Spotlight:: Adventure Comics #257

Issue: Adventure Comics #257

Title: "The Arrows That Failed!"

Credits: Unknown (writer) Lee Elias (art)

Cover Date: February, 1959

Synopsis: A gang of criminals manage to sneak a strange chemical into Green Arrow and Speedy's quivers during a celebration.

The next day, they commit a brazen robbery. Of course, GA and Speedy arrive to stop them, but the arrows they fire at the gang's car mysteriously veer off course when they get close. Puzzled, GA and Speedy retreat.

Again, the crooks commit a robbery, this time on a furrier, and again the duo's arrows veer off course. Fortunately, Ollie and Roy are able to improvise a bow and arrow from a rubber tube and a street sign, denying the crooks their loot.

For the fourth time, Speedy and GA come against the crooks, but this time they have a surprise, an oven arrow! Seriously, an oven arrow. This cooks off the chemical the crooks has placed on their car, deactivating it. They had apparently stolen the solutions for the police lab. The chemicals were magnetic. The gang had dumped a positively charged batch on the quivers, and then coated their car in the same! Once the arrows got close to the car, they were repelled.

Pretty fancy science for a bunch of petty crooks, eh?

Thoughts: Typical Silver Age plausible sounding science? Check. Bizarre arrows? Check.

Color me satisfied.

Note: I know I said last week that I would continue the GL/GA series, but after having moved a bunch of junk around in preparation for a roommate moving in, your humble correspondent has mixed up all his long boxes. As soon as I locate the proper box, off we'll go!

Spotlight:: World's Finest Comics #98

Issue: World's Finest Comics #98

Title: "The Unmasked Archers"

Credits: Ed Herron (script) Roz and Jack Kirby (art)

Cover Date: December, 1958

Synopsis: Oliver Queen and Roy Harper are hanging out at Queen's club when the Police Commissioner (presumably of Star City, though Ollie's Base of Operations is as yet unnamed) tells him that the next night the club officers will be named.

Just then, the duo notice the Arrow Signal in the sky. While ducking into a room to change, they see a newspaper headline: Oliver Queen and Roy Harper are Green Arrow and Speedy!" With their secret IDs blown, they decide to finish this one mission, then hang up their bows.

Arriving on the scene, the archers use fan arrows to drive away the smokescreen the criminals were using to hide themselves, and then a (I swear I'm not making this up) fountain pen arrow to mark the car to make the crooks easier to follow.

Afterward, Ollie and Roy present themselves to the Police Commissioner to turn themselves in. The Commissioner think s they're joking, as apparently the newspaper was a fake, designed as a joke on Ollie as part of his club initiation. Now the pair must play along, allowing the Commish to believe they're just dressing up in a costume as part of the initiation.

Soon, they're called on the thwart a train robbery. Ollie must act as though he;s just a guy in a costume, while at the same time foiling the robbery. He shows up and fires off an arrow, missing by several yards. This convinces the Commissioner that he's just Oliver playing along with the joke, but the arrow ricochets over the train and launches a net, capturing the crooks.

The Commissioner is fully convinced by the Arrow-plane flying overhead. Obviously Ollie can't be GA if Green Arrow is flying s plane over their heads. We later find out that Roy had used a Balloon Arrow shaped like the plane to simulate the silhouette across the moon. (Why Roy didn't just fly the actual Arrow Plane overhead is a mystery).

Thoughts: Wow, this story was a bunch of convoluted nonsense, even by Silver Age standards. Nothing about it really makes sense, from the strange club initiation to the Balloon Arrow trick. I guess we can just chalk it up to Silver Age weirdness and a need to compress the story into 4 pages.

Up next: Green Arrow's origin story!

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol. 2 #11

Issue: Green Arrow vol. 2 #11

Title: Here There Be Dragons part 3

Credits: Mike Grell (plot) Ed Hannigan, Dick Giordano (art)

Cover Date: December, 1988

Synopsis: Picking up where we left off, Ollie has been shot in the chest by Shado's arrow. He survives, but it takes him many weeks to recover. Delirious with pain, he remembers past conversations with Dinah about their having children. Ollie is up for it, but Dinah's recent injuries have rendered her unable to have kids.

Meanwhile, Shado has moved them to a secluded luxury villa. After a friendly archery competition (which Shado wins) they go spear fishing in the bay. As they fish, Shado tells her life story.

Shado's father dishonored his Oyibun, and had to be executed. To remove the stain of dishonor from her family, Shado was marked with the Dragon tattoo and trained with the elderly master (killed in the last issue) to become a living weapon for the Yakuza.

As she and Ollie return from their journey, they notice several sets of footprints on the beach. Yakuza commandos have arrived intent (for reasons as yet unexplained) on kidnapping the villa's elderly gardener, in addition to killing Shado. Ollie and Shado fight off the soldiers, but fail to save the old man, who dies of a heart attack in front of them. Suddenly, the commando's boat roars off. Enraged at the senseless death of the old man, Shado makes an impossible shot, killing the pilot of the boat and causing it to smash into some rocks and explode...

