The socially conscious DC Comics superhero of Seattle arrived with a thrilling story inspired by real-life issues in the Emerald City.
In the new GREEN ARROW: REBIRTH #1 one-shot, Oliver Queen is living his double life as a playboy socialite and vigilante on the streets protecting those who can’t protect themselves. The CEO of Queen Industries and social justice warrior descended into a homeless camp called “The Jungle.”
In the real Seattle, “The Jungle” is an infamous stretch of woods that earned its nickname in the 1930’s. City leaders are working on plans to clear the encampments and find a new place for its homeless residents.
In this week’s action packed story Queen finds a homeless boy crying for his mom being led away by a stranger. When Queen jumps into action, the cloaked figure is matched blow for blow. The stranger is not a predator but it’s Black Canary aka Dinah Lance.
Queen and Lance work together to reunite the boy with his father. When they ask what happened to his mother the little boy tells them: The Underground Men.
They track down the Underground Men, who have been kidnapping several homeless people then auctioning them off on a market lead by a mystery man in a bizarre red mask. The bad guys tell the heroes, “these people are so irrelevant they may as well not exist.”
The Green Arrow declares, “someone cares.”
The Emerald Archer and Black Canary stop the auction and vow to hunt down the villains abducting and selling homeless victims.
Oliver and Dinah meet “again for the first time” with this new beginning. The super couple used to be married until a change in comics continuity. Now the vigilante heroes have met and are fighting crime together again.
Social justice is a longtime element of Green Arrow’s history. In the 1970’s Oliver and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) traveled across America in an old van taking on politically charged issues including drug addiction, racism, pollution. One of the famous stories of the run by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams saw Ollie discover his young sidekick was a heroin addict. Oliver stood for radical change and pro-active vigilante action against criminals.
Readers saw a scary comic book version of “The Jungle” but it’s a living horror every day and night for the homeless who stay there. Here’s more about the real Jungle from Seattle station KOMO. Real Change is one organization trying to make a difference.
Comics often reflect the real world in stories mixed with fantastic heroes. It’s thrilling to see Ollie and Dinah in action together and taking on socially driven stories. It was a surreal as a Seattle resident to see a story inspired by real life tragedy in our backyard. We’re excited for the duo’s mission to uncover and stop the conspiracy in the comics and hope it inspires readers to learn more.
GREEN ARROW: REBIRTH #1 by Benjamin Percy and Otto Schmidt is in comic book shops now.
By Editor