Green Arrow: the powerless archer of the Justice League and Smallville
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Everything you need to know about Green Arrow, the archer who stands beside Superman without a single superpower. Oliver Queen is born in 1941 in the same issue as Aquaman, joins the Justice League in 1961, then, in Smallville, played by Justin Hartley, becomes Clark's ally. The comics make him, in turn, the teammate, the adversary and the victim of the Man of Steel. You're about to discover these encounters, with dates to back them up, all the way to the Arrowverse crossovers.
📋 Contents
- Green Arrow is born in 1941, in the same issue as Aquaman
- Green Arrow in the Justice League: joined in 1961, left in 1980
- An archer without powers, the voice of the street
- 1986, The Dark Knight Returns: the kryptonite arrow
- 1995: Green Arrow dies to save Metropolis
- Injustice and American Alien: killed, then mistaken for Bruce Wayne
- Green Arrow in Smallville: Justin Hartley arrives in season 6
- Smallville, seasons 6 to 10: Oliver, Clark's ally until the finale
- Arrow and the Arrowverse: Oliver faces Tyler Hoechlin's Superman
- FAQ — Frequently asked questions
- Conclusion
Green Arrow is born in 1941, in the same issue as Aquaman
Green Arrow first appears in More Fun Comics #73, cover-dated November 1941, released in the United States on September 19, 1941. Mort Weisinger writes, George Papp draws. In it, Oliver Queen arrives with his sidekick Speedy, alias Roy Harper, born in the same pages. He is a trained human who fights with a bow, inspired by Robin Hood and by the serial The Green Archer, adapted from Edgar Wallace. Superman already has a three-year career behind him, ever since Action Comics #1.
The same issue launches Aquaman, in a separate story also written by Weisinger and drawn by Paul Norris: two future members of the League are born on the same day. Weisinger is also the bridge to Superman. Editor of the Superman comic from 1941 on, he runs the Superman line from the mid-1950s until his retirement, in 1970. At the end of 1941, Oliver and Speedy join the Seven Soldiers of Victory, in Leading Comics #1. That group is not the Justice League.
Key Facts
- Identity: Oliver Queen
- First appearance: More Fun Comics #73, cover-dated Nov. 1941
- Creators: Mort Weisinger and George Papp
- Powers: None: a bow, arrows, training
- Justice League: Justice League of America #4 (1961)
- In <em>Smallville</em>: Justin Hartley, seasons 6 to 10
Green Arrow in the Justice League: joined in 1961, left in 1980
Oliver joins the League in Justice League of America #4, cover-dated April–May 1961, in the story “Doom of the Star Diamond!” by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky. The League is looking for a new member, and an alien, Carthan, is holding the archer prisoner. Superman and Batman find Carthan's ship. Oliver frees the others with a diamond-tipped arrow, and the team votes him in. He is the first member added to the founders, Superman among them. For Clark's place in the group, read our feature on Superman in the Justice League.
He leaves the League in #181, cover-dated August 1980, by Gerry Conway and Dick Dillin. His reason, in substance: the team has become too powerful. When half the members can move mountains, the small fights that affect people's lives no longer count. Superman appears in that issue.
An archer without powers, the voice of the street
Oliver has no superpowers, in every version: the comics, Smallville, Arrow. A bow, arrows, training. The writers play on this contrast with Superman. In 1970, in Green Lantern (vol. 2) #76, cover-dated April 1970, Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams pair him with Hal Jordan in a series focused on social issues, where Oliver stands up for the underprivileged. That duo features in our history of the alliance between Green Lantern and Superman.
The animated series Justice League Unlimited keeps this distrust, starting with “Initiation,” which aired in the United States on July 31, 2004. Green Arrow, voiced by Kin Shriner in the original version, has turned down several invitations to join the League, and cosmic threats hold no appeal for him.
1986, The Dark Knight Returns: the kryptonite arrow
In 1986, Frank Miller delivers The Dark Knight Returns, a four-issue miniseries inked by Klaus Janson and colored by Lynn Varley. In it, Superman works for the U.S. government. An aging Oliver Queen appears in the final issue. He has lost his left arm, and he holds Superman responsible for it. The scene of the loss is never shown.