Thoughts: Another excellent issue, where we get some background on Shado. One thing I found interesting was Shado's thoughts on Ollie's archery. Where she becomes one with the bow, Ollie seeks to dominate it and bend it to his will. We also get a glimpse at GA's mild chauvinism when he blithely assumes that the pull on his bow would be too much for the lady Shado

Next time: the conclusion to the Shado arch!

Spotlight:: Adventure Comics #255

Issue: Adventure Comics #255

Title: "The War That Never Ended!"

Credits: Dave Wood (script) Jack and Roz Kirby

Cover Date: December, 1958

Synopsis: Green Arrow and his partner Speedy are on a Trans-Pacific flight, headed to Japan for the "International Crime Convention" (I want to see the Bonnie and Clyde cos-players!) when their plane has engine trouble and ditches in the ocean. In raft with no paddle, the duo drift away from the other survivors, fighting off a shark attack and washing up on a desert island.

Suddenly, The Emerald Archer and his sidekick are ambushed by a group of Japanese soldiers! When a typhoon destroyed their radio in June, 1945, the soldiers were cut off from the outside world. Convinced the war is still ongoing, and that GA and Speedy are enemy spies, the soldiers attack, detaining Green Arrow (Speedy manages to escape).

The Japanese major explains that after their radio was knocked out, a typhoon destroyed their heavy weapons. Spotting an American fleet on maneuvers, he demands Green Arrow use his engineering abilities to build them arrow-based artillery to attack the fleet.

GA complies, building them catapult powered Mine Arrows and Bomb Arrows. Just as the weapons are launched, Speedy commences with a rescue operation. The Japanese are defeated, and it turns out that GA weapons are harmless, and serve only to signal the fleet of his presence.

Finally convinced that the war is over, the Japanese major and his men honorably surrender to GA aboard the American ships.

Thoughts: Another "Japanese soldiers trapped on an island who don't know the war is over" story, but well done and fun. Some of the arrows are especially trippy, even for the Silver Age, especially the Bomb Arrow, which deployed a giant Green Arrow instead of exploding. How Ollie managed to pull that off while the Japanese soldiers were watching is another story in itself :)

Again, excellent art by Jack Kirby and his wife Roz, but that pretty much goes without saying.

Spotlight:: Batman Comic Strip

(Our weekly review of the Grell Green Arrow series will pause temporarily, as I have a gap in my collection. Until that gap is filled, we'll replace it with a new feature!)

Running in Amazing World of DC #4 and #5, this strip features Batman, Robin, and our resident hero, Green Arrow. This is going to be a long post, as I'm putting up all the strips before GA appears in the strip in the first post. Future posts will feature much smaller sets of strips.

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol. 2 #10

Issue: Green Arrow vol. 2 #10

Title: Here There be Dragons part 2

Credits: Mike Grell (scripts) Ed Hannigan, Dick Giordano (art)

Cover Date: November, 1988

Synopsis: Dinah surprises Ollie in bed with a birthday cake and card. Ollie grouses about his age (44) but makes a birthday wish regardless. Anyone who's ever read any Green Arrow before can probably guess what he wished for...

Dinah leaves the planning to llie for the day, as it is his birthday. Ollie chooses to go to the zoo, where they enjoy a day filled with exotic animals and chili dogs. After a while, they notice that they're being followed by a pair of suits...

The pair ambush their pursuers, who turn out to be Eddie Fyers and an anonymous CIA agent. While Dinah and Eddie spar in the background, the CIA mook tells a story about how the Phillipino government buried the nationl treaury in secure locations during WWII. A map to the treaure troves was recently discovered, and then stolen.

Coincidentally, known agents of the Yakuza have been uying up property in the Phillipines, ostensibly to build hotels, but for some reason they never get past the excavation phase... But recently, the excavations have come to an abrupt stop. Rumor is, a certain lady with a dragon tatoo has stolen the only copy of the map.

The agent demands that Ollie, who knows Shado best, track her down, or he'll turn him in for tax evasion of the income from his mission in the first few issues. Ollie reculantly agrees, tracking Shado down to Honolulu, and then to a houseboat. Just as Ollie is approaches the boat, he ends up with an arrow in the chest! THE END

Thoughts: Another neat issue, with some really sweet action involving Shado and her attackers. Its also kind of nice to see Ollie get in hot water for the shady mission he performed earlier in the series. The CIA agent also points out that Ollie's mask does very little to hide his ID, and the only real reason no one has figured it out until now is that no one knew to try. I'm a big fan of little bits of realism like that.

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol. 2 #8

Issue: Green Arrow vol. 2 #8

Title: The Powderhorn Trail

Credits: Mike Grell (scripts) Paris Cullins, Gary Martin, Dick Giordano (art)

Cover Date: September, 1988

Synopsis: As Ollie arrives in Anchorage, he finally gets a chance to investigate the strange powder he found in Dinah's trunk. He tastes it and determines that its not coke, but he still has no idea what it might be.

Climbing back in the trunk, he hitches a ride to a chop shop, where the stolen cars are repainted (Dinah's gets painted yellow!). He sticks around long enough to trail one of the mechanics to a bar, where he captures him and takes him tp the police.

