Pitch a Direction: Roy Harper

[Agent Z]

It can be pretty awful, when done poorly. But I think it'd be fine if the story was honest and forthright and didn't treat Roy like the "white savior." DC does not have a good track record on this sorta thing, but I feel like it's not exactly hard to handle it with some respect, you just gotta have the respect in the first place.

From what people have said, DC has handled Roy being raised by a Native American much better than you would expect but I don't recall if any Native American readers have said anything about this. It's complicated not helped by DC's lack of focus on Native American characters or them creating ones that all too often fall into stereotypes.


Speaking of Roy and spy organizations, would you have been interested in a sort of Checkmate vs Spyral war while Roy and Dick are working for them respectively? Or would that be too contrived?

[DrNewGod]

Roy is DC's angry bad boy. Robin's Lesser Copy. Abandoned Sidekick. Junkie. Amputee. Use it all.

Arsenal goes rogue. He commits crimes, beats the piss out of Bronze Tiger (or a suitable alternative), and disappears into the international underworld.

Then we find out he's undercover, working for The Wall. He's basically doing The Green Hornet: posing as a rising supervillain while destroying threats under the guise of competing with them. Best part: even Batman's hoodwinked.

And then, the triple cross. The Wall wants him to permanently gank some baddies as part of establishing his villain cred and eliminating his villain 'rivals,' and he's instead just making it look that way, while stashing them elsewhere, working a long con against *her* as well! (Knowing that if he didn't do these dirty deeds she wanted done, she'd just find someone with even *less* scruples to do them, who wouldn't pull his punches and avoid killing her targets!)

Just lies within lies, until nobody is actually sure whose side he's on anymore, or if he's 'gone under too long' and this criminal underworld (and the stuff he's had to do to fit in) has started to sink in...

I like that! Roy begins assembling a crew of previously unheard of super-tuffs around himself (to Wall's rather impotent displeasure). The members of course being his alleged victims in new guises ala Busiek's Thunderbolts.

[PennyDreadful]

How about this: We find out how Roy juggles being a superhero and an addict in recovery. Does he go to 12-step meetings? See a therapist? Have a sponsor?

[Tzigone]

How about this: We find out how Roy juggles being a superhero and an addict in recovery. Does he go to 12-step meetings? See a therapist? Have a sponsor?

Wonder if they'd discuss the negatives? Obviously getting hard information is difficult, but some studies have indicated it not very useful and other methods (particularly medication-assisted therapy, though they could be combined) are better. Though obviously, Roy is long-past that phase. And it's really controversial, with strong opinions on both sides. I only know a very little bit about it. I may not even have correct information, since, as I've said, there are passionate persons on both sides who might misrepresent data when engaging in layman-oriented talk.

I'm against the 12-step aspect for him. Mostly because it's retconning in something fairly significant in his history (though it may have already been retconned in at some point, I'm not sure) that didn't originally happen, and I'm not usually a fan of that.

[Ascended]

R
Then we find out he's undercover, working for The Wall. He's basically doing The Green Hornet: posing as a rising supervillain while destroying threats under the guise of competing with them. Best part: even Batman's hoodwinked.

I like that idea. I've long thought DC needed a Green Hornet styled character, and while Roy never crossed my mind for it he's a perfect fit. Good call man!

From what people have said, DC has handled Roy being raised by a Native American much better than you would expect but I don't recall if any Native American readers have said anything about this. It's complicated not helped by DC's lack of focus on Native American characters or them creating ones that all too often fall into stereotypes.

In my personal reading experience, Roy's background with the Navajo has indeed been handled fairly well, but in general these things are not DC's strong suit and I don't know if I've ever really seen an accurate representation of rez life in any Big 2 comic, outside of "arguably" Batman Inc's Man of Bats, which at least comes closer than most to getting it right.

Speaking of Roy and spy organizations, would you have been interested in a sort of Checkmate vs Spyral war while Roy and Dick are working for them respectively? Or would that be too contrived?

Are you kidding? I'd love that sort of thing. Could it be contrived? Sure, but intelligence organizations, even ones that are on the same side, seem to constantly be butting heads over jurisdiction, chasing the same intel without knowing the other one is too, and otherwise just stepping on each other's toes in a mostly-friendly rivalry that reminds me somewhat of how the military branches compete with each other. So I don't think it'd be too difficult for Roy and Dick's agencies to end up at odds somehow.

[DrNewGod]

I like that idea. I've long thought DC needed a Green Hornet styled character, and while Roy never crossed my mind for it he's a perfect fit. Good call man!

Thanks! The funny thing is, the had a GH-clone predating even Superman: The Crimson. But then they retrofitted him into a generic Masked Pugilist as The Crimson Avenger.

[The no face guy]

Well it is my understanding he's back? If so, Bravo DC!

As for pitching a direction...as long as he's sporting the Red Arrow costume I'm happy.

I'm sure he'll turn up in Green Arrow, Titans, Red Hood, and maybe even Birds of Prey or JLA....of course I would like him to have his own series.

[9th.]

Resurrect Lian first and foremost, she didn't deserve to die in that horrible title.

[married guy]

Single (Navajo) dad raising Lian while working as a high ranking member of Checkmate - where his government duties would at times put him at odds with his hero compatriots.
Roy's been both a leader and a follower, has ties to just about every corner of the DCU and is one of the most skilled combatants on the planet. The guy is pretty formidable if a writer chooses to tap into it.
While I liked his time as Red Arrow, I would prefer he retain the Arsenal moniker and lose the STUPID baseball cap.