10 Awful DC Superheroes Who Were Successfully Reinvented

6. Green Arrow

Why He Was Awful

When the character started, he was not exactly original. A millionaire playboy, fighting crime as a vigilante at night? He has a car, plane, and cave he uses, both named after his superhero persona? He uses gadgets? Has a teenage sidekick? A clown arch-rival? It sounds familiar.

In truth, there is no denying Green Arrow/Oliver Queen was introduced initially as an archer version of Batman. It was even acknowledged in-world, where the characters met early on in their careers, and Green Arrow was, arguably, directly influenced by the Caped Crusader. He had a dash of Robin Hood thrown in for style, but that really was largely cosmetic. His initial origin story had little to do with Robin Hood's, as well - he had grown up aside Native Americans, and learned archery there.

This did nothing to inform his later adventures, however. His new origin was introduced by Jack Kirby in the Silver Age, where he was stranded on an island, and had to fight pirates to get home. He camouflaged himself in green there, creating the first version of his costume.

How He Was Fixed

The character's reinvention started with the artist Neal Adams who, deciding to allow the Robin Hood background to inform the character's look further, gave the character a goatee, and a new costume. The same story had a more political tone, with Oliver Queen deciding whether he should give up his costume and instead use his substantial wealth to help people that way.

This was an unusual dose of reality in a superhero comic -€“ indeed, to this day, wealthy superheroes rarely contemplate even for a moment that they may be able to do more good with philanthropy. The decision was made for him when, due to the machinations of "fat cats", he lost his fortune. Now suddenly poor, the Robin Hood in the character was finally brought out, making him a character that would defend the downtrodden of society.

The character became radical in his views, certainly for the time, making him popular with college students at the time. He teamed up with Green Lantern in his title, pairing the newly-minted left-winger with the space cop/straight man. The two took to the road, going across America righting wrongs wherever they arise. Oliver Queen was heavily in favour of individuality, fighting for the little man. Even before losing his wealth, he clashed with Superman over the idea that the Justice League should only deal with bigger injustices.

This finally gave the character a new-found purpose. He was no longer a knock-off vigilante. He was now a character that mattered.

One of the most famous panels from the Green Lantern series Arrow co-starred in accuses Green Lantern, the space cop, of not caring about African Americans, while devoting his attention to various alien races. A later arc revealed Oliver Queen's sidekick, Speedy, was addicted to Heroin, a drug which was just entering prominence at the time. The character was not above the troubles of modern life, which made him interesting. The loss of money did not stick, as he became wealthy again later on in the comics, but the character's more idealistic demeanor and genuine concern for people did.