Larry, the mechanic, spills what he knows, which isn't much. Whatever the powder is, it is to be transported to "the meet-up" very soon. Ollie and the police figure out that there's a Tong connection to this mess. The car theft ring transports the goods, its the Tong who profit.

Ollie and the cops finally figure out how the meet-up will occur: namely that one of the sledders competing in the Iditarod is transporting the goods, and he'll meet up with his clients out on an isolated bit of Tundra.

Ollie, a customs officer, and the police ambush the meet-up, capturing everyone there. It turns out the strange powder at the center of the story is powdered rhinoceros horn, which fetches a pretty price in China.

With everyone under arrest, Ollie wonders what will happen to the sled dogs. There's no room for them in the chopper, so Ollie volunteers to take them back. MUSH!

Thoughts: From the surprise McGuffin to the site of Ollie running a dog sled team, there's a lot to get excited about. I like that for the most part, Ollie was using his brain here. He only fires a few arrows, mostly relying on his wit and deductive skills. That's a side of Ollie that I feel is important and often overlooked.

Spotlight:: Adventure Comics #254

Issue: Adventure Comics #254

Title: The Green Arrow's Last Stand

Credits: Dave Wood (script) Jack Kirby, Roz Kirby (art)

Cover Date: November, 1958

Synopsis: As Green Arrow and Speedy vacation near Crow Mountain. Suddenly, a report comes over the radio that a group of scientists is stranded nearby. Hopping into the Arrowplane, Green Arrow uses a "Two Way Radio" Arrow to communicate with the scientists on the ground., Since the area is far to rough to land the arrow plane, GA tries another tactic. Using his superior acrobatic skills, he hangs off a rope and grabs each scientist on the fly.

Soon after, a storm blows in and damages the Arrowplane. Forced to pout down in a cave, Ollie determines that the plane will take at least several hgours to fix. Just then, they're surrounded by angry Indian braves! They fire a mulitutde of arrows at our heroes, but are finally driven off by a net arrow, a rope arrow, and a siren arrow.

Puzzled, Ollie eventually figures out that the braves are part of a tribe that was driven into this valley long ago, and has been without contact with the outside world ever since. We later learn that both the medicine man and the chief of the tribe are perfectly aware of how the outside world has changed, but are hiding it from the rest of their people, because they would lose all their power if their tribe ran off to the modern world.

In order to get rid of Green Arrow and his outside influence, the duo convince the tribe that GA may be the "legendary" (in quotes because they made up the legend on the spot) "Greatest Archer of the Tribe." They challenge Ollie to prove that he is the greatest archer by passing the "legendary" test: he must fire an arrow at the full moon and cause the sky to burst forth in rain and thunder. If he fails, he will be killed as an impostor.

Of course, the test is a set up. The moon is only a quarter full and there's not a cloud in the sky. Ever resourceful, Ollie uses a "Two Stage Rocket" Arrow and a "Glowing Balloon" arrow to simulate the full moon, a "Firecracker" arrow to simulate thunder, and a (sigh) "Dry Ice" Arrow to seed the clouds and cause rain.

Having passed the test, Ollie, Speedy and the scientists are allowed to leave, taking the tribe with them. The medicine man and the chief disappear, frightened of what the tribe will do now that their lies have been exposed.

Thoughts: Tons of silly trick arrows in this one, that's for sure! Seriously, a dry ice arrow? The stereotypical "Indians" would probably not fly with a modern audience, but hey, it was the 50's. Also, we get some Arrowplane action, and that's never a bad thing!

Spotlight:: World's Finest Comics #97

Issue: World's Finest Comics #97

Title: The Menace of the Mechanical Octopus

Credits: France Herron (story) Jack Kirby!! (art) Roz Kirby (art)

Cover Date: October, 1958

Synopsis: As a jeweler puts some of his inventory in the safe, he's suddenly attacked by a giant mechanical tentacle, which steals the jewels! Luckily, Green Arrow and Speedy are patrolling nearby in the Arrow-Plane., which speeds after the flying mechanical beast! Unfortunately, our heroes are unable to stop the machine because it releases a cloud of smoke and escapes in the confusion. GA and Speedy do manage to recover the jewels with a well places rope arrow, however.

Later, the Archers Extraordinare get word by way of arrow signal that the evil machine is robbing a train. They rush after it in the Arrowcar, and although they drive the beast off, they're captured and placed in a cell. Luckily GA managed to sneak an "acetylene arrow" on board, which he uses to melt through the bars. Then, using their (sigh) "aqua-lung arrows" they make it to the surface in time to foil the machine's inventors and their plan to rob a cruise ship!

Thoughts: Well, more silly arrows! We have a rope arrow, a short-circuit arrow, an acetylene arrow, an aqua-lung arrow AND firecracker arrows. Add that to the giant flying metal octopus, and you have a recipe for Silver Age silliness at its finest! Plus, Jack Kirby art!

