Hawkeye started out as a villain but became an Avenger, a West Coast Avenger, and even a Great Lakes Avenger and a Thunderbolt! Clint Barton has been a carnival trick artist, an enemy of Iron Man, and a friend, follower and thorn-in-the-side of Captain America. He and Mockingbird were married. He is sarcastic, bold, cunning and charismatic.
Green Arrow has been a mainstay of the DC Universe for decades. He has been a member of the Justice League of America and partnered in a memorable series with Green Lantern. Oliver Queen was a rich industrialist and a voice of the people. He has had a long running relationship with Black Canary. He is outgoing, charming, brash, and sarcastic.
And there are others that can be considered as well. There is Kate Bishop, the new Hawkeye! And Connor Hawke, the replacement Green Arrow! There is Roy Harper, Speedy, or as he is known now - Arsenal! There is Wyatt McDonald, the Squadron Supreme archer, who started as the other world's Hawkeye and eventually changed names to the Golden Archer (ugh!) and the Black Archer. And also Archer from Valiant's Archer & Armstrong series! I am sure there are others as well.
Who is the best archer! Let's compare and contrast, and share your thoughts today about the bow-and-arrow comic book crowd!
14 comments:
It's Hawkeye.
Hawkeye.
Hawkeye, Hawkeye, Hawkeye.
HB-eye.
Surely Robin Hood has appeared in a comic-book at some time ; )
Ha ha.i meant to include some old Gold Key Robin Hood. Considering the majority of these characters were based on Robin Hood ( or called his name sarcastically) it would have been appropriate. Good call Colin!
Other than Robin Hood - who is the best archer character?
And how did I forget Yondu?
I always like Hawkeye better when I was a kid. Although my favorite Mego action figure was Green Arrow. (But then again they never made Hawkeye).
The first time I can remember really liking Hawkeye was when he appeared in an Iron Man episode of the old Marvel Superheroes cartoon (the poorly animated one that used actual comic panels and had super catchy theme songs). It was the "animated" version of his first appearance, and I thought it was really cool when I saw it.
I don't know why, but I've always found Green Arrow to be a bit boring for some reason. I like him well enough, but he's always just kind of been the poor man's Batman with a bow, IMO. However, I started liking him a lot more when he began appearing on the Justice League Unlimited animated series. He was actually pretty cool in that.
I also watched the live action show for several seasons, but recently gave it up. It starts to get a little stupid when every supporting character eventually becomes some kind of superhero (his bodyguard, his girlfriend, his sister, his sister's boyfriend, etc.). Plus, the shorelines were getting a bit redundant and just dragging on forever. Watching it was feeling like more of a chore than a pleasure. (Those are also the same reasons I gave up on watching The Flash as well).
So my answer is Hawkeye, lol.
In my above post in the 4th paragraph the word "shorelines" is supposed to be "storylines". Stupid auto-correct!!
I shall echo the sentiment: Where's Yondu!! He was my favourite as a kid (I think I just liked the real cool visual on him).
And yes, I'm one of those fuddy-duddies who was not thrilled by the characterization in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Yes, whoever that guy was, was an interesting character and the trick arrow stuff made for some interesting sequences, but that guy wasn't MY Yondu!
As for Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow, I guess I'd choose Hawkeye just by virtue of being a more Marvel guy, but I never really cared a huge amount for the character. I like wise-cracking hotheads more in the Ben Grimm vein, with a bit o' pathos behind 'em.
Did I mention I prefer Yondu?
-david p.
Sometimes I felt that Hawkeye and Green Arrow were out of their depth hanging out with people like Thor and Superman; I think they worked better as street-level heroes, though it's hard to imagine Hawkeye not being an Avenger.
I liked the way Grell wrote Green Arrow, as a social justice crusader who took on dope dealers and environmental polluters instead of goofs like Clock King.
I couldn't say. For consistency, Hawkeye wins. The only time I haven't really liked him was during the West Coast Avengers. I have even tended to think of him as always one step away from taking on Cap's mantle should the need arise, but apparently no writer has had the same feeling.
As for Green Arrow, on the whole I think his characterization is spottier, but when he's good, he's very, very good. He expresses a viewpoint which otherwise doesn't get a lot of voicing in comics and when that's well done, it's inspiring.
And if we're going to dredge up archers who didn't get the nod this time, I'll throw in Moonbow from the pages of Firestorm as my exercise in obscurantism for the day.
Cheers!
From Terry in Virginia:
I can think of at least two other archers worth mentioning:
Alias the Spider appeared in Quality Comics in the 1940s, written and drawn by Paul Gustavson, one of the better artists of the period. DC bought the rights to the Quality characters and used him sporadically, guest starring with the Freedom Fighters and All-Star Squadron in the 1970s and 1980s. DC reprinted at least one of his stories in a 100 Page Super Spectacular. James Robinson later retconned him into being a bad guy in his Starman series, but I prefer to ignore that aspect of his history. You can find some of his 1940s public domain appearances online if you want to see some cool Golden Age artwork.
The other was Fawcett's Golden Arrow, who appeared in Whiz Comics along with Captain Marvel in the 1940s. I used to have one issue of that series, but I don't remember him being all that remarkable.
Hawkeye or Green Arrow? It's an even split for me. I love the O'Neil/Adams version of Green Arrow (and the new costume). Mike Grell's interpretation was good (and for Mature Audiences). I never liked the unsubtle "liberal versus conservative" arguments between GA and Hawkman in the Len Wein Justice League -- it came off as an artificial and phony way of presenting "characterization," which came much more naturally over at Marvel.
Hawkeye was always such a jerk in the early days of the Avengers, but I really grew to like him. I also think the movie version, while very different from the comic book character, is pretty cool. But I have to say it -- Hawkeye's costume is the ugliest costume in the history of comics. I really preferred the temporary redesign from the late 60s/early 70s Avengers. The movie Hawkeye more closely resembles that version.
That's my 12 cents for the day....
I’ve always liked Green Arrow - especially the 1970’s, stick it to the man Oliver Queen. His adventures weren’t just carbon copies of Batman. In fact, he was one of the few DC heroes in the 70’s that actually had a distinct personality. He was all about social justice, positive change, and making thing right for everyone. He was a bleeding heart liberal at a time when most superheroes were simply cookie cutter copies of each other. He would’ve fit well in the Marvel universe.
The "real" Robin Hood has starred in comics, occasionally.
ME published a Robin Hood comic in the 1950's. It was a licensed tie-in with the TV series, and had photo covers of Richard Greene.
At about the same time, Quality Comics published Robin Hood Tales #1-6. When Quality went out of business, DC acquired their characters and titles, and continued RHT from #7 through #14. Robin Hood also ran as a secondary feature in The Brave & the Bold in 1957. Some of those stories were reprinted in DC Special #22-#25 in the 1970's.
Dell Four Color did an adaptation of Disney's 1952 Robin Hood movie.
Gilberton's Classics Illustrated naturally had a Robin Hood issue, as well as one of Ivanhoe (which included Robin as a sort of "guest star").
In the Bronze Age, Marvel's Classics Comics did a Robin Hood adaptation in #34 (1978).
Disney made a Robin Hood cartoon movie in 1973, with anthropomorphic animals (Robin and Marian were foxes, Little John was a bear, King Richard a lion, etc.). Gold Key/Western published a comic book series with the characters in 1974 and '75.
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