Is Green Arrow being cancelled?

[TheNewFiftyForum]

One of Green Arrow's main problems from a commercial standpoint (which he shares with a bunch of other mid-tier superheroes, and Wonder Woman) is that he doesn't come with his own sprawling mythology of supporting cast, villains, concepts and locations. People might pick up Batman not just for Batman, but because they want to check in on Alfred, Joker, the Bat cave, Gotham City, Two-Face, one of the Robins, Blackgate prison, the Batwing, James Gordon etc. Green Arrow has... Seattle, maybe? A few very loosely defined and intermittently used sidekicks? And a really shaky rivalry with Deathstroke?

Lemire had something interesting going with the Outsider clans, Diggle and Emiko, but those concepts would have needed to mature over a long period of time rather than be (mostly) thrown out for concepts that worked in a different medium. Now there's a new creative team trying to add new stuff without building on what's come before, and soon we'll be back to square one again.

[MajorHoy]

Sorrentino (sp) art was bad. Maybe Lemire GA run would have been decent with a much better artist? Something I will never know.

I'd qualify that:
Andrea Sorrentino's art isn't necessarily bad, but it didn't work for me on this title. His Oliver looked too young . . . more like a teenager than a guy in his twenties.

[Rakzo]

About Green Arrow's similarities to Batman, is just about how both are street-level characters, that's all. Is like saying how Daredevil is similar to Moon Knight.

I have always thought that Green Arrow's own nature and history actually allows him to have MORE variety of stories than Batman. Grant Morrison tried to go into a more distinctive direction but the roots of the character made him go back to the usual dark stuff.

GA on the other hand can be everything and nobody would actually complaint. I'm not talking about the old (and frankly tired) social conscience aspect, I'm talking about how he can be adventurous, lighthearted, dark, serious, dramatic, comedic and all of it can be combined in one single story.

The origins of the character mostly puts him as a guy who loved archery and be a superhero so why not going back to that? It would actually differentiate him from Batman even more and also creators could be able to include several genres while they're at it.

Green Arrow just needs a bit more creativity to succeed.

[Robotman]

One of Green Arrow's main problems from a commercial standpoint (which he shares with a bunch of other mid-tier superheroes, and Wonder Woman) is that he doesn't come with his own sprawling mythology of supporting cast, villains, concepts and locations. People might pick up Batman not just for Batman, but because they want to check in on Alfred, Joker, the Bat cave, Gotham City, Two-Face, one of the Robins, Blackgate prison, the Batwing, James Gordon etc. Green Arrow has... Seattle, maybe? A few very loosely defined and intermittently used sidekicks? And a really shaky rivalry with Deathstroke?

Lemire had something interesting going with the Outsider clans, Diggle and Emiko, but those concepts would have needed to mature over a long period of time rather than be (mostly) thrown out for concepts that worked in a different medium. Now there's a new creative team trying to add new stuff without building on what's come before, and soon we'll be back to square one again.

one of the first things I'd do is bring him back to Star City. It's a location that is a big part of the Green Arrow mythology. nothing against Seattle but it was used because at the time DC was trying to be more "real world". a trend i really disliked.
I would also make Roy a regular in the book. even though he and GA don't get along as well as say, Batman and Nightwing. Have Dig as a regular but keep Felicity and her adorkable stammering out of the comics.

[Rakzo]

Star City is certainly a fundamental part of the GA mythos and something I wish they would have ignored it. However, there are ways to connect both Seattle and Star City without ignoring what already happened.

[upgrayedd]

Star City is certainly a fundamental part of the GA mythos and something I wish they would have ignored it. However, there are ways to connect both Seattle and Star City without ignoring what already happened.

Have him move to Starling City.

[Rakzo]

Have him move to Starling City.

Nope! Starling City is worse than Seattle, is just a poor man's Star City that somehow looks more like Gotham.