Admin note: We'll be pausing our overview of the O'Neil/Adams run of Green Lantern/Green Arrow until Heroescon in late June. We got up to 83, but 84 and 87 are currently missing from my collection, and rather than go back and cover them later, I'd rather continue in order.

Spotlight: Green Lantern #83

Issue: Green Lantern #83

Title: "and a Child Shall Destroy Them!"

Credits: Denny O'Neil (scripts) Neal Adams (cover,art)

Cover Date: Apr-May 1971

Synopsis: As an old man and his granddaughter are walking down the street, a young woman bumps into them. She apologizes, but the old man is incensed, and tells his granddaughter to punish her. Suddenly, the woman falls to the ground in pain...

Green Arrow, Green Lantern and Black Canary drive to a secluded private school. Dinah has taken a job there as the phys ed teacher, a move she hopes will get her life back on track.

They're greeted by the cook, Grandy, and his granddaughter, Cybil (who we've already seen before...). Soon they're introduced to a man named Jason Belmont, who owns the school. He greets them warmly, but Grandy insults the heroes.

Outside, Ollie and Hal find a strange woman hanging around their car. They approach cautiously, only to find the woman is in a wheel chair, and none other than Carol Ferris! It turns out she was the woman the little girl attacked previously, an attack which has left her paralyzed from the waist down. Jason Belmont is her fiance, and she fears he is in danger.

Ollie, Hal, and Carol decide to drive into town to contact the authorities. Suddenly, the building starts to shake itself to pieces! Hal manages to save them with his ring, but the car is destroyed. With one weird incident too many, the trio decide to head back to the school to get Dinah.

Meanwhile, Dinah lets her class out a few minutes early, as she muses on the fact that the children are creepily orderly and calm all the time. She's confronted by the cook who promises to punish her for violating the rules (letting her class out early). Dinah is confused as to why the school's cook is dressing her down. Worried, she changes into her costume and decides to investigate.

She's again confronted by Grandy and Cybil. Grandy gets a bit grabby, so Dinah put him into the floor. Incensed, he orders Cybil to hurt her too. Dinah is overcome by pain as the rest of the zombie like children carry her off to Grandy's dungeon. Grandy arrives in the dungeon and knocks over a wasp nest, then leaves. Dinah covers her face with her wig and prays for rescue.

GA, GL, and Carol Ferris arrive at the school. They try to sneak around to investigate, but a creak in a floorboard is enough to alert the children to their presence. Hal and Ollie get pelted by school supplies, a problem a man with a Green Lantern ring handles easily enough.

Grandy and Cybil arrive, and Grandy tries to get her to hurt these people too. Cybil resists, saying that she wants to be like the other kids, but a smack from Grandy is enough to set her straight. Ollie and Hal collapse with pain; pain so distracting Hal cannot use his ring. Ollie manages to let loose with a "vortex arrow" which produces a light and sound show powerful enough to overwhelm the senses.

Our heroes manage to find Dinah before too much damage is done, and are in the process of evacuating the school when Grandy pisses Cybil off one too many times. The building starts to fall apart around them, but Ollie and Hal manage to get everyone to safety, everyone except Grandy and Cybil.

Outside, Green Lantern realizes that he's been fooling himself into thinking he was over Carol, and pulls his mask off and reveals himself to be Hal Jordan. Carol admits that she still loves him as well, and they walk off together in the rain. As they do, the "camera" moves to Hal's abandoned mask...with Cybil standing over it!

Thoughts: Well, for a relatively low key issue, a lot happens. Carol Ferris shows up as a paraplegic, Dinah shows off her teaching chops, and our heroes must fight a lonely little girl. Probably the biggest event of the issue is Hal revealing his identity to and expressing his love for Carol Ferris...in front of her fiance...who doesn't object as he carries her off into the sunset. Definitely a strange issue.

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol. 2 #7

Issue: Green Arrow vol. 2 #7

Title: "The Lean Season"

Credits: Mike Grell (GA scripts) Ed Barreto (GA pencils) Dick Giordano (inks) Sharon Wright (BC scripts) Randy Du Burke (BC pencils
(This issue was a bit unusual in that normal artist Ed Hannigan was out with the flu, necessitating the Barreto fill-in. Additionally, the Black Canary portions of the issue were scripted and drawn by a different team, specified above)

Cover Date: August, 1988

Synopsis: Ollie stops to get Dinah's car washed at the local "Handee Wash." There, one of the employees accidentally busts in on her manager...making copies of all the keys his customers leave him. Later, Ollie gets a lead on some Tong drug activity, leading him to book a cruise to Alaska. Meanwhile, Dinah meets up with an old acquaintance, who happens to be the employee who burst in on her boss at the car wash earlier. She tells Dinah what she knows over lunch.

DInah decides to investigate, hiring a cab to follow the woman's boss. He ends up on a ferry to...Alaska! She returns home, only to find that her car has been stolen!

Later, Ollie is wandering the decks of the cruise ship when he comes across Dinah's car on the car deck. He suits up as Green Arrow, deciding to hide in the trunk and surprise the thief. As he's emptying out the spare tire, he finds several kilos of coke hidden in the trunk...

