Trick Arrow of the Week: Drill Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Drill Arrow

Here's an example of precision desert island engineering folks. Using only his wits, elastic from his socks, and what must be an amazingly well equipped abandoned workshop, Oliver Queen manufactured this bad boy to get coconuts out of trees and possible fight some evil. Enjoy!

Trick Arrow of the Week: Power Ring Delivery Arrow!

This bad boy appeared in the last issued we spotlighted, Green Lantern vol. 1 #84. It has the ability to deliver a Green Lantern Power Ring into the hands of its bearer, without taking off any fingers!

This isn't actually meant to be a trick arrow, but when you think about it, there MUST be something else going on, or Hal would be missing a few digits. :)

Trick Arrow of the Week: Arrow-Bomb plus!

In a post that raises more questions than it answers, the giant Bomb/Three Stage Rocket/Morse Code Arrow!

Trick Arrow of the Week: Mind Reading Arrow

You know, with all his liberal ideals and objection to magically induced mind wipes, you'd think Oliver Queen would be a little more respectful of people's civil rights. Apparently not:


Big Brother wears green!

Trick Arrow of the Week: Flare Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Flare Arrow

In honor of the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games, we at the Arrowcave present this week's trick arrow: The Flare Arrow! Famous for lighting the Olympic flame at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, this arrow, presumably purchased from Queen Industries, goes down in history as one of the coolest ways ever invented to light a fire!

I ask you to compare the following two images:

and

Eh? Eh?

Queen Industries, proud sponsor of the Olympic Games since 1941

Trick Arrow of the Week: Buzzsaw Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Buzzsaw Arrow

Have you ever been trapped in a block of ice? Have you ever had hedges that need trimming, but didn't feel like going into the shed for a weed-whacker?

Well, then this little number is perfect for you: The Buzzsaw Arrow! It chops wood, it cuts through ice, it weeds your garden, and it definitely isn't self-indulgent (despite what Black Canary might have to say)

Trick Arrow of the Week: Net Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Net Arrow

Ever needed to detain a criminal, but the handcuff arrow just wasn't cutting it? Ever found yourself fishing and in need of extra euipment that can be fired from a bow?

Well then, the net arrow is the right product for you! Simply aim it at a fleeing criminal or tasty fish (just watch out for Aquaman!) and let loose! Your quarry will be enveloped in a fine mesh, and you can nab him at you leisure!

Trick Arrow of the Week: Aqua-Lung Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Aqua-Lung Arrow

Have you ever been trapped in the bowels of a giant flying mechanical octopus (and really, who hasn't)?

Well, then this puppy's for you! Featuring beautiful real feather fletching, a charming green color scheme and just enough air to escape that metallic, multi-tentacled horror, the Aqua-Lung Arrow is a must have for any serious costumed adventurer...or bargain basement scuba diver.

Trick Arrow of the Week: Tuning Fork Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Tuning Fork Arrow

Now THIS is an arrow Ollie should sell to the military. I managed to take out a tank with it! Also, deafen a passerby who also happened to be a musician, thus creating a villain for the JLA to fight later, but I digress...

Image courtesy of Rob! of the JLA Satellite.

Trick Arrow of the Week: Heli-Spotter Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Heli-Spotter Arrow

Marvel at the wondrous Heli-Spotter Arrow! This little number can be fired above a crowd, where a small helicopter rotor will keep it aloft. Attached are a trio of rotating mirrors, which allow the users to spot their target, even amongst a throng of people!

All this and more can be yours...if the Price is Right!

Trick Arrow of the Week: Balloon Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Balloon Arrow

Balloon arrows: Great for distracting super-villains and impromptu birthday parties!

Trick Arrow of the Week: Mummy Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Mummy Arrow

Well kids, we've gone through a long list of trick arrows, some of them practical, some of them bordering on ridiculous. Today, we march straight across that border into the land of total silliness! I bring you the mummy arrow!

Shaped like a pharaoh's coffin, this beauty is guaranteed to have your foes wrapped up in a jiffy. As for how the hell it works...it's best not to think about it too hard. You might hurt yourself.

(Sorry for the bad scans guys, I was a bit rushed)

Trick Arrow of the Week: Grapple Line Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Grapple Line Arrow

The grapple line arrow affords Green Arrow additional mobility, useful in world filled with super-powered, flying powerhouses. Different variations have been shown over the years, from a simple arrow attached to a line to the advanced model shown to the left.

Batman may have his grapple gun, but GA does his grappling with style.

Trick Arrow of the Week: Fire Extinguisher Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Fire Extinguisher Arrow

The fire extinguisher arrow allows GA to fight fires from a distance, and to get flame retardant into spots fire fighters might not be able to get to. As an added bonus, it can be used to great effect against demons who are out to get you, as shown in Ollie's battle with Etrigan (left). That one even provoked an unusual compliment from Batman ("I will never...ever..mock your trick arrows again).

