I Should Have Seen It Coming

So in the podcast we recorded on Thursday (hopefully it will be up today) we talked about the Green Arrow. I, for one, love the character. In fact I would go so far to say that he is my favorite character in the DC Universe. I won’t defend my reasons for this Green Arrow love, you’ll have to listen to the podcast for that, but I will say that I’ve got a bone to pick with DC.

They are having the character willingly accept semi-retirement. He decided not to join the JLA; he gave Roy the Red Arrow costume. It is like the writers are having him step down to do something else. However, they haven’t given us that something else. I need to be able to buy a characters motivation, the choices he or she makes. The writing around Oliver Queen’s choices to no longer be the DCU’s foremost archer are sloppy and unbelievable. What Winick has done with Green Arrow’s emotional growth has been great, but no longer fighting the good fight does not click in with that growth.

What’s even more frustrating is that no one seems to care. I say that Green Arrow is my favorite character and people look at me like I’m daft. Oliver Queen’s character has changed over the years and that has made him an engaging read. He went from knock off to liberal to working towards emotional maturity. I like reading comics where a man-child gets together within the context of fighting demons. It’s fun read those stories; I connect better with them. I feel the same way about Hugh Grant. But you try to explain this stuff to other comic fans and they just blow you off with a, “Meh.”

I shouldn’t be surprised though. No matter how engaging the character is, no matter how many times he’s come through (the man shot Parralax!), DC will always give him second class treatment. How do I know this? Well I recently saved a Justice League of America Monopoly game from the trash. Who did they stick in the Baltic/Mediterranean spots? Whose face is on the one-dollar bill?

Yeah, my boy, Green Arrow.