Thoughts: Not much actually happens in this issue. It serves more as a framing device for future story lines. I think the two writing/two artist teams worked out well and integrated smoothly, however.

Spotlight:: Green Lantern #82

Issue: Green Lantern vol.1 #82

Title: How Do You Fight a Nightmare?

Credits: Denny O'Neil (scripts) Neal Adams (art)

Cover Date: March, 1971

Synopsis: Green Arrow pays a surprise visit to his beau Black Canary, bringing her a dozen roses he just "happened" to have with him. Suddenly, a pair of strange, harpy like creatures attacks!

After a goof with a gas arrow drives them from the room, Ollie and Dinah notice that the harpies have disappeared. Concerned about all the weirdness, Ollie decides to call in Hal Jordan (with a telegram, which I found delightfully quaint).

Hal flies out in response to Ollie's summons, but notices the same harpy creautres from before. He follows them to a disco (more 70's fun!) but they vanish to reveal The Witch Queen! She villain uses her sorcery to trap Hal in another dimension.

Meanwhile, Ollie and Dinah investigate the florist where Ollie purchased the roses from earlier. As Dinah reminisces about the flower shop she owned with her husband (a career she would return to later) a fist punches Ollie through the window.

The culprits turn out to be a trio of massive Amazon warriors. They attempt to take Ollie with them, but Dinah gives them a good old fashioned ass-whupping. The women show their respect for Dinah by explaining what's going on and leaving Ollie alone. The Amazons are from a prehistoric culture that was exiled to another dimension by a scorned man. Ever since, they;ve been distrustful of men. They were contacted by the Witch Queen and told that the men they were after (including Ollie) had been abusing women. Now that they know the truth, they lead the pair back to the area where the Witch Queen contacted them.

Meanwhile, The Witch Queen gets a visit from her brother: Sinestro! It turns out that the staff she used was not magical, but powered by Sinestro's yellow power ring! Before Sinestro can recover his ring from the staff, Ollie fires an arrow through the center, pinning it to the wall. Sinestro challenges Ollie physically, but one punch sends the intergalactic villain to the floor. Dinah takes out the Witch Queen just before she tackles Ollie, much to his chagrin.

It turns out that only one male may be present in the dimension of the Amazons, so Dinah follows the lady warriors back to their home to rescue Hal. They get there just in time, as Hal is about to be executed for the crimes the Witch Queen accused him of. The Amazons vouch for him and Dinah,and the two return to Earth. Ollie finds the incident hard to believe, but Dinah and Hal assure him he's not imagining things!

Thoughts: Kind of a blah issue. Again, not sure what they were trying to say, other than demonstrating once again that Black Canary (and other woman) are fully capable of taking care of themselves. Also, I found it strange that they chose to use Amazons, since the DCU already has Amazons running about...

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol.2 #6

Issue: Green Arrow vol. 2 #6

Title: Gauntlet, part 2

Credits: Mike Grell (scripts) Ed Hannigan, Dick Giordano (art)

Cover Date: July, 1988

Synopsis: Continuing from our last issue, Ollie prepares to give Colin a snack down in retaliation for he and his gang's attack. Colin convinces Ollie to back down, but only in exchange for ratting out the folks in charge of the new gang.

Meanwhile, the gang leader, Reggie, surprises his lieutenant, Kebo with a surprise inspection of their operations. Apparently their drug, prostitution, and protection rackets are going smoothly. As Reggie repairs to his room for some private time with his lady, he's confronted by an angry Green Arrow.

Ollie accuses him of arranging the recent rash of anti-gay hate crimes, but Reggie insists that while he's not an example of moral turpitude, he had nothing to do with those particular crimes.

Just then, Kebo and the rest of the gang bust in on them, but Ollie has an arrow pointed right at Reggie, so they quickly disarm. Ollie casually mentions to Kebo (and the gang) that he read up on a prisoner by the name of Keith Bowman, who was gang raped in prison. Kebo admits that he is Keith Bowman, but Reggie reminds Ollie that he has no standing with the gang, as he has not been initiated.

Ollie agrees to run "The Gauntlet," during which he will have to make ti through two lines of men armed with various clubs and knives. He manages to get through with only a few hits, a testament to years of super-heroics, not doubt. Since he has successfully run the gauntlet, Ollie is allowed to make his case.

He accuses Kebo of having the gay men murdered because of his experiences in prison. Kebo admits what he has done, claiming that since the "fags" abused him and gave him AIDS, in effect, killing him, that he's justified in taking a few of them out as well. He and Ollie get in a scuffle, Ollie wins, but Reggie ends of shooting Kebo. The kinds of crimes he's been arranging garner too much notice for a gang trying to fly under the cops' radar, so Kebo became a liability.

Later, Ollie tracks down Colin, who is still hanging out with the gang. He has nowhere to go, he says, and if he did try to leave, the gang would kill him. Distraught, Ollie leaves, but surreptitiously donates a large sum of money (presumably his reward from the bioweapons incident a few issues ago) to an urban youth center. The last panel depicts a man named Greg Osborne celebrating his discovery of the Green Arrow's whereabouts.

