Green Arrow, up until this point, was always a second rate Batman rip-off. Instead of a utility belt that contained any gadget needed to fight off criminals, he had his arrow pouch with an unexplainably infinite number of different arrows specific to whatever he needed it for. A boxing-glove arrow, an antidote arrow, a net arrow, etc. Green Arrow was also the proud owner of the Arrow-car, the Arrow-Cave, millions of dollars, and an orphan ward and sidekick in Roy Harper, aka Speedy. Batman-lite, so to speak!
For a brief time comics pioneer Kirby, desperate for work, took over the strip. Hoping, that if he spiffed up the strip a bit, that the series would get its own title and thus possibly guaranteeing a regular future paycheck for himself. He gave the detective character more of a science fiction, fantasy element as seen in these stories reprinted in this book.
These comics sere some of the best DC was putting out at the time, but alas, it was not to be. Mort Weisinger, co-creator of Green Arrow and one of the DC big-wigs, and a group of other established industry workers were none to pleased with the new amazing direction of his character and voiced their concerns loudly. Kirby's editor caved under their demands and told Kirby to go back to the old way. The King of comics was rightly disgusted, picking up and leaving DC Comics. He ended up getting some work with Stan Lee--- and making comic book history by creating the Marvel universe of characters and toppling DC with their new style of comics. Green Arrow went back to being some hum-drum, second-rate Batman knock off- and stayed that way for years until the late 60's when the writers gave him a bold new direction; losing his millions, becoming a social liberal, growing the Robin Hood goat-tee and donning a new costume, and ultimately finding his young partner Speedy shooting up heroin!
Anyway, here's a bit of amazing Green Arrow renaissance material from Adventure Comics # 252 and 253 (Sept./Oct. 1958):
This is no regular detective story! GA and Speedy, you will soon be pondering existence itself! Get ready for an epic ontological experience!
This epic tale begins with the masses coming into contact with the unbelievable!
Mother Earth is about to become "pregnant" with the notion of other realities! Green Arrow and Speedy are about to get to get the call to become unknowing mid-wives!
So many questions!!!! (And, at this point, I question the crazy coincidence of the earth getting pummeled by giant arrow-shaped missiles and Green Arrow being the lone hero who shows up...)
This panel is awe-inspiring! Kirby creates the feeling of earth-shattering helplessness by including our hero down on the ground amongst the throngs of the utterly clueless and frightened masses!
I'm impressed with Arrow's concern for Speedy's hearing! If only he were that caring years later (maybe Speedy wouldn't have become a raging drug addict).
Oh my god! The suspense keeps building! How is a small-time hero like Green Arrow going to handle this??? Look at the look of helplessness of that cop as he's pretending to keep it together! Check out the report of that newsman, and imagine a big-time reporter today like Anderson Cooper not being able to give the viewers a clue!
With the aid of Science, Green Arrow comes in contact with the Gods!
And we're left with the cliffhanger as Green Arrow and Speedy are whisked off into the unknown (and hoping there is oxygen there!), realizing that they may never return!
We begin again, with Part 2, and already the very existence of Earth has shattered as timelines collapse. Within a span of panels, history has already been rewritten to where Green Arrow and Speedy didn't come across the giant arrow at the observatory, as we just saw, but as they were driving out from the Arrowcave! Did any of the events from last issue transpire at all????
Green Arrow has spiraled into the Unknown!!!
I wish Green Arrow had a special autograph arrow!
Soooo, they landed in a Chuck Jones' Dr. Seuss world! Look at those characters' features!
They come across the unimaginable---A giant techno alien elf version of himself! I wonder what "Xeen" means?
How flabbergasting to meet your dimensional "double" and then to speak telepathically with him! How utterly mind-blowing!!!
So with the help of his other-worldly giant doppelgänger, Green Arrow and Speedy are shot home on another giant arrow! Will it destroy Earth? Oh, ok, no problem. Attach some parachute arrows and somehow move it into your Arrowcave, put on your millionaire robe, light a pipe, and then don't bother to tell anyone in the rest of the world (who are going absolutely nuts about those other giant arrows striking their cities) about what happened!
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