UNOFFICIAL GREEN ARROW WEEK CONTINUES- Our favorite Green Arrow Family comics!
Unofficial Green Arrow week continues as we dive into our favorite Green Arrow comics...PART ONE (OF TWO.)
Green Arrow #1 comes out April 25th, but the Final Order Cut-Off is April 2nd (in just a little under two weeks). So we’re trying something different to promote it. Here is the kick-off post from Monday!
And now…on with the show. Today we’re talking about SOME of my favorite Green Arrow comic books. Sean is hard at work on finishing an issue of Green Arrow today so his favorite Green Arrow comics we’re saving until MONDAY. We’re breaking this post into two and you get some of mine first. This list was REALLY hard to make and I feel like just scratches the surface, but of course we start with…
There is no way we can start this list off without talking about talking about Hard Traveling Heroes. It defined the characters for generations. Changed Roy forever and is still talked about today. Dennis O’Neil and Neil Adams set the standard for these two characters. I read this when DC released a beautiful slipcase edition in the early 2000s was blown away.
It was a big comic that I would hear was “important” and when I finally read it, I could see why. It’s one of the best works for both of these characters. This original slipcase edition is one of my most treasured hardcovers in my library.
And then that has to be followed by GREEN ARROW: LONGBOW HUNTERS. I discovered this one a bit later. Probably after Ollie had died in the early/mid 90s. Because of my history with Ollie and Green Arrow I still saw him as a bit of a cartoon character. That changed when I read this. I was probably just the right age to go from “boxing glove arrows” to "deadly arrows.” It’s a deep and emotional story for Ollie. I think when a lot of people think of Green Arrow now this what they think of.
GREEN ARROW #1…really all of QUIVER. For a lot of people this run is the start of their Green Arrow love. You had a superstar with Kevin Smith, and a master artist with Phil Hester, not just bringing Ollie back but bringing him back in the biggest way possible. I feel like this series was a precursor to Green Lantern Rebirth. Just showing how to give a returning character their due while spotlighting why they are so important to the DC Universe. This was the first Green Arrow series that I felt was MINE. I was already hooked on the character and the cast but there is something special to coming into a #1 with a brand new storyline. And this series brought the cast back together and expanded it. And I’m a bit of a DC history and continuity junkie and this series really utilized both in fun and exciting ways.
GREEN ARROW #18-I read this issue right off the stand. I was working at a comic book store at the time, and we weren’t really allowed to “read on the job,” but when Green Arrow came out I broke that rule. And I remember reading this and it was just a super fun story and this issue with Solomon Grundy always stood out. It’s sort of a “done-in-one” issue that was part of the ARCHER’S QUEST arc, and has an awesome heartfelt ending that reveals something about Ollie that was SOMEWHAT unexpected.
GREEN ARROW #100-First…I loved these covers that DC did for all the 100 issues. It was an emotional issue. I still get annoyed at Ollie because Superman could have totally saved him. But it lead to some great Connor Hawke stories.
GREEN ARROW #135-C’mon. Connor Hawke is such a bad ass. If you read Robin, you clearly know how much I loved this story. This is when we started to see how this calm and peaceful man had a deep fire inside and could take down anyone. Well…almost anyone.
JLA #8 & #9-There is no way you can bring up Connor Hawke without these issues. I feel like this was his first BIG introduction to the Justice League, the larger DC Universe, but also to a lot of new readers.
Gotta bring up this Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Flash crossover! Three dudes on vacation! Friendship is magic!
GREEN ARROW & BLACK CANARY!
Judd Winick took over Green Arrow after Kevin Smith and Brad Meltzer and really made the book his own. And his run is tremendous. This new series co-starring Black Canary with Cliff Chang was so kick-ass. Dinah really should have her own series, but I was glad to see them together in this book.
GREEN ARROW REBIRTH- Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt just NAILED IT. I can be a bit precious about Green Arrow and when I read this I was blown away. It finally had Ollie/Dinah back together! It was one of my favorite books of Rebirth and really started us down the path we’re on today with getting the Green Arrow family together.
I’m going to stop here and do a few more when we post Sean’s on Monday. I know a lot of Sean’s will be stories about Roy, so don’t worry Roy fans! Also, I can talk a bit about the Green Arrow books that I liked post 2010/New 52. More to come!
Remember to pre-order Green Arrow #1 with your comic book store before the deadline on April 2nd!
