Red Arrow
Created by Mort Weisinger & George Papp
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NAME + ALIASES:
Roy William Harper, Jr. a/k/a Speedy, Arsenal
KNOWN RELATIVES:
Oliver Queen (Green Arrow, adoptive father), Roy W. Harper,
Sr. (father, deceased), Lian Harper (daughter), Jim Harper
(The Guardian, uncle, deceased), Mary Harper (aunt), Tommy
Harper (cousin), Bonnie Dotson (cousin), Vandal Savage (ancestor)
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GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Teen Titans, the CBI, Checkmate, Outsiders, Justice League
of America
FIRST APPEARANCE:
As Speedy: Adventure Comics #250.
As Arsenal: New
Titans #99.
As Red Arrow: Justice League of America
v.2 #99.
Historical: More Fun #73.
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NOTE: This entry mostly covers Arsenal's direct teams involvement
after The titans. For more information, see the links below.
Roy Harper began his career as Speedy, the young sidekick of Green
Arrow.  While
still a teen, he was an early member of the original Teen Titans, and stayed
with them on and off throughout the Titans' history. Roy is known as a
ladies, man and he once romanced the villain and terrorist known as Cheshire.
The woman bore a daughter, Lian, whom Roy now raises. He eventually
changed his name to Arsenal and was affiliated with the U.S. espionage
unit, the C.B.I.
Roy was with the Titans, however in their darkest hour. He lost two of his
best friends, Donna Troy and Lilith Clay to the terror unleashed by a Superman
robot at S.T.A.R. Labs. Before that, the team had been offered private funding
from the corporation called Optitron. They pretended to have the world's educational
interests at hear, but really wanted a big tax write-off. Nightwing, leader
of the Titans rejected their offer and disbanded the team after the death of
their friends. (Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #1-3)
Roy however, saw an opportunity. He accepted Optitron's offer and set about
forming a new team: the new Outsiders. He began by buying a massive secret
underground headquarters beneath New York City. It was originally built by
eccentric millionnaire C.T. Wentworth to function as a fallout shelter during
the Cold War. Roy outfitted the shelter with state-of-the-art equipment and
began recruiting members for the Outsiders. He successfully coaxed the veteran Metamorpho as
well as newcomers Grace and Thunder.
In a controversial move, he also decided to accept Indigo as
a member. This girl android had been responsible for activating the Superman
robot, but her memories were wiped clean and she convinced him that she wanted
to atone for the horror she'd caused.
 Indigo's presence would prove to be a major sticking point for Arsenal's last
recruit: Nightwing. The Titans'
former leader was completely unwilling to renew his involvement in a team after
such a devastating loss. Arsenal argued that the Outsiders were the next logical
step for them beyond the Titans. And perhaps a team of strangers would operate
more efficiently (and without the emotional attachments). Though Nightwing
was still reluctant, he immediately rose to the call of leadership when Gorilla
Grodd crashed a luxury liner into a New York City port. (Outsiders
v.3 #1)
Roy's short time with the Outsiders has been frought with pain. When the team
was attempting to stop Brother Blood from activating a global network of sleeper
agents, one agent was successfully activated and surprised Arsenal with multiple
gunshots to the chest. (#5) Roy survived by was sidelined
for months. In the interim, he assigned the Huntress as
his replacement. (#8) He was hesitant to resume active
duty, feeling afraid of his own limitations, but returned with encouragement
from Nightwing. (#11)
Not long after his recovery, the Outsiders took on a case which involved a
child-slaver and molester named Tanner. One of Tanner's informants recognized
Roy from years prior, and led Tanner to Roy's daughter, Lian. (#19) Lian's
nanny was killed and the girl was branded with Tanner's mark. The Outsiders
arrived just in time to save Lian and other children from being flown out of
New York. (#20)
Oddly, his near-death from gunshot wounds saved his life when soon he met
Deathstroke. The villain, Arsenal discovered, had been posing as Batman from
day one and feeding him information. Deathstroke intended to kill Roy, but
when he discovered the bullet scars on his chest, he figured Roy had suffered
enough and gave him a "pass." (#21-22) About
the same time, Arsenal was also kidnapped by Green Arrow's nemesis, Drakon.
Drakon was working with the Riddler and he slit Roy's throat so that he would
have to apply constant pressure or die. The Outsiders helped search for and
rescue Roy. (Green Arrow #49-50)
Since founding the group, he also maintained a "no-strings" sexual
relationship with Grace. He has also admitted to sleeping with the Huntress.
Graduation Day
After the great "Crisis" caused by Alexander Luthor, the Outsiders entered
an even darker time. Black Lightning, an
Outsiders founder and Thunder's
father, turned himself in for the murder of his neice's killer. At Thunder's
urging, the Outsiders decided to break Lightning out of Iron Heights Prison.
In the aftermath, most of the team chose to use the incident as cover to fake
their own deaths.
Even before this debacle, Roy had contemplated leaving the Outsiders
in order to care for Lian. With the Outsiders now deep undercover, Arsenal
took the better portion of a year to play father exclusively.
Roy's track record ultimately caught the attention of the Justice League founders.
When Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman reformed the League a year after the
Crisis, they invited Roy to join instead of his mentor Green Arrow (an honor
Ollie was proud to acknowledge). (JLofA v.2 #1) In
battle, Hal Jordan nearly compromised Roy's
identity by using Roy's real name. To save from making that mistake, Hal
called him Red Arrow instead, a name which has apparently now stuck. (#4)
Roy's identity as Red Arrow was first suggested in the out-of-continuity Kingdom
Come #2 (8.96). Also in that issue, his grown daughter Lian was called
Red Hood.
Arsenal is a metahuman with flawless marksmanship skills. (He is
descended from Vandal Savage's prolific bloodline). Although he began
his career solely as an archer, his skills have branched into the
mastery of all forms of projectiles. He now also frequently employs
firearms and crossbows.
Roy also possesses an above-average level of hand-to-hand and martial
combat skills.
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