Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dc, entertainment, green arrow, kevin smith, oliver queen

Five Green Arrow Trades To Get You Through The Summer Hiatus

Published Thu, 26 May 2016 15:30:26 -0500

With the fourth season of Arrow wrapping up last night, some Green Arrow fans may be looking for comics to read to pass the time during the summer hiatus. So if you just can't wait for September for new Oliver Queen fix and you've already read the Arrow inspired comics… here are my top five Green Arrow trades you can get at your local comic shop or on-line.

#1 – Green Arrow: Longbow Hunters by Mike Grell.

Say what you want about the other books on the list, but for me, this is the series that took GA from being a sidekick to Green Lantern and being a Batman rip-off to one of my favorite characters in the DCU. The tone here is probably the closest to the television series as Oliver turns vigilante to hunt down a serial killer.

This also made the character popular enough to get his own solo series that ran for ten years with eighty of those issue being done by Grell.

#2 – Green Arrow: Quiver by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester

The popular film director made the jump over from Marvel to DC to bring the Emerald Archer back to life after a long absence. Smith, combined with the simple but exciting art of Hester, breathed a new life into the character, launching the start of a new series that would run 75 issues.

It also introduced the very odd villain Onomatopoeia which Smith has said he'd like to bring into the Arrow TV series.

#3 – Green Arrow: Year One by Andy Diggle and Jock

This mini-series expanded on the Green Arrow origin story by showing that Oliver Queen had to deal with more than just surviving on a deserted island. He had to deal with smugglers trying to kill him. A lot of what makes up the flashbacks comes from this story line, creating the framework for what has become a major part of the show.

Also, the writer for the series Andy Diggle was the inspiration for the name of John Diggle and eventually John's brother Andy. Though TV Andy Diggle turned out to be not so nice.

#4 – Green Arrow: Archer's Quest by Brad Meltzer and Phil Hester

Kevin Smith's run on GA was so popular that when he decided to end it, whoever followed would have tough shoes to fill. Author Brad Meltzer was more than up to the challenge though, giving us a classic road trip for GA and Arsenal that tied a lot into the Denny O'Neil / Neal Adams run on Green Lantern / Green Arrow.

This series also brought Catman back into the light who would later become a major part of the Suicide Squad. Funny to see how he looked here compared to how he looks now.

#5 – Green Arrow: The Kill Machine by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino

The modest modern trade on my list and it's where Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino kicked off their eighteen issue run spanning from #17 to #34. This run filled out the character and mythos more and established John Diggle in the DC Comic universe. It also introduced new villains to GA's rogues gallery which he sorely needed.

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