Thoughts: Well, this issue continues the hate crime storyline from last issue. Some commenters have felt that these kinds of stories are not appropriate for the comic medium, but I think that it fits perfectly with the "mature readers" line the DC was putting out. Now, whether the carefree urban crusader Green Arrow was the best choice to tell the story.... I don't know. Green Arrow was practically the only DC superhero with a social conscience at this point, so they didn't have too many people to choose from without creating a new character. All in all I like the slightly darker take. But then again, sitting here 20 years later, I know that the light hearted Ollie would make a comeback later on. At the time, I bet lots of GA fan felt their character had been derailed.

Spotlight: Green Lantern #81

Issue: Green Lantern vol. 1 #81

Title: Death be my Destiny!

Credits: Neal Adams (pencils) Denny O'Neil (scripts) Dick Giordano (inks)

Cover Date: December, 1970

Synopsis: Continuing from our last issue, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary accompany their Guardian friend back to Oa for trial. Despite their best efforts, he is soon found guilty of imperiling a world to save one person. He is stripped of his immortality and sentenced to spend the rest of his days on Maltus, the Guardian's planet of origin.

The quartet arrive on the planet expecting to find it sparsely populated but instead find it covered in a seething sea of sentients.

Consulting the planetary archives (and interviewing its keeper) they discover that several decades ago, a strange comet passed over the planet. The dust from the comet seemed harmless at first, until the Maltusians ceased being able to have children. As the population aged, a revolutionary scientist named Mother Juno colleced gene samples from the populace. Using these, she was able to artifically create new people for the planet.

Un fortunately for the Maltusians, she refused to stop, even after the crisis was over and they were able to have children again. The planet has grown more and more crowded, until water became strictly rationed and fresh food was barely a memory.

Determined to help the Maltusians, the four head to Mother Juno's lab. After a long fight against her specially bred guards, she is defeated not by the superheroes, but by her own people, who have followed our heroes to the lab.

Our Guardian friend decides he can do much good for the Maltusians, and refuses GL's offer to go back to Earth with them. He is content to spend the rest of his (now limited) life easing the suffering of his ancestral world.

Thoughts: Well, this was certainly an improvement over the last issue! At least this time, the book had a clear plot and you could tell exactly what the authors were trying to tell you. The overpopulation theme seems a bit more...big picture than what they were going with before. I mean, individual racists are one thing, but an entire planet suffering from too many people is another. My favorite bit was probably Ollie using a Sap Arrow (the kind you knock someone out with not the kind that comes from a tree) to defeat one of Mother Juno's over-sized guards.

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol. 2 #5

Issue: Green Arrow vol. 2 #5

Title: "Gauntlet"

Credits: Mike Grell (scripts) Ed Hannigan, Dick Giordano (art)

Cover Date: June, 1988

Synopsis: A young gay couple comes into Sherwood Florist (Black Canary's flower shop) to purchase a rose to celebrate their 8th anniversary. Dinah congratulates them, and they leave for a walk in the park. Soon after, they're ambushed by wrench wielding assailant. One of them is killed, the other put in critical condition.

The cops, finding a receipt from the shop on one of the victims, arrive to ask Ollie and Dinah if they saw anything. Dinah takes one look at the photo and heads for the bathroom, while Ollie questions the cops to get a better read on the situation.

Apparently there's been a wave of gay bashing in the city, and the cops are hampered by an unwillingness of witnesses to talk. Some are scared, some are indifferent, and some feel that the victims deserve it.

Meanwhile, Dinah's assistant, Colin, tells her he can't work for her anymore. He's been forcibly recruited into a new gang, and they've put him through "The Gauntlet," injuring him severely. Dinah encourages him to go to the police, but Colin insists they can't help.

Ollie decides to go undercover and wanders out of a gay bar and into the park. As soon as he's out of sight of the street he's ambushed by a group of thugs. He fights them off, only to discover that one of them is none other than Colin, Dinah's assistant!

Thoughts: I'm still not entirely sure Green Arrow is the right guy for this venue, but the story sure is interesting. I suppose he has earned his social issue cred in his previous adventures with Green Lantern, so it would make sense for Ollie to be the one to investigate a string of hate crimes. I was dubious of Dinah's reaction to the crime scene photos at first, since she's a veteran crime fighter and has presumably seen worse, but it considering her recent experiences, it may have hit a little too close to home. Overall, I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Spotlight: Green Lantern #79

Issue: Green Lantern vol.1 #79

Title: Ulysses Star is Alive!

Credits: Denny O'Neil (scripts) Neal Adams (cover, art)

Cover Date: September, 1970

Synopsis: Our story begins with two well dressed gentlemen about to shoot a Native American man in the woods. Green arrow and Green Lantern arrive just in time to stop them, and are justifiably curious as to what is going on. The suits explain that they have a claim to the reservations timber reserves, and this man had been fighting them on it. GA and GL argue over what to do, and both decide the other is wrong.

