Showcase Presents: Green Arrow, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Jack Miller (Author), Ed Herron (Author), Gardner Fox (Author), Bob Haney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2006

Showcase Presents The Green Arrow, Vol. 1 is an ambitious 500+-page compilation of the Emerald Archer's early exploits.Beginning in 1958, Green Arrow appeared in both Adventure Comics and World's Finest, in six-page stories that sold Oliver Queen as a half-baked Batman, answering the Arrow Signal in his Arrow-Car with his ward, Roy Harper (Speedy).The main challenges were figuring out which combination of trick arrows would do the job (one adventure required the Two-Stage Rocket Arrow, the Balloon Arrow, the Firecracker Arrow and the Dry-Ice Arrow, and don't forget about that ever-handy Fake-Uranium Arrow!), or what crazy contraption a villain could think of to foil the archers.Creators include Dave Wood, Ed Herron, France Herron, Robert Bernstein, Lee Elias, and a pre-Marvel Jack Kirby (aided by wife Roz), whose influence put a significant sci-fi twist on the title.But for the most part, the stories are pretty routine, broken by the occasional twist of "The Unmasked Archers" or "The Green Arrow's First Case," which bring out a little more of the characters, or even the appearances of Miss Arrowette, who fights crime with her Powder Puff Arrow and Mascara Arrow.More interesting are the longer adventures, including Superboy's early meeting of Oliver Queen in Smallville, GA's induction into the Justice League, and his appearances in The Brave and the Bold when that comic was becoming a team-up vehicle.In B&B 50, he teams up with the Martian Manhunter, and in #71 with Batman.Fourteen issues and a year and a half later, but what seems like light years stylistically, Green Arrow teams up with Batman again in "The Senator's Been Shot," a Bob Haney-Neal Adams tale that has both heroes questioning the value of their heroic identities.DC's Showcase line, like Marvel's Essentials line, offers great value, and for this vintage of comics, the black-and-white format is just fine.--David Horiuchi

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Showcase Presents The Green Arrow, Vol. 1 is an ambitious 500+-page compilation of the Emerald Archer's early exploits. Beginning in 1958, Green Arrow appeared in both Adventure Comics and World's Finest, in six-page stories that sold Oliver Queen as a half-baked Batman, answering the Arrow Signal in his Arrow-Car with his ward, Roy Harper (Speedy). The main challenges were figuring out which combination of trick arrows would do the job (one adventure required the Two-Stage Rocket Arrow, the Balloon Arrow, the Firecracker Arrow and the Dry-Ice Arrow, and don't forget about that ever-handy Fake-Uranium Arrow!), or what crazy contraption a villain could think of to foil the archers. Creators include Dave Wood, Ed Herron, France Herron, Robert Bernstein, Lee Elias, and a pre-Marvel Jack Kirby (aided by wife Roz), whose influence put a significant sci-fi twist on the title. But for the most part, the stories are pretty routine, broken by the occasional twist of "The Unmasked Archers" or "The Green Arrow's First Case," which bring out a little more of the characters, or even the appearances of Miss Arrowette, who fights crime with her Powder Puff Arrow and Mascara Arrow. More interesting are the longer adventures, including Superboy's early meeting of Oliver Queen in Smallville, GA's induction into the Justice League, and his appearances in The Brave and the Bold when that comic was becoming a team-up vehicle. In B&B 50, he teams up with the Martian Manhunter, and in #71 with Batman. Fourteen issues and a year and a half later, but what seems like light years stylistically, Green Arrow teams up with Batman again in "The Senator's Been Shot," a Bob Haney-Neal Adams tale that has both heroes questioning the value of their heroic identities. DC's Showcase line, like Marvel's Essentials line, offers great value, and for this vintage of comics, the black-and-white format is just fine. --David Horiuchi

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (January 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401207855
• ISBN-13: 978-1401207854
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.4 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #803,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SILVER AGE TREASURE TROVE, April 11, 2006

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Showcase Presents: Green Arrow, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Green Arrow is probably one of those characters who is always destined to be a bit of a second banana to more popular heroes. He's been around since making his debut in More Fun Comics in 1941, and unlike some of the other heroes (flash, Green Lantern) the Golden age and Silver Age Green Arrow were both named Oliver Queen. This latest edition of Showcase Presents concentrates on the Silver Age Green Arrow who made his first appearance in the pages of Adventure Comics # 250 as a back-up feature to Superman. This book reprints several dozen Green Arrow stories from the pages of Adventure Comics, Worlds Finest Comics, and The Brave and the Bold. Most of the stories are only 6 - 8 pages in length and involve Green Arrow and his sidekick Speedy tracking down some sort of two-bit criminal with their wide array of trick arrows.

