Ordinarily, "Meanwhile in 1943" is exactly the kind of panel caption phrase I'd make fun of (and certain not use). BUT... Geoff Johns, in his craziest-boldest reinvention in a career full of almost nothing but crazy-bold reinventions, has asserted as canon, repeatedly and with zero ambiguity that Ollie "Green Arrow" Queen, as we now know him, WENT BACK IN TIME WITH ROY HARPER AND LIVED as Green Arrow. Not Some Other Multiverse version of him. The one in comics right now.
Who is currently ... hopping through the Timescape so as to prevent The Great Disaster. You know; Green Arrow stuff.
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And his son, who I didn't know still existed, seems to be in the Legion, which I didn't know still existed. But if it DOES, then Section 3.1b of the Legion Constitution should still be in force:
"a member must have at least one genuine super-power not activated, assisted, or powered by extrinsic means and not possessed by the contemporary Terran population; and further, such super-power must be distinct from the super-power(s) possessed by any active member other than Superboy[.]" |
I could not be happier about this (the backwards time-jumping, not the forward one) for several reasons.
1. It makes Green Arrow even MORE ridiculous, when I thought that was impossible ("That's Our Geoff!")
2. It shows that underneath it all and left to his own devices, Ollie is totally That '40s Guy with goofy gimmicks, in his element fighting alongside Gadget Gal.
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| Gadget Gal and Green Arrow would definitely have been *ahem* "pals" and would have been having lots of non-not-having-polio-related "fun". |
3. ALL GOLDEN AGE GREEN ARROW IS NOW FAIR GAME. It's not some quaint "Earth-2" version of Ollie; IT'S OLLIE, in all his glorious stupidity and incompetence.
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| THIS scene especially. |
Now, #3 IS slightly ambiguous. The JSA exist both as the JLA's predecessors on Earth-1 AND in the Golden Age carnations as the main heroes on Earth-2, now. Really, it's true and an amusingly simple solution that allows writers (and us) to have our cake and eat it, too.
So, although we know that Earth-1 Ollie (and Roy) went to the '40s and fought crime there, we cannot say for CERTAIN that ALL the adventures we read in Golden Age Green Arrow stories are THEIRS and not, say, those of the Golden Age Green Arrow on Earth-2.
But it's still fair game. So let's all pick up our copies of World's Finest #9....
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| Yeah, no, not that one. |
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| Oh, yeah; that's the ticket. |
....and try to read:
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Let's see: Deadshot. Roy. Gadget Gal. And Prock, of course.
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| Seriously. Have you seen what he can do with a slingshot? Even WITH a broken arm? Season 1 finale, people. |
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| The captioner for Aquaman seems to have been moonlighting here. |
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Out of... the fishing net? I've lost the metaphorical thread, I'm afraid. But if it's a contest the likes of which I have never heard before, that would be "one where Green Arrow is the winner."
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So, Green Arrow and Roy DO win, then.
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| YES. |
Let's keep reading; I want to see who gets maimed for taking second place...
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| I'll assume the image is a metaphor. Splash pages usually were. |
The Legion is still alive. It is just waiting for its next retroboot now that Bendis has crashed and burned his version.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the super-powers, Karate Kid doesn't have any super-powers in the traditional sense. He is just really good at martial arts. So I guess being really good at archery would also count as a "super-power."
As I recall, they got around that with IIK's "super-finding-a-weak-spot' power...? Some such nonsense. The Legion's rules are abaolutely inviolable, until they need them not to be.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what’s canon and what’s not, but it had been suggested on-page that Ollie had meta-human aiming power. Only suggested, mind you, not established (thankfully).Therefore, Connor might have that? Of course, Connor was repeatedly told he’s not quite as good at archery as Ollie. If it’s established as “real,” the (stupid) super-aim might be his ticket to the Legion.
ReplyDelete-Mike Loughlin
Connor is not the subject of the post, just an aside. He does in fact have powers, but they have nothing to do with archery. Essentially, he's an NPC...
ReplyDeleteRegenerative Healing: Due to the genetic machinations of Doctor Sivana, Connor Hawke has accelerated healing and a higher resistance to pain.
Ageless Longevity: His healing power keeps him young, healthy and at his prime with much ease.
Enhanced Stamina: He tires at a very slow rate and needs minimal body requirements for survival.
Enhanced Physiological Attributes: His physical and mental attributes and capabilities have been healed of any natural genetic damages and his strength, speed, agility, reflexes and sensory system are at the peak of human limits.
Pain Tolerance: He can withstand the impact of multiple gunshots to the chest with minimal injury.
My favorite Legion rule was the "under 18" clause. Sure thing, you need to assemble a team to stop Mordru, the most important thing is to adopt Menudo's membership rules.
ReplyDelete- HJF1
I was trying to figure out a way to use the word "shaftsman" in conversation, but then I decided against it.
ReplyDeleteWe have an old saying in Interlac:
ReplyDelete“Never trust anyone over 18.”