Hood costume, you know. He's also a member of that peculiar species of superhero known as a "gadgeteer". GA custom makes his own special, trick arrows, loaded with devices to help him in his never-ending battle against crime.

Here are a few examples:


#1. The Boxing Glove Arrow. Possibly the most iconic of GA's arrows, the Boxing glove arrow is just what is sounds like- an arrow with a big-ass boxing glove on the end of it. Maybe GA didn't know you could buy blunt-tipped arrows (used for squirrels) when he whipped this bad boy up. Whatever, it's a very memorable and cool trick arrow.




#2. The Boomerang Arrow. If you thought the Boxing Glove Arrow was aerodynamically improbable, try an arrow with a boomerang mounted on the end, that somehow manages to actually circle and return in flight.



#3. The Handcuff Arrow. An arrow with a pair of rigid handcuffs at the end. Which is VERY effective. Providing, of course, that your foe is willing to hold his wrists above his head about five inches apart and hold very still.

#4. The Drill Arrow. An arrow with-you guessed it- a motorized drill bit on the end.

#5. The Bolas Arrow. An arrow with a bolas that unfurls when it's fired. Used to entangle the legs of fleeing foes.

#6. The Jet Arrow. An arrow with a small jet engine in it. I don't really know why.

#7. The Antler Arrow. An arrow with a full-sized pair of moose antlers on it. Just in case you run into a moose in heat. If you thought the Boxing Glove arrow would be hard to fit in a quiver, try putting away an arrow with a full sized rack of moose antlers.


#8. The Buzz-Saw Arrow. Just in case you need to wantonly destroy nature.

#9. The Radio Arrow. When you really need someone within bowshot to talk to you via walkie-talkie.

#10. The Chimney Sweep Arrow. Speedy used this one to make a little extra dough to supplement his allowance. Isn't his guardian a millionaire? It's this kind of neglect that lead to Speedy's heroin problem.

#11. The Needle Arrow. (Insert Speedy's heroin problem joke here) Just in case you need to sew something really big together at a distance.

#12. The Mummy Arrow. It's head looks like a miniature Egyptian Sarcophagus. It wraps bad guys up like... well... a mummy.


Sometimes, it's like the writers were challenging each other to use the least likely things on the end of an arrow and still make it work in a story.

Green Arrow- Is a clown that dresses like your favorite superhero really THAT big a draw?? World's Finest Comics #100 and #138

They say great minds think alike. Well, I don't know about that, but two different writers of Green Arrow scripts, four years apart, both thought that a script where a circus clown dresses up like Green Arrow was a really keen idea.

Admittedly, I have only been to the circus once in my life, but I don't remember the clown acts being so topical. In our first clown outing "The case of the Green Error Clown", Green Arrow and Speedy accidentally switch quivers with a circus clown who calls himself, you guessed it, "Green Error". Amazingly , the Twins of the twanging bowstring (really? they're like 10 years and two feet apart. AND Speedy wears a red suit. "Twins"??)manage to defeat a gang of crooks with the clown's goofy trick arrows. Say, on a side note, who are these crooks who always rob the "gate receipts" from traveling circuses in comic books? Was there a crime wave of circus robberies in the 1950's I'm unaware of?

Next up, Green Arrow and Speedy go to another circus (I know they have a TV, I've seen it.) to see "Funny Arrow" a circus clown who's such a huge fan of the Green Arrow, he based his whole act on his favorite hero's exploits. Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery. Being lampooned by a circus clown may be the lowest form of the sincerest form of flattery. Anyway, it begins to look like Funny Arrow is helping a gang of crooks rob Star City. But never fear, Green Arrow and Speedy are on the case.

Usually, G.A. and Speedy deliver a few more thrills in their 7 pages of comics, but stories like this may be the reason Green Arrow stayed a back-up feature AND got picked late to be in the Justice League. When Martian Manhunter and Aquaman got their applications to the JLA accepted a full 2 years before you did, you have to reevaluate your career choice.

Like most of the Green Arrow stories of the late 1950's and early 1960's, These two tales were drawn by the more-than-capable Lee Elias, of EC comics fame.