When the WB Network first started promoting its new Arrow TV
series based on DC Comics’ Green Arrow I have to admit I was a bit skeptical.
Green Arrow has never been a favorite of mine except for the
short stint when he co-starred with Green Lantern in the Denny O’Neal/Neal Adams
series of the early 1970s.
Green Arrow had always come off as a wisecracking, Batman
wannabee. There was even a point when he
had a Green Arrowmobile. Talk about
lame!
But, as the character progressed over the years he did
manage to have a few shining moments-especially when teamed with his lady love
Black Canary. Green Arrow seemed
destined to be a second string DC character forever.
That is until the Arrow TV series premiered.
Loosely based on Green Arrow’s origin the series took the
tired old story and gave it new life.
Here’s the original version: millionaire playboy Oliver
Queen winds up stranded on a deserted island.
In order to survive he adapts and one of his new adaptation skills is to
make a bow and arrow from native resources.
Isolated and left to his own devices for several years
Oliver became a phenomenal archer.
Eventually he is rescued and decides to take his new talent and his vast
fortune and fight crime. Pretty simple.
Not so in the arrow TV series. Yes, Oliver is stranded on an island for years
but only after his father is killed, he is washed up on a mysterious ‘inhabited’
island and suddenly finds himself in the fight for his life against unknown
assailants.
While on the island Oliver is captured, tortured, forced to
do anything in order to survive-and that includes killing others. Once rescued he is battered, scarred and his
entire demeanor has changed from a spoiled rich boy to a man with a mission:
revenge and justice served to those who killed his father and who control the
criminal element in Starling City.
Oliver sets out on a one-man vendetta against crime using
his new fighting and archery skills to their fullest. As the battle progresses he discovers new and
shocking secrets about his own family, associates and the power behind Starling
City.
Arrow: The Complete First Season Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet
Combo from Warner Bros. includes 23 episodes, a Arrow Comes Alive! featurette chronicling
Green Arrow’s transition from comics to
small screen, features on the fight choreographing for the series, special
effects, cast and crew interviews, unaired scenes, a Gag Reel and much more.