Oliver has warned Batman that the government is sending Superman after him. During the final duel in Crime Alley, he fires at Superman an arrow tipped with synthetic kryptonite supplied by Batman. That shot lets Batman get the upper hand: a one-armed archer turns the tide of the fight. For context, read our account of the alliance and the rivalry between Superman and Batman. For what the green rock does, open our guide to kryptonite.
1995: Green Arrow dies to save Metropolis
Chuck Dixon writes Oliver's death in Green Arrow (vol. 2) #100 and #101, cover-dated September and October 1995. In it, Oliver infiltrates the Eden Corps, a group of eco-terrorists ready to unleash a biological weapon on Metropolis. His hand gets caught in the bomb's detonator: if he pulls it out, the device goes off. As early as #100, Superman offers to cut off his arm. Oliver refuses, dies in the explosion in #101, and the city is saved.
The exchange is read as a tribute to The Dark Knight Returns (1986), in which Oliver lost an arm. Retailers, who thought everything would be settled in #100, had ordered too few copies of #101: it has become fairly rare. Connor Hawke, Oliver's son, takes up the bow, and Oliver returns in 2001 in Green Arrow (vol. 3) #1.
Injustice and American Alien: killed, then mistaken for Bruce Wayne
In Tom Taylor's Injustice: Gods Among Us – Year One, whose first digital chapter came out in the United States on January 15, 2013, Superman becomes a dictator. Oliver joins Batman's Insurgency. During the raid on the Fortress of Solitude, one of his arrows ricochets off Superman and wounds Jonathan Kent. Superman kills the archer, even as Martha Kent begs him to stop. In Year Two, Black Canary takes on Superman to avenge Oliver: she brings him down with kryptonite, but a Yellow Lantern ring restores his strength, and he leaves her for dead. The whole arc is told in our complete history of Injustice.
The tone changes with Superman: American Alien #3, the story “Parrot” by Max Landis and Joëlle Jones, published in the United States on January 13, 2016. Picked up by a yacht full of partygoers after a plane crash, young Clark is mistaken by Oliver Queen for his friend Bruce Wayne. A simple case of mistaken identity, far from the arrows.
Green Arrow in Smallville: Justin Hartley arrives in season 6
Smallville follows the young Clark, played by Tom Welling, on The WB from October 16, 2001, then on The CW until May 13, 2011, in the United States. M6 launched it in France on January 4, 2003. Oliver Queen arrives in season 6, played by Justin Hartley. Just before that, the actor had the title role in the Aquaman pilot, known as Mercy Reef, produced by the creators of Smallville, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The CW never turned it into a series.
Hartley has a recurring role in season 6, appears only in “Siren” in season 7, then joins the main cast for seasons 8 to 10: 72 episodes in all. In the French version, the hero is called l'Archer vert. In “Sneeze,” Oliver has Lex kidnapped. A satellite captured Lex's powers when Zod possessed him, and Oliver wants to uncover their secret. In “Arrow,” a masked archer steals Martha Kent's necklace. Lois, played by Erica Durance, nicknames him the “Green Arrow Bandit.” Clark discovers that the thief is Oliver, Oliver learns about Clark's powers, and he offers to team up with him.
| Episode (original title) | Number | In the United States | In France (M6) |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Sneeze” | 6x02 | October 5, 2006 | “Sous surveillance,” March 2007 |
| “Arrow” | 6x04 | October 19, 2006 | “L'Archer vert,” March 2007 |
| “Justice” | 6x11 | January 18, 2007 | “Les cinq fantastiques,” April 2007 |
Smallville, seasons 6 to 10: Oliver, Clark's ally until the finale
After a rough start, Oliver becomes a trusted ally and a friend of Clark's. In “Rage” (6x07), an experimental healing drug makes Oliver violent, and Clark keeps him from letting Lex die. In “Hydro” (6x10, January 11, 2007, in the United States), the roles are reversed: to protect Oliver's secret from Lois, Clark puts on the Green Arrow costume. Then “Justice,” written and directed by Steven S. DeKnight, sets up the series' first League. Oliver brings together Bart Allen, Arthur Curry and Victor Stone against Lex's Project 33.1, and Clark joins them. Here, it is the archer without powers who assembles the team.