[kivatt]

Nope! Starling City is worse than Seattle, is just a poor man's Star City that somehow looks more like Gotham.

Is it weird that after reading the Green Lantern book today, my first thought is "F**k it just put Tom King on Green Arrow, he'll fix it"

[Starchild]

I think Green Arrow needs a writer that has actual love for the character. The same way Geoff Johns & Scott Snyder have with Green Lantern and Batman. Here some things I'd tackle if I were a writer:

1. Bring Star City back and give it an identity, give it a voice. What makes it different from Gotham and Metropolis? What's something you'll see in Star City that you won't see in those cities. Gotham has Arkham Asylum, Blackgate Prison, The Iceberg Lounge, etc...Star City should have famous locations. Make SuperMax a thing, Brick's nightclub can be called The Brickhouse (bad name sorry)

2. Why is Green Arrow a hero?

3. Green Arrow's archenemy is Count Vertigo. I would go more in depth with that rivalry. I'd also give Red Dart, Brick, Merlyn, Bulls Eye, Big Game, Dodger, Rainbow Archer, Cupid, China White, Constantine Drakon & Death Dealer huge revamps.

4. I'd explore the weapon clan stuff a bit more.

5. He needs a steady supporting cast. Jax, Emiko, Roy, Eddie Fyers & The Outsiders of course.


It's mind-boggling how so many good writers had the chance of building a mythology around Green Arrow and dropped the ball. The only people that come to mind are Lemire, Percy & Grell. He's been around since 1941. This makes no sense.

[joybeans]

Is it weird that after reading the Green Lantern book today, my first thought is "F**k it just put Tom King on Green Arrow, he'll fix it"

"Put Tom King on [Title X], he'll fix it" seems to be a common sentiment on the Internet.

[Frontier]

Nope! Starling City is worse than Seattle, is just a poor man's Star City that somehow looks more like Gotham.

And now it's Star City anyway .

"Put Tom King on [Title X], he'll fix it" seems to be a common sentiment on the Internet.

I remember when that used to be Johns' thing, I think .

[Old Man Ollie 1962]

*Sigh* Providing the book isn't cancelled, I suggest taking the best elements from previous runs and applying them to the current run. You have a character that can also operate effectively outside an urban environment. Utilize that asset by reinvigorating/retooling some of GA's rogues like Big Game, Death Dealer, Slingshot, etc. I would retool the urban-oriented villains like Vertigo, Clock king, and Brick by giving them more ambition to control the underworld. I would have wildcard villains like Deathstroke, Constantine Drakon, and Onomatopoeia drop in from time to time to wreak havoc on a more personal level. Use them in a mercenary/assassin/enforcer capacity. Get Roy Harper, Conner Hawke, Dinah Lance, and some of the other supporting characters back. Let's re-establish those relationships. Let's also create new relationships, new candidates for potential allies--and enemies. But as I've said before, Green Arrow (or any superhero book) should be more than a series of redundant, perfunctory adventure tales. Throw in a dash of the anti-establishment old lefty Oliver Queen. NO POLEMIC BLUDGEONINGS. I get it. And for crying out loud, eighty-six the Calvin Klein pretty boy look.

[Starchild]

I always thought it would be cool if his base of operations were in the wilderness.

[Rakzo]

Yeah, I can already imagine Green Arrow written by Tom King.

First page: "I'm Green Arrow and I always shoot straight".

Halfway the issue: "Just a reminder, I always shoot straight".

Final page: "And don't forget, I always shoot straight!".

Add a couple of the same phrase in between each act and a few more words that will get repeated to try to assault your brain and you pretty much get a GA story handled by him.

And with that in mind, is there any difference from Percy's unnatural narration?

[gbryantlucas]

Is it weird that after reading the Green Lantern book today, my first thought is "F**k it just put Tom King on Green Arrow, he'll fix it"

This might be the best idea I've heard in a long time... I'm so down with something like a Tom King, Scott Kolins GA book.