A few things are interesting about the character right off the bat...First, the writers were doing their best to make Green Arrow and Speedy into another Batman and Robin. Both Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne are wealthy, [...]types with young wards who come under their guidance. Green Arrow had his Arrow Car, Arrow Plane, his secret Arrow Cave hideout, and the police even had their own Arrow Signal to contact GA when there was trouble. Unfortunately what Green Arrow didn't have his writers like Bob Kane or classic villains like the Joker or the Riddler. One thing that these early Silver Age stories did have going for them is the art of Jack Kirby. Now Kirby fans might be a bit disappointed as this is not Kirby at his finest. It's not close to what fans are used to from his 1960's period. There could be a couple of reasons for this...First he probably didn't have an inker as strong as Joe Sinnott, second, and more likely, was the fact that in the 50's DC's editors really didn't encourage a lot of artistic style from their artists. They wanted books finished quickly and Kirby could crank out the pages as fast as anyone. Lee Elias took over the art chores after Kirby left and did a commendable jog. He was unspectacular but steady.

Most of these tales were written by Ed Herron or Robert Bernstein, a couple of guys kind of lost in the annals of comic lore although Herron is somewhat famous as the creator of Captain Marvel Jr. in 1941 for Fawcett Comics. As mentioned, Green Arrow and Speedy fight crime with a variety of outlandish trick arrows including: rope arrows, short circuit arrows, aqualung arrows, fire cracker arrows, harpoon arrows, glue arrows, buzz saw arrows, and many, many more. I think my favorite is the dry ice arrow. And then there is his villains which are not exactly the Flash's Rogues Gallery...Mighty Mr. Miniature, Phantom Bandit, Camouflage King, The Pneumatic Man, and the Spectrum Man. There are also a large number of Sci-Fi style elements with the pair battling a giant mechanical Octopus and a robotic archer that fires rapid-fire arrows, as well as numerous alien threats. You had to love the 50's!

While most of these stories are throwaway quickies, there are a few notable stories. "Green Arrow's First Case" from Adventure #256 tells the story of GA's origin. "World's Worst Archer" from Adventure #262 relates how GA first met Roy Harper and took him on as his ward and sidekick. Another important story from a historical sense is from Justice League of America #4 where Green Arrow is elected to membership in the JLA. In a story from Brave & the Bold #85 Green Arrow teams with Batman to track down a man who tried to kill a Senator. This story features a cover and art by Neal Adams and it may be the first time Green Arrow sported his now trademark goatee. At least when Batman sees him he says that he didn't recognize him at first.

This is a welcome edition to the Showcase Presents series which, along with the House of Mystery and Jonah Hex editions is reprinting material that has not been seen in decades. Pure silver age fun and excitement!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tales of a couple of "straight arrows"!!, May 13, 2008

By 

Michael Noga "Jumping kings and making Haste ... (Ramen Noodle Arms Bachelor Apartments near Chicago Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Showcase Presents: Green Arrow, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

This is a real fun collection. Sure Green Arrow was kind of derivative of Batman. Where Batman had the Batcave, the Batmobile, the Batplane, Robin and even a female counterpart in Batgirl, Green Arrow had the Arrow Cave,the Arrow Car, the Arrow plane, Speedy and even a female counterpart in Miss Arrowette. They were both millianaire playboys with youthful boy wards and there was even a Bat and Arrow signal. What can you say except DC knew a good thing when they saw it in Batman, so they tried to repeat their success with Green Arrow. Unfortunately for Ollie Queen and Roy Harper, the never achieved the iconic level of the Dynamic Duo.

This may be due in part to the fact that the Emerald Archer never faced the villainous A-squad that Batman did. Almost anyone can rattle off a few of Batman's rogue's gallery if given a minute. But how many even serious comics fans are familiar with Green Arrow foes such as: Iron Archer, the Pneumatic Man, The Birdman Gang and Bonzo the Ape Archer?