Trick Arrow of the Week: Bolo Arrow

Trick Arrow of the Week: Bolo Arrow

This week's arrow is another that allows Green Arrow to subdue opponents without doing them any lasting harm. As you can see from the picture, the arrow is fired at the opponent, and upon impact releases a set of bolos that tangle in the legs of the victim, preventing him from running away. This is certainly less messy than the glue arrow, but also sacrifices some general utility as well. Still, has a job, and it does it well.

Plus, it looks darn cool!

Trick Arrow of the Week: Glue Arrow

This week's Trick Arrow of the Week is Ollie's Glue Arrow. Filled with a fast drying, industrial strength adhesive, this trick arrow has a myriad of uses, including what is probably my favorite use of a trick arrow ever.

As shown in the picture to the left, Green Arrow had challenged invulnerable crime boss "Brick" to a duel. Unable to cause much damage to his rocky hide with traditional arrows, GA switched tactics, firing the glue arrow straight down Brick's throat. When the glue hardened, Brick had a slight problem, as even invulnerable people need to breath, and the glue was now blocking his airway. That's just the kind of brain over brawn thinking that made me like Green Arrow so much in the first place.

(Of course, being Ollie, he let Brick go, but not before reminding him who was the "bitch" in their little arrangement)

PS: Sorry for the late post guys. Infectious Lass paid a visit to the Arrowcave, resulting in your humble correspondent catching a nasty flu.

Trick Arrow of the Week: Handcuff Arrow

Welcome to the return of the Trick Arrow of the Week Feature! We're back and better than ever folks!

Last time we featured an arrow that makes no sense if you think too hard about it: The Boxing Glove Arrow.

This week, we feature an arrow that makes no damned sense if you think about it at all: The Handcuff Arrow. Obviously the handcuff arrow designed to allow Ollie to capture criminals who walk around with their forearms pressed together, or who make a habit of always keeping them close to a convenient pipe or railing.

The arrow was used by Connor to some effect against The Key (he had no other options) and in his earlier appearances Ollie managed to make it work more often than not. Of course, we're using comic book physics here, so that's not entirely surpsrising.

Ollie, we love ya, but you may want to retire this one and replace it with something more useful, like an arrow that brews coffee or gives massages. (Dinah will certainly appreciate the latter!)

Trick Arrow of the Week: Boxing Glove Arrow

I plan for this to be a weekly feature here at the Arrowcave, so check back every Friday for a spotlight an another of GA's famous trick arrows!

So, to start the feature off, let's talk about GA's most famous (and probably most mocked) trick arrow: The Boxing Glove Arrow!

On the face of it, this is probably one of the most ludicrous ideas ever concocted. How would you even fire it? Boxing gloves are really heavy (they use them to hit people, after all)! In fact, this very arrow is probably one of the reasons the powers-the-be at DC briefly claimed that Ollie was a metahhuman. After all, if you can fire an arrow with 99% of its weight on the front end and NOT have it fall on your foot, then there's gotta be SOMETHING going on! Of course, that's not even considering the storage issue. That quiver only has so much room, and the head of that arrow is HUGE (JLU neatly sidestepped this issue by having the boxing glove deploy AFTER the arrow was drawn.)

So why use such a preposterous weapon? I suppose the easy answer is that comic books, at least at the time the boxing glove arrow was big, were generally considered a kids game. So, you have a guy who fires extremely sharp projectiles at people for a living, and there's going to be blood. Since the Comics Code Authority frowned on impalement, that's not going to work out really well (this is why Wolverine fought so many robots!). Enter the boxing glove arrow! Now, instead of shooting people full of holes and killing them, you just sock them in the jaw like the other clean cut superheroes (but, you know, from far away).

Now, why would Green Arrow, the character, equip himself this way? Well, for mostly the same reasons. Ollie is a superhero, he doesn't kill people, and well, arrows do. So, on those occasions when you're not fighting the latest superpowered menace to the Justice League (who probably just beat up Martian Manhunter to prove how bad ass he is!) you gotta have a way to take people down without filling them full of holes; deadly holes. Boxing glove arrow to the face and he's down.

Of course, that's not to say that our featured trick arrow is useless against superpowered foes. After all, when Ollie's son Conner joined the Justice League (JLA #8) to replace his deceased dad (he got better) he used that arrow to distract The Key at a critical moment, single handedly saving the day (although even Conner commented on how utterly ridiculous the boxing glove arrow was.)

So come on, have a little fun and suspend a little disbelief! You know that if you could punch people in the face with a bow and arrow, you'd bloody well do it!

PS: This is by far the longest Trick Arrow feature, so don't fret!