While he may not get the appreciation that Batman and Superman get, Green Arrow is one of DC’s best and oldest superheroes. Debuting in More Fun Comics #73 in 1941, the Emerald Archer is one of DC’s most enduring heroes who, despite not being as popular as the Trinity, he has had some of the best stories in comics and has been an important member of the Justice Leage for decades. The character came to greater prominence thanks to The CW’s Arrow, which debuted in 2012, introducing a whole new range of fans to his story.
But because Green Arrow isn’t as popular as Batman or Superman and thanks to some creative liberties taken by Arrow, there are quite a few things people get wrong about Green Arrow and the man behind the bow, Oliver Queen. Here are five things everyone gets wrong about the hero.
Oliver Queen is a major womanizer — at least that’s what some fans would have you believe. The idea that Oliver has cheated on Dinah Lance countless times over the years is something that largely has its roots in the character’s portrayal on The CW’s Arrow where Oliver’s infidelity was a key part of his vigilante origin story, but things are much more complex in the comics.
Oliver was, admittedly, very much a player before he became Green Arrow but things changed with his relationship with Dinah. After he began dating Black Canary, the hero even was called out a few times for being too possessive. Where the comics gets things a little wrong and feeds into the idea that Oliver cheated on Dinah stems from not paying closer attention to a key moment where Dinah walked in on Oliver kissing her employee, Marianne. However, that kiss was not what it looked like — Marianne actually kissed Oliver and he was trying to get away. There was also his infidelity with Shado, but that was later revealed to be an assault (with Shado taking advantage of him) and not an affair.
Here’s another one that we can blame Arrow for. In Arrow, Oliver Queen’s parents are a major part of his story but that’s not actually the case in comics. In fact, they have almost no real role in his life as for most of his stories, Oliver is presented as an orphan who lost his parents when he was young, the circumstances surrounding the loss not really explained. Later on — specifically 2002’s Green Arrow Secret Files & Origins — names his parents and reveals that Oliver’s parents were killed after being mauled by lions on safari and that the incident traumatized young Oliver and inspired him to become a hero.
As the Green Arrow, Oliver is the main archer hero in the DC Universe and he’s very good at what he does. But most people assume that it is all he does and all he can do — and some even assume that if it weren’t for his trick arrows, he wouldn’t even be able to do that well. This, however, is not the case at all.
While the Emerald Archer is, well, an archer, he’s also been shown numerous times at being very skilled at hand-to-hand combat as well. He is very skilled even without his bow and arrow and, even when it comes to archery, he doesn’t need anything special in terms of equipment to get the job done.
Many people don’t think Green Arrow is a political character and it’s another thing we can thank Arrow for confusing fans about. While that version of the hero steered away from Oliver Queen being overtly political, in comics the character has been very clear about where he stands on just about everything. In fact, Oliver Queen might actually be the most political character in all of DC Comics.
Many Green Arrow stories feature Oliver operating as a social activist — he’s even said he prefers to be referred to as a social justice warrior — and we’ve seen him get into conflict with his fellow superheroes over political ideology on numerous occasions. Green Arrow’s politics and beliefs are a major part of who he is as a hero and his values are integral to his stories, which often reflect what’s going on in the real world.
This might be the biggest thing people get wrong about Green Arrow and it’s something they’ve gotten wrong for decades. Everyone seems to think that Green Arrow is just a green, wannabe Batman but that’s not even close to the truth. While, yes, Green Arrow debuted after Batman, Green Arrow was inspired by the movie serial The Green Archer along with a healthy dose of inspiration from Robin Hood as well when he was created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp. That isn’t to downplay some of the similarities between Batman and Green Arrow: they’re both wealthy businessmen who use their wealth to hide their vigilante efforts, they’re both orphans who lost their parents at young ages, etc., but they are fundamentally very different.
In fact, one of the things that many point to as being evidence that Green Arrow is just a Batman copy done in green, the Bat Cave, is something the archer actually did first. Green Arrow debuted his Arrow Cave in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941 — nearly a year before the Bat Cave first appeared in Batman #12 in August 1942. Who is copying who now?
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