The stories are often gimmicky, problems are solved by using some kind of convenient trick arrow. This is probably in part because that as back-up stories many of G.A.'s tales are pretty short and require a speedy resolution, such as one provided by a trick arrow. But Green Arrow's skill with a bow and quick wit is cited as often as his crazy arrows as the reason for his triumphs, and later, longer stories often required Green Arrow and Speedy to actually use their gray matter to solve problems. And sometimes the gimmicks were just downright amusing: Boxing Glove or Umbrella arrow anyone? This is a delightful and imaginative and BIG compliation. Because there are almost 70 stories here, you can read several a day for weeks before you finish. Read'em while your cooking,doing the laundry or leave this volume lying around the toilette to class it up. Here are a few highlights:

Adventure Comics # 259-The Green Arrows of the World- Inspired by America's green Arrow, crack archers from around the globe have taken on the mantle of the Green Arrow in their repective countires. "Counterfeit" Carson torpedoes their first ever convention. Featured Trick Arrows: Boxing Glove arrow, Jiu-Jitsu arrow, Lava arrow, Time Bomb arrow, Vine arrow, and Heli-Spotter arrow.

World's Finest Comics # 95-Green Arrow vs. Red Dart- A new hero, the Red Dart, enters the scene. But is he all he seems? Featured Trick Arrows: Flashlight arrow, Umbrella arrow.

World's Finest Comics # 97- Menace of the Mechanical Octopus-Green Arrow and Speedy draw a bead on some dastardly thieves using the Greatest Getaway Vehicle EVER, a giant flying,submersible, metal octopus! Featured Trick Arrows: Rope arrow, Short Circuit arrow, Acetylene arrow, Aqua-Lung arrow, Fire Cracker arrow.

Adventure Comics # 256-Green Arrow's First Case-The pulse pounding Origin of the Green Arrow! Featured Trick Arrows: Rope arrow, Net arrow, Drill arrow(for opening coconuts), Fake Uranium arrow.

Adventure Comics # 258-Superboy meets the Young Green Arrow- Perennial busybody Superboy learns through his time machine that he just tinkered together, that new classmate Ollie Queen will one day don the mantle of Green Arrow. He decides to "help". Featured Trick Arrows: Boomerang arrow, Pitchfork arrow, Boxing Glove arrow, Rope arrow.

World's Finest Comics #113-The Amazing Miss Arrowette-A yucky girl aims to fight crime by imitating her hero, Green Arrow. Featured Trick Arrows: Hairpin arrow, Powder-Puff arrow, Boxing Glove arrow, Hand Lotion arrow(?), Hair Tint arrow, Needle and Thread arrow, Hair-Net arrow.

World's Finest Comics #114-Green Arrow's Alien Ally-The battling bowmen team up with atiny little alien who looks like the alien Fred Flintstone used to hang out with in order to clobber a big alien super-criminal. Featured Trick Arrows" Alien arrow.

World's Finest Comics # 117-The Cartoon Archer-The master bowman is ridiculed by the Press! Por Que!? Featured Trick Arrows: Boomerang arrow, Fire Extinguisher arrow, Battering Ram arrow, Fan arrow, Boxing Glove arrow.

World's Finest Comics # 136-Magician Boss of the Incas-The Emerald Archer disguises himself as an Incan warrior in order to vanish the evil wizard, the Mighty Micro. featured Trick Arrows: Fire Cracker arrow, Rain arrow, Lightning arrow, Rope arrow, Vacuum arrow.

Brave and the Bold #85-The Senator's Been Shot!-This one was written by Bob Haney and drawn by Neal Adams! "Relevent" late 60's Green Arrow joins forces with Batman to puzzle out the murder of a Senator, a senator Bruce Wayne may have to replace! Also, the fellas doubt their effectiveness as heroes. Featured Trick Arrows: Unfortunately none:(

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Silver Age comics fun, July 13, 2010

By 

Never the Twain - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Showcase Presents: Green Arrow, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

While some complain about the volumes being in black and white, the Showcase Presents series offer a great service to comics fans looking to enjoy the history of favorite characters without having to spend a fortune. The Green Arrow collection is especially interesting because it not only includes the character's solo adventures from the late-50s into the 1960s, it also includes the story where GA become the first post-formation inductee into the JLA and a number of team-up stories from The Brave & the Bold. The last of these, and the last story in the volume, is perhaps the most historically significant.

The Senator's Been Shot teamed Batman with the re-vamped Green Arrow, starting in earnest the process of making GA a character in his own right rather than an occasionally clever knock-off of the Caped Crusader. Obviously, the process really took shape with the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series in the 1970s, but it's interesting to see the seeds of it here.

Of the rest of the stories, they're all good fun and quite well-done. Like Aquaman, Green Arrow was a quintessential back-up feature whose greatness really only came when a particular writer and artist took the basics and turned them into something unique. For that reason, this volume just misses five-stars. What's here is indeed very good, but if five-stars is meant to indicate a classic then these stories just miss the bulls-eye.