Green Arrows

Created by Mort Weisinger & George Papp • Connor created by ??

Green Arrow I

NAME + ALIASES:
Oliver Queen

KNOWN RELATIVES:
Connor Hawke (son)

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Justice League of America

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Ollie: More Fun Comics #73

Green Arrow II

NAME + ALIASES:
Connor Hawke

KNOWN RELATIVES:
Oliver Queen (father), Moonday (mother)

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Justice League of America

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Connor: Green Arrow v.2 #0. As Greeen Arrow: Green Arrow v.2 #91

Millionaire playboy Oliver Queen spent the idle days of his youth watching Errol Flynn's swashbuckling exploits and teaching himself archery. At one point, the young Queen met Howard Hill, Flynn's stuntman for The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Hill had performed all the trick archery shots in that film and instructed Ollie in archery. He even gave him a bow used by Flynn himself. (Longbow Hunters #1, Green Arrow v.2 #101) In adulthood, Queen retained his love for adventure and his skill with the bow and arrow. Oliver was traveling on the luxury liner Kristina with a stunt man who had specialized in archery, when a band of pirates seized control of the vessel and threw him overboard. Barely conscious, Oliver was fortunate enough to have been washed ashore on the beach of nearby Starfish Island, where he immediately became locked in a struggle for survival.

Lacking in food and shelter, Oliver crafted a makeshift bow and an assortment of "trick" arrows and used his archery expertise to survive. Later, Ollie used his newfound skills to overpower a group of marijuana farmers, who had set up shop on Starfish land, and returned to civilization. (Adventure Comics #256, The Longbow Hunters #1)

Returning home, Ollie learned that his anonymous capture of the criminals had garnered a great deal of publicity. On a whim, he decided to fashion himself a costume reminiscent of Robin Hood for a costume party. The party was crashed by a thief, whom Ollie managed to subdue almost by accident. His success led him to a decision to fight crime in the guise of Green Arrow. (Secret Origins #38)

At some point before his adventuring began, Ollie met __ and fathered a son, Connor Hawke. Though Connor does not know it, Ollie was present at the time of his son's birth, but soon left __ for reasons which have yet to be revealed.

A few weeks later, Green Arrow picked up a partner, when Queen met Roy Harper at an archery contest. When Roy proved his mettle by collaring some thugs faster than Green Arrow himself, the Emerald Archer rewarded him by creating the identity of Speedy for Harper. (Adventure Comics #262, Secret Origins #38) After but a few forays against the forces of evil, Green Arrow received enough publicity to attract the attention of the fledgling Justice League of America, which promptly voted him in as the League's first non-founding member. In his first case with the Justice League, the Arrow battled against the villainy of Xandor of Dryanna. (Justice League of America #4)

Shortly after joining the JLA, Queen began a long romance with founding member Black Canary that continues (somewhat) to this day. A couple of years later, Queen the industrialist, gradually became rather more anarchic, and divested himself of nearly all his wealth (Legends of the DCU #9, JLofA #75) This event prompted Oliver to change his look and travel around the country in search of hidden injustice with his JLA’s comrade Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and one of the Guardians of the Universe, the masters of the Green Lantern Corps. (Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76) After their return, Ollie broke his arrows, destroyed his Arrowplane and left for a monastery in Asia, intending never to return. (Flash #217-219, 1972-73) A short time later, Queen briefly regained his wealth, but soon gave it up again. (Green Arrow v.1)

Queen never scrupulously guarded his Green Arrow identity from the public, and even his postman delivered to him letters addressed to Green Arrow. Also, neighborhood punks left a note addressed to Green Arrow on his doorstep (Flash #212)

He remained with the League for many years, ultimately resigning in bitterness. He was angered both by Black Canary's recent injuries and the fact that his membership in the group was keeping him from fighting street crime. (Justice League of America #181, JLA: Incarnations #3) But after a change of heart, he was convinced to return. He aided the League against Thorak, and eventually returned to active duty (#200) just in time for Aquaman to disband the League. (Annual #2) Oliver reexamined his operating methods, replaced his trick arrows with regular arrows and moved to Seattle, Washington, with Black Canary. He also redesigned his costume to more closely resemble that of his childhood movie idol. (The Longbow Hunters #1-3, Green Arrow v.2) He participated in one Justice League Task Force mission. (JLTF #6)

Connor Hawke met his father and actually began his career as Green Arrow shortly before Ollie's death (Green Arrow #0, 91, 101) He had also studied at a monastery and is a superb martial artist and bowman himself. Like his father, he joined the newest JLA early in the game (JLA #9), but remained only briefly before resigning. (#15) He expressed feeling "out of his Leaugue."

Oliver Queen was returned to life without a soul by Parallax (Hal Jordan) during the "Final Night." (behind the scenes in Parallax: Emerald Night, revealed in Green Arrow v.3 #7) He re-appered in a new body which was essentially a youthful clone with only partial memory and without a soul. (Green Arrow v.3 #1) Eventually, the real Oliver Queen's soul was coaxed to return to Earth from heaven. (Green Arrow v.3) Both Green Arrows are now active in adventuring in Star City, California.

In general, Oliver Queen is a lovable hothead who often let his temper get the best of him. Queen's dedication to principle is beyond question; it is his uncanny penchant for leaping into a problem headfirst without any prior consideration that was always Green Arrow's biggest shortcoming. The one thing that the Arrow could never stand was to sit by as an idle observer, even when circumstances warranted such, much to the frustration of his friends and fellow Justice Leaguers.

In pre-Crisis continuity, Ollie left for the monastery in Year 2, well before resigning from the JLA. This has recently been changed with the publication of Legends of the DCU #12-13 (1-2.99), which places the event within JLA Year 5. Also, he originally lost his fortune to a man named Deleon; Denny O'Neill revised this event saying: "Was the Deleon subplot thrown out of continuity entirely? With apologies to anyone who liked the old version, I must answer yes. Having Ollie voluntarily give up his fortune for humanitarian reasons seems much stronger dramatically." Also, his resignation from the League was altered from it's original telling in JLofA #181 to a new tale in JLA: Incarnations #3 (9.01).

The Golden Age adventures of Green Arrow used to be attributed to the Green Arrow of Earth-2. He was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and was wiped out in the Crisis. In the recreated universe, this void was filled by the Spider. Also, there was an actor-turned-philanthropist named Darren Hawkes who played the "Emerald Archer" in a 1941 film. Hawkes was killed by the magician Dexter DeFarge. (JLQ #13)

In the DC/Marvel Amalgam universe cross-over (1996), Oliver Queen called himself Hawkeye.

…

Action #421, 424. 426, 428, 431, 434. 436, 440-441, 444-446, 450-452, 456-458
Detective #466
Flash #213-215, 217-219
World's Finest #7-133, 244

Adventure Comics #103-205, 207-269 (19??)

More Fun Comics #73-107 (19??)

GreenLantern/Green Arrow, issues #76-122 (1970-72, 1976-79)

Green Arrow v.1, 4-issue limited series (1983)

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, 3-issue limited series (1987)

Green Arrow v.2, 137 issues (1988-97)

Green Arrow v.3, current (2001-)

Justice League Elite, 12-issue limited series (2004-05)

Black Canary

Pre-Crisis History

JLA FAQ > Who's Gay?

The Green Arrow Shrine

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