24 Years Ago, DC Gave Readers the Best Version of its Most Overlooked Hero

Green Arrow is a superhero who doesn’t always get the recognition he deserves. He played a significant role in the development of comic books, with storylines like “Hard-Traveling Heroes” and “The Longbow Hunters” helping to shape the character into the hero fans know and love today. While popular in the 1980s, his success waned in the 1990s, leading to the character being killed off and replaced. He experienced a revival in 2001 when writer/director Kevin Smith reimagined him in Green Arrow (Vol. 3). Smith’s 15-issue run was so successful – making the book DC’s top seller – that DC continued the series with another writer from outside the comic book world, Brad Meltzer, a college friend of DC writer Judd Winick who had become a novelist. Partnering with artist Phil Hester, Meltzer then delivered what many consider to be the definitive Green Arrow story.








