Green Arrow Gets CW Show (2012)

Green Arrow (CW)

Green Arrow is headed to series on the CW in a project entitled, Arrow. Though Green Arrow was prominent in Smallville, it will not crossover with that show and is being helmed by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. There is no word aside from this, but Arrow is expected to debut next year on CW (formerly the WB).

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Certain parts were re-edited in 2024

Green Arrow: Year One was Tonight's Smallville

I said 100 times that Green Arrow: Year One was the best thing I read in all of 2007. Tonight's episode of Smallville was a direct translation of that series, right down to the cargo pants and cowl!

While GA's origin was not exactly established in last year's seminal, six-issue run, it was pointedly rounded-out (ha!) and updated. Like most comics properties, the essential elements remained intact with minor changes. True to Smallville's very core, there were changes to be sure, but it was a great translation and it was a fantastic treat! This will easily rank as one of the best episodes of the season, no matter what is to follow.

Some of the changes included the beginning, when Ollie was poisoned; in the comic book, he most certainly was drunk - he was funk as druck! - but the establishing shots, down to the toppling of the tray, were frames from Green Arrow: Y1. Later in the flashback sequence, they mention his original shipwreck was due to partying out of control - again, Smallville is very kid-friendly, so this was a subtle approach that I appreciate - it maintains the integrity of the character on the page.

They eliminated the betrayal angle present in the series, which probably won't make a difference, but therefore eliminates the possibility of exploring that facet of Ollie's character. Then again, GA is not revenge-driven, per se; the key to Green Arrow, and Oliver Green himself, is his intolerance for social injustice, not vengeance. Yet they also left out Chyna White, the flippantly-named central villainess of the mini-series and replaced her with what amounted to a two-bit hood.

The whole "poison" angle was yet another subtle nod; the villains Oliver Queen encountered on his own private Idaho were drug manufacturers and distributors. This is Smallville's best writing on display: drug and alcohol abuse are central to Oliver Queen's character and they managed to incorporate them without directly referencing either to any major degree. We adults get it, kids watching think more literally (poison) but the integrity remains. See guys? You really can work within the system and still get away with stuff - no black bars needed!

If you enjoyed tonight's episode, I urge you to pick up Green Arrow: Year One. Heck, even if you did not like tonight's episode, it was the best thing in comics in 2007 by leaps and bounds!

Green Arrow is one of my favorite characters in all of Comicdom and has been since Mike Grell's run and Frank Miller's characterization in The Dark Knight Returns. I absolutely love that they got such a pretty man to play him on TV! I love using the GA shots with him as a red-head/strawberry-blond as my avatar and have one as my desktop - simple transference - so I adore the fact that people will somehow associate me with a guy that good-looking!

I'm sad as hell, aren't I?

And no, no matter how much a humanitarian GA is, he is no pacifist; he is actually a pretty tough-as-nails-type guy. Sure, in some writers' hands he employs the silly boxing glove arrowheads and so forth, but often to intentionally comedic effect; when truly out to kick some ass, Oliver Queen does not play. But he is no Punny - again, he is so far removed from 90% of the rest of superheroes specifically because he is not revenge-based.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Black Canary & Green Arrow: Year One #1

So Ollie and Dinah are getting married - or, at least, he has popped the question - but I didn’t know that. It isn’t completely unfair to say that I picked up all these #1 issues specifically because they are first issues and, hopefully, highly collectible, but we would both be lying if we were to say that I'm not interested in these characters. I would have bought Thor regardless, for example.

I was not a big DC fan as a kid, but I became an instant fan of Green Arrow after Miller’s Dark Knight Returns and I have always dug Black Canary. So when I saw these limited series debuting, I went ahead and signed up for them all, and I really am glad I did!

I was really impressed with both first issues, especially Green Arrow: Year One. To be honest, I flipped through it without reading it first and went straight to Black Canary, which I loved, but when I found out that they were betrothed, I decided to go back and read GA: Year One and review them together and now I think it is the better of the two. But either way, both were great and I can’t wait for the next issues.

Black Canary is really more of a classic comic book, with a brewing revenge plot and troubled kid in-tow, but it is deftly handled across the board. The art is top-notch - I didn’t find an awkward frame throughout - and the dialogue is a great fit. Green Arrow: Year One is over-the-top fantastic, and I have a feeling it is destined to become a classic. I was particularly impressed with the fact that they managed to handle such heavy themes (betrayal, addiction, personal failure) without resorting to a lot of swearing or just plain tawdry scenes.

So far, I’d say Black Canary is fit for all ages, but GA: Year One might be better left to the teens. Either way, there is nothing in either that would be wholly inappropriate for any but the youngest readers. Both are limited series, so you better act fast or wait for the TPB.

Comics Day, July

With all the new DC comics I subscribed to, I kind of expected a bigger shipment, but I still got a pretty good-sized box o' books. So why waste time jabber-jawing? Let's see what I got to keep me busy for the rest of this hot summer month, shall we?

• Moon Knight #11
• Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer #3
• Walking Dead #38
• Daredevil #98
• Black Canary #1
• Faker #1
• Supernatural Origins #3
• Fantastic Four and Power Pack #1
• Thor #1
• Green Arrow Year One #1
• 30 Days of Night Eben & Stella #3

So, not bad, all told. Plus I have a nifty press release from our friends over at Dark Horse (a few, actually) about a new zombie comic series coming soon that I'll post in just a second.

JLA on Smallville

Well, what did you think? I thought it was really, really good!

I kinda figured they'd have Cyborg in there, even though I don't recall any line-up with him in it. He may very well have been a JLA member at some point for some amount of time but I don't recall it.

I also thought it was... well, I won't say bad because I like how they did it, but Green Arrow did not establish the JLA; Batman established the JLA. But I knew Bats wouldn't appear because they're too afraid to cast "The New Batman" since he is such a powerful franchise in his own right. That may be the same reason Wonder Woman didn't show up.

I think it's great how they work the characters into Smallville, even if they aren't exactly the same characters as in the comic books and even if their storylines and plots are different. I mean, for those who don't know, Iceman is like twice Rogue's age and was one of the founding members of the X-Men, even though they were lovebirds in the movies and he was younger than she (or about the same age, whichever). While I haven't seen Sin City yet, Daredevil is the movie that remained closest to the comic book.

I heard this was Smallville's last season. I really hope that's incorrect, but whether or not the series is ending, I think it would translate so well into a movie. Even if it's a made-for-TV "special event," this is really good entertainment!