What’s a Batman-like hero to do when creators run out of ideas for him? He goes bad, of course!
GREEN ARROW JOINS WALLER
It’s not a big spoiler at this point to mention that Green Arrow (GA), otherwise known as Oliver Queen, has seriously moved into the gray areas of DC Comics as of Absolute Power #1. He betrayed the other heroes of the DCU in a big way, allying himself with Amanda Waller, who has had a mad on for that universe’s heroes for quite some time.
More than that, I won’t say! You should read the book!
My hope is that the Absolute Power event will revive the Justice League, which I have truly missed. Yes, the Titans are a great group and have had their own share of troubles since the League stopped working together, but I do miss the Justice League and their adventures.
Over the years, Waller has been a rising “star” of a character in the DCU, standing toe to toe with Batman and other heroes, using the Suicide Squad to take down threats the League didn’t handle. Now, Waller has actually set her sights on the League itself because anyone with powers is a threat, she seems to believe.
She’s not the first person in the DCU to feel this way. Lex Luthor has long viewed Superman as a serious problem because the Man of Steel is an alien from another world, someone he can’t understand (or manipulate), and that’s something he cannot tolerate.
Of course, nothing in comics stays exactly the same forever, and Luthor has been helping Superman more recently. How long that will last is anyone’s guess, but Lex is not as involved in the main three baddies in Absolute Power. That trio includes Waller herself, Failsafe (a robotic Batman gone bad), and a Brainiac queen or sorts.
The point that comic keeps making is that the powers of the heroes cannot possibly be brought back, but it’s like death in comics—there’s always a way around it! It’ll be curious to see how this all resolves in the fourth issue.
WHO IS GREEN ARROW, ANYWAY?
Depending on which version of the League we’re discussing, GA has been a vital element of that group since way, way back in the team’s early days. He was the first hero to become a Leaguer after their origin.
GA himself has been around since More Fun Comics #73 was released on September 19, 1941. (That same issue brought Aquaman into the DCU, by the way.) GA was very much constructed in the same mold as Batman. Oliver was a wealthy businessman, but he was known and functioned in Star City, not Gotham City. Instead of a utility belt, GA uses “trick” arrows to get the job done. Yes, he was partly inspired by Robin Hood, but when you have an Arrowcar, an Arrow-Plane, an Arrow-Cave headquarters, and a young sidekick, it’s hard to deny Batman’s influence.
When Neal Adams changed his costume back in the 1960s/1970s, the hero also because much more anti-establishment and anti-status quo, and more urban and gritty of a character. He had a long-standing feud with Hawkman, who was perceived to be more “conservative” in his points of view while GA took a more “liberal” outlook. GA has clashed with many in the DCU, including the Flash and even Superman over the years.
With Batman more mainstream of a hero, DC discovered they could tinker and alter GA much more easily. Speedy became a drug addict and has gone through multiple identities and functions in the DCU, for instance. GA has a son in Connor Hawke (much like Damian Wayne to Batman),
GA has recently looked at the Justice League as having too broad or wide a focus, missing all the crime that has been taking place on the DCU’s street level. Peacemaker showed something to Oliver that made him turn against the League, though. Just what that is, I hope we’ll find out in the current mini-series.
I just don’t want to find out that Oliver was taken over by Parallax or some such thing! I am sorry that Joshua Williamson is leaving GA’s ongoing title, but he is one busy guy!
WALLER PERPLEXES ME
I do feel like I need to talk a little more about Amanda Waller. She actually has long history in the DCU, first appearing in Legends #1 in 1986. She was a creation of John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne. According to Wikipedia, she “serves intermittently as both an antagonist and an ally to the superheroes of the DC Universe. She is occasionally described as a supervillain.” She uses “guile, political connections, and intimidation to achieve her goals, often in the name of national security.”
Here’s an important paragraph about her from that site:
Amanda Waller was established as a widow who escaped Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing projects with her surviving family after her two eldest children and her husband were murdered. Waller excelled in political science and became a congressional aide. During that time, she discovered the existence of the first two incarnations of the Suicide Squad. Taking elements from both, she proposed the development of its third incarnation to the White House and was placed in charge upon its approval.
I think DC has done an excellent job of fleshing her out as one who has motivations we can likely understand and appreciate. This makes her stand out from other characters who are persons of color in DC, with those heroes long considered offensive or unrealistic, That includes Vibe and Black Lightning.
Even though Waller is really doing some pretty horrific things behind the scenes, she is widely respected and even admired by many. That still perplexes me, but I can see how some still find her interesting and even admirable. I just don’t!
MOVING FOWARD
As I said a few paragraphs back, I hope that all this will revive the Justice League in the DCU. I think the problem that DC has had with the League is that the “big guns” like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are often taken away from the team so they can have extended stories and such in their own titles. When you water the League down by having C- and D-level heroes in it, it just isn’t the same.
I believe the Avengers in Marvel have the same trouble. When Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor aren’t around, that group just doesn’t sell as well. The same is true in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—now that those guys aren’t a part of what’s going on, I have little interest in future Avengers films.
I think it’s certainly possible to have those “big guns” around in both teams much more than what has been happening in the comics. Even though both groups have decades of stories under their belts, I think there are creators out there who can still challenge those heroes appropriately.
We’ll see if I ‘m right or not. (Turns out I am! A new Justice League Unlimited book is coming soon!)
And Green Arrow? Will he be replaced by Connor Hawke again? Or again like Batman, can he find his way back into the League? Time will tell!
Bring back the Justice League and the Avengers!
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