Tag: The History of Green Arrow

The History of Green Arrow Part 7 – Losing the Beard: The New 52, ‘Arrow’ and the Contemporary Age (2011 – )

Green Arrow/Arrow

Following the Flashpoint event, DC Comics did something that very few thought was possible in modern comics: they scrapped everything. Beginning with 52 number #1 issues in September 2011, The New 52 was the first line-wide reinvention of DC’s core characters in over seven decades. More than simply renumbering, it took characters from all of …

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The History of Green Arrow Part 6 – Quiver through Brightest Day (2001 – 2011)

Green Arrow - Phil Hester, Ande Parks

Green Arrow was dead. Or at least, Oliver Queen and the book that carried his alter-ego’s name was. When the first ongoing Green Arrow series ended in August 1998, it came in at #94 on the sales figures charts for the month. While DC Comics and the industry generally began to get nostalgic at the turn of …

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The History of Green Arrow Part 5 – At the Crossroads of Death with Connor Hawke (1994 – 2000)

The History of Green Arrow Part 5

Green Arrow may have returned to the spotlight during the darker turns of the 1980s, but even he wouldn’t escape the superhero death toll of the 1990s. Mike Grell’s departure from the book coincided with a sea-change in the industry, with the Dark Age that arguably began with The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and culminated in the grunge …

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The History of Green Arrow Part 4 – Longbow Hunting Through the Wonder Years (1987 – 1993)

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters #3

By the late 1980s, Green Arrow had conclusively shed his Golden Age persona in the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, and the groundwork had been laid for his own series. DC was getting darker, as evidenced by the previous year’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns from Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, and it was time …

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The History of Green Arrow Part 3 – Detectives and Dark Knights (1980 – 1986)

Green Arrow (1983) #4

It was the best of times and the worst of times for Green Arrow in the 1980s. Entering his fourth decade of his publication history, he was still yet to see his own solo title. Firmly established as the radical left-wing voice of the DC Comics universe, the late 1970s saw him slightly more domesticated …

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The History of Green Arrow Part 2 – Hard Travelling Through the Wilderness Years (1970 to 1979)

Green Lantern/Green Arrow - Neal Adams

Green Arrow is now the star of a major TV show in the US now, shifting what was once a second-string character to the forefront of the public’s imagination. Yet he wasn’t always a star player, often taking a supporting role to other characters, or simply being unfavourably compared with a certain Dark Knight. When we …

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The History of Green Arrow Part 1 – From the Golden Age to the Golden Beard (1941 to 1969)

Green Arrows of the World (Adventure Comics #250)

Green Arrow has made a big splash in the last few years, even getting his own television series with Arrow hitting the small screen in 2013. He’s graced animated series, major comic book crossovers and survived every incarnation of the DC Universe. Yet he wasn’t always a star player, often taking a supporting role to …

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