In season 10, in “Supergirl” (October 8, 2010, in the United States), Oliver publicly reveals that he is Green Arrow. He marries Chloe Sullivan in “Fortune,” and Hartley directs the episode “Dominion.” In the finale, aired in the United States on May 13, 2011, Oliver is possessed by Darkseid, and Clark sets him free. Several spin-off projects were floated, including a series in which Oliver would have led the Justice League: none of them ever saw the light of day. To place each episode, follow our guide to Smallville season by season.
Arrow and the Arrowverse: Oliver faces Tyler Hoechlin's Superman
Arrow, which aired on The CW in the United States from October 10, 2012, to January 28, 2020, follows another Oliver Queen, played by Stephen Amell, in a continuity separate from Smallville. Superman enters this universe through Supergirl: Tyler Hoechlin puts on the cape starting with the season 2 premiere, aired in the United States on October 10, 2016.
Oliver and this Superman first cross paths in “Elseworlds,” aired from December 9 to 11, 2018, in the United States. Oliver and Barry Allen each wake up in the other's life and set out to get help from Kara, alias Supergirl, on Earth-38. There they meet Clark and Lois, played by Elizabeth Tulloch, at the Kent farm. In the Arrow part, the Superman in a black suit whom Oliver fights is Deegan, also played by Hoechlin. A nod for fans: Justin Hartley's Green Arrow costume shows up on Earth-90.
They meet again in “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” aired from December 2019 to January 2020 in the United States. Oliver dies in the very first part while protecting the evacuation of Earth-38, Hoechlin's world. He becomes the Spectre, recreates the universe, then dies again in the Arrow part, aired in the United States on January 14, 2020. The event, which also brings back Brandon Routh's Superman, has its own article: Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Mix-ups to avoid
- Green Lantern: Hal Jordan wears a power ring; Oliver only has a bow.
- Seven Soldiers: the 1941 group is not the Justice League, which he joined in 1961.
- Two Aquamen: Hartley plays A.C. Curry in Mercy Reef; the Arthur Curry of Smallville is Alan Ritchson.
- Two Olivers: Justin Hartley in Smallville, Stephen Amell in Arrow.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
Does Green Arrow have superpowers?
No. Oliver Queen is a trained human archer, in the comics as well as in Smallville and Arrow. The healing drug he takes in “Rage,” an episode of Smallville, does not make him a superhuman.
When does Green Arrow first appear?
In More Fun Comics #73, cover-dated November 1941, released in the United States on September 19, 1941, by Mort Weisinger and George Papp. Aquaman is born in the same issue.
Is Green Arrow a founding member of the Justice League?
No. He joins the League in Justice League of America #4, in 1961: he is the first member added to the founders. He leaves it in #181, cover-dated August 1980.
Who plays Green Arrow in Smallville?
Justin Hartley, in seasons 6 to 10, aired from 2006 to 2011 in the United States, over 72 episodes. In the French version, the character is called l'Archer vert.
In which Smallville episode does Clark discover that Oliver is Green Arrow?
In “Arrow,” episode 4 of season 6, aired in the United States on October 19, 2006, then on M6 in March 2007 under the title “L'Archer vert.”
Why does Green Arrow shoot Superman in The Dark Knight Returns?
Oliver has lost his left arm and holds Superman responsible for it. An ally of Batman, he fires an arrow tipped with synthetic kryptonite at Superman, which gives Batman the advantage.
Does Superman kill Green Arrow in Injustice?
Yes, toward the end of Year One of Injustice (2013), during the raid on the Fortress of Solitude. In Year Two, Black Canary tries to avenge him: she brings Superman down with kryptonite, but he regains the upper hand and leaves her for dead.
Does Green Arrow cross paths with Superman in the Arrow series?
Yes, in “Elseworlds” (December 2018 in the United States) and in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” (from December 2019 to January 2020 in the United States), facing Tyler Hoechlin's Superman.
Conclusion
Green Arrow reminds Superman that it is possible to fight without powers. A teammate in 1961, he leaves in 1980, fires the kryptonite arrow in 1986, and dies to save Metropolis in 1995. On screen, Justin Hartley makes him Clark's friend in Smallville, and Stephen Amell crosses paths with Tyler Hoechlin's Superman.
To see where the archer stands among Clark's partners, discover his alliances in the DC universe. And the other hero born in More Fun Comics #73, Aquaman, has his own article.