Green Lantern decides to head to the city, where Abe Star, son of the chief mentioned in the title was last seen. He is said to posses the last copy of the agreement between the natives and the government, granting them sole rights to the timber on their reservation. GL arrives just in time to see the man's apartment building burn to the ground. He is only barely able to save him, and learns that all his documents went up in the fire. Still determined to prove Ollie wrong, to prove that breaking the law is not necessary to get justice, Hal flies to Washington to visit a friend in Congress...

Ollie decides on a different tack. Dressing himself up in a glowing yellow native costume (where do they get these things?!) he pretends to be the ghost of Ulysses Star, the last great chief of the tribe. He manages to get both the tribe and the lumberman to believe that he is a vengeful ghost. The lumberman decide to attack the next morning anyway.

The fight goes down at the border of the contested forest. The natives have Black Canary (still on the reservation, recovering from the events of last issue) on their side, but are outnumbered by the burly lumberjacks. Just then, "Ulysses Star" shows up, tipping the balance back in favor of the natives. Before anything can be resolved, Hal arrives and breaks up the fight. Ollie is incensed that Hal is interfering, and they get in a knock down, drag out fight. Nothing gets resolved, however, as a log slips off its moorings and whacks them both on the head.

The story ends with the native leader heading back to Washington with Hal's friend in Congress. No one is confident that anything will be done soon, but they decide they must try. The two suits from the beginning of the story are dragged off in cuffs, having been implicated in the apartment fire from earlier in the issue. Hal, Ollie and the Guardian discuss the nature of man and his seeming inability to give up violence, and the issue ends,

Thoughts: I really liked how this issue detailed each hero's approach to solving the problem, with Ollie going for theatrics and direct violence, and Hal choosing to find evidence and work within the system. It turned out neither approach really worked without the other, and I think it made our heroes realize that neither of them were wholly in the right. I also liked that Black Canary is still around, giving aid to the needy and fighting for what she believes in. The kid's got spunk.

Now, I know that O'Neil and Adams were going for relevance and cultural sensitivity here, but you can tell from this issue that they were still products of their time. I mean check out that cover! That's not offensive or anything! But hey, at least they were trying...

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol. 3 #4

Issue: Green Arrow vol. 2 #4

Title: "The Champions"

Credits: Mike Grell (scripts) Ed Hannigan (pencils) Dick Giordano (inks)

Cover Date: May, 1988

Synopsis: Continuing from our previous issue, Green Arrow arrives on San Juan Island in search of the pod containing the biological weapon. He meets up with Eddie Fyers, an ally from previous adventures, but this time on the opposing side. It turns out Ollie is working for the Russians, and Fyers for the Chinese. They discuss their ironic situation, then part ways in search of the weapon.

As Ollie is searching in the woods, he runs a foul of a booby trap set by Fyers. Wounded, he stumbles in a cabin owned by a local archaeologist. She patches him up (she spent some time in med school) but and Ollie takes the opportunity to activate the tracking device the Russians gave him. It beeps, immediately. Turns out the lady archaeologist found it earlier that day, and not knowing hat is was, brought it back for later study.

Just then, they're interrupted by a shot from Fyers. Ollie uses a trick arrow to disrupt Fyers night vision, allowing he and the lady to escape. Unfortunately, they're soon ambushed by Fyers, and then another agent hired by one of the rival powers. After a short fight, Fyers comes out on top, with Ollie falling down a crevasse and the rival agent falling down dead.

Ollie manages to survive, and sets off an explosive charge on the pod. Convinced the pod has been destroyed, Ollie and Fyers part ways. We later find out that GA had taken the payload out of the pod before running out of the cabin. Deciding that neither of the powers can be trusted with such a powerful weapon, Green Arrow uses some of the archeologist's acid to destroy the virus.

Thoughts: Well, there is a lot to like in this issue. The art is gorgeous, and the paper seems to have held up incredibly well over the past 20 years. Ollie displays a great deal of the cunning and guile we've come to expect from him. Of course, there's also a lot to dislike. There's very little archery, which is a problem in a Green Arrow book. The Russians hiring GA is a bit ridiculous, as Benton pointed out. After all, Ollie's only ever killed one person, in an extraordinary circumstance; its not like he's suddenly an expert in "wetwork." All in all, I'm glad I read it, plus this issue has the first letter column of the new series, and that's always neat. (I might have to scan it and send it over to Rick at Comic Book Letterheads)

Spotlight:: Adventure Comics #251

Issue: Adventure Comics 251

Title: The Case of the Super-Arrows

Credits: France Herron (scripts) Jack Kirby! (art)

Cover Date: September, 1958

Overview: The issue begins with mysterious people from the future sending a gift to the past, specifically a set of "super-arrows" to one of the 20th century's greatest crime fighters, Green Arrow! GA and Speedy run out to test the new arrows, and they prove quite effective in nabbing the bad guys.

Unfortunately, a mishap with the "hypnosis arrow" leaves GA and Speedy helpless before a group of criminals. The crooks know opportunity when they see it, and grab the future-tech for themselves. Armed with the super-arrows, the gang commits caper after caper, with GA and Speedy helpless against them.

Finally, Green Arrow comes up with a scheme to put an end to the super-crime wave. He and Speedy challenge the crooks one last time, armed only with regular old pointy arrows. The crooks try taking them out with yet more super arrows, but GA and Speedy's keen aim allows them to use their pointed arrows the destroy the super-arrows mid flight. Without their edge, the crooks are easily defeated. GA decides that the super-arrows are best left for later study, and locks them up the Arrowcave's vault.

Thoughts: Everything about this story screams "Silver Age," from the big-headed future people, time travel, seriously goofy super arrows, to bombastic dialog; this story has it all. Plus, check out that art credit! Yup, the man, the myth, the legend, Jack Kirby contributed the pretty pictures for this story. I had no idea he'd ever drawn Green Arrow, and finding that out warmed my geeky heart.

(Looking forward in the Showcase: Green Arrow, I see that Jack Kirby had quite the run on GA stories. Woot!)

Spotlight:: World's Finest Comics #95

(sorry about the image guys, I only own the Showcase for this one)

Issue: World's Finest Comics #95

Title: Green Arrow vs. The Red Dart

Credits: Unknown (script) George Papp (art)

Cover Date: July-August 1958

Overview: This story introduces a new chracter, the Red Dart. GA and Speedy meet up with the Red Dart when he shows up to assist them in catching an escaped criminal. After using his "trick darts" (I swear I'm not making this up) to capture the crook, Red Dart introduces himself and offers his assistance as a hero to GA. Ollie accepts, and Red Dart assists them on several more cases.

It is only later that we find out that Red Dart is secretly working with the criminals he's supposedly foiling. By posing as a hero and getting in Green Arrow's good graces, he hopes to throw him off the scent of what he's really doing: robbing a gold shipment from the central bank.

Green Arrow and Speedy arrive to foil the robbery, and initially welcome Red Dart's help. However, in the middle of the fight, Red Dart switches sides and uses his "rain dart" (again, not making this up) to defeat GA's smokescreen Arrow. Apparently prepared this possibility, Ollie counters the dart with an umbrella arrow. Silly trick arrows aside, Green Arrow reveals that he knew Red Dart was on the side of evil all along, due to hi use of prison lingo and presence of gold assaying chemicals on his hands.

Red Dart and his compatriots go to prison, and all is well in GA's home city (not yet Star, as far as I can tell).

Thoughts: Wow, tons of Silver Age silliness in this issue! Don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of it, but even I had to groan at the rain dart and umbrella arrow. This story is in Green Arrow's Showcase, so if this sounds fun, check it out for yourself!

Spotlight:: Green Arrow vol. 2 #3

Issue: Green Arrow vol.2 #3

Title: The Champions

Credits: Mike Grell (scripts) Ed Hannigan, Dick Giordano (art)

Cover Date: April, 1988

Overview: The issue opens with an attempted robbery on a bus. A certain beautiful, dark-haired lady slips out the window, circles around, and ambushes the perps as they exit the scene. One of them takes a swipe at her with a knife, she tells him to bring it on.

We then switch to Ollie practicing his archery with a toaster (don't ask) as a bedraggled Dinah Lance saunters into her flower shop. Even though she's beat all the hell, she feels great. Previously, she had been concerned that she would freeze in a fight (because of her recent brutal beating) but she handled the situation without even thinking about it. Her catharsis complete, she decides to take care of the other thing that's been on her mind, and she and Ollie move off to get biz-zay.

After the deed is done, Ollie decides to go on patrol. While out, he spots what looks like a mugging, but turns out to be an ambush. The assailants drag him off to the office of one "Mr. Joshua." Mr. Joshua tell GA that he needs help. An explosion occurred on the International Space Station (man, they were building that thing in back in the 80's too...). Certain...tactical research was occurring on the station at the time of the blast, and a pod containing the results has crash landed on an island off the coast of Washington. The pod contains a deadly bioweapon that is designed to attack specific DNA, only Mr. Joshua isn't sure what kind of DNA. It could wipe out the common cold, wheat, cows...or humanity. Mr. Joshua also reveals that the Chinese have sent an agent to get the pod, and he needs Ollie to get to it first. Ollie accepts, but only because he knows what might happen if the Chinese get a hold of a weapon that potent. Nervous about working for a foreign power (did I mention that Mr. Joshua doesn't work for the US government?) Ollie leaves for San Juan island, and adventure!

Note: The agent that the Chinese hire to find the weapon turns out to be Eddie Fyers (according to Mr. Joshua's file), who becomes a major supporting character to the Arrow Family.

Thoughts: This issue continues the grim and gritty theme that Grell started in Longbow Hunters continues in this issue. Mr. Joshua taps Ollie as his agent partly because of his training and willingness to kill. There are light moments, such as Black Canary's continued recovery and Ollie's adventures with the toaster, but the darker themes still prevail.

The highlight of the issue for me wasn't even part of the issue proper, it was in the back where the letters page would normally go. As the title was still new, there are no letters, but there is a kick ass publication and character history for Green Arrow, written by GA's current editor, Mike Gold. If you like Green Arrow and ever have a chance to pick up this issue, those few pages in the back are definitely worth the price of admission.