io9: Green Arrow

The junior gigolo from Hung is the new Green Arrow!

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:20:00 PST

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CW is gearing up for their new Green Arrow live-action TV series, as they've already cast their main character, the arrow-shooting, millionaire vigilante Oliver Queen. More »

Artist transforms constipated Victorian photos into flamboyant scifi heroes

Cyriaque Lamar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:15:00 PST

We've seen kaiju inserted into yard sale paintings and vampiric 1800s facsimiles of Nicolas Cage. In the spirit of such portraiture comes Alex Gross' series of science fiction cabinet cards, in which he takes poor dead bastards who kicked it 100+ years ago and repaints them as pop icons. Gross will be presenting a new batch of cards in Los Angeles next month. Here are some of our favorites.

Will CW's Green Arrow series be the next Smallville, or Gossip Girl with weapons?

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:55:00 PST

Green Arrow series be the next Smallville, or Gossip Girl with weapons?" alt="Click here to read Will CW's Green Arrow series be the next Smallville, or Gossip Girl with weapons?" src="http://cache.io9.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/small_3a5dbb243db72d20a0af4eb97f717fa2.jpg"/>

Green Arrow is getting his own TV show! The CW is prepping a Green Arrow series with Greg Berlanti (Eli Stone), Marc Guggenheim (No Ordinary Family, FlashForward) and Andrew Kreisberg (Fringe, W13) writing and producing. More »

DC Relaunch Snap Judgments, Week 1 - Blue Mohawks & Blue Jeans Superman

Cyriaque Lamar — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:00:00 PDT

We've already crowned Animal Man as the best thing to come out of the DC relaunch, but what about the other twelve titles from last week? More »

In comics, Green Arrow trades bows for missiles and House MD goes Lovecraft

Cyriaque Lamar — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:00:00 PDT

In the summertime, nothing beats a stack of ice-cold comics. Seriously, just put them in your freezer for two hours and slap them on your naked flesh like a tuxedo. Here are some titles to cool off with. More »

A beginner's guide to Green Lantern

Alasdair Wilkins — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:30:00 PDT

Green Lantern is quite possibly the most fiendishly complicated of all the superheroes, surrounded by cosmic mythology, strange aliens, and convoluted backstory. But let us help you through the insanity with this beginner's guide to all things Green Lantern. More »

Five comic book characters whose movies should be rated R

Esther Inglis-Arkell — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:00:00 PST

No matter what Rob Liefeld thinks, we're not sure that Deadpool needs an R rating. But there are some characters we're dying to see in salty, untamed R-rated action. Here are five comic-book heroes whose movies shouldn't be for kids. More »

Fringe shows us its very own alternate DC Universe

Alasdair Wilkins — Fri, 21 May 2010 09:30:00 PDT

The Fringe season finale took us back to the slightly alternate universe - but this time it wasn't just the characters and Earth's history that were different. Meet Red Lantern and Red Arrow, two flagship heroes of Earth-2's DC Universe. More »

What Kind Of Unpowered Superhero Are You?

Cyriaque Lamar — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:11:15 PDT

With Kick-Ass in the theaters this weekend, you may be considering superheroics as a career yourself. But wait! What kind of superhero will you be - the neighborhood champion or the deodorant-eschewing, bloodthirsty lunatic? Find out now! More »

Superhero Tragedy Porn Is Bad For Comics

Cyriaque Lamar — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:14:08 PST

In our post-Watchmen era, superhero writers often turn to dark'n'gritty plots to give their comics greater narrative heft. Unfortunately, these "adult" story lines are to tragedy what porn is to sex: a hyper-stylized, wholly disposable facsimile of the real thing. More »

The 75 Books You Should Own For DC Comics' 75th Anniversary

Graeme McMillan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:00:49 PST

2010 sees the 75th anniversary of DC Comics, which launched in February 1935 with the first issue of New Fun. Since then, it's gone on to publish some of the greatest comics ever. Here're seventy-five you really should've read already. More »

4 Reasons Why Zombies And Superheroes Don't Mix

Graeme McMillan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:00:09 PDT

Marvel Comics' Necrosha launches this week, joining DC's Blackest Night, Marvel's own Marvel Zombies and Dynamite's Super Zombies on the crowded superhero zombie comic stands. But isn't there something... wrong with the idea of superpowered zombies? More »

All You Need To Know To Watch Smallville

Graeme McMillan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:00:00 PDT

If tonight's episode of Smallville happens to be your first, here's the bad news: You've missed eight years' worth of backstory. Now, here's the good news: We're about to tell you all you need to know anyway. More »

Do DC and Marvel Need a Special Victims Unit?

Esther Inglis-Arkell — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:00:36 PDT

They might. They might even need a Very Special Episode or two, because - as Spider-Man has just demonstrated - many rapes in comics are unacknowledged. And they aren't the ones you're thinking of. More »

Smallville To Go "Eight More Seasons"? Really?

Graeme McMillan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:00:32 PDT

Will Smallville really last past its ninth season? Some are pointing to a comment from the show's Green Arrow, Justin Hartley, as proof that Clark Kent may be crusading for years to come, but we're not convinced. More »

Brave And Bold: Colorful, Jazzy And A Lot Of Fun

Graeme McMillan — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:00:16 PST

Obviously, the people behind new cartoon Batman: The Brave and The Bold didn't get the memo about how the caped crusader was supposed to be handled, post-Dark Knight. How else to explain a story that doesn't just take Batman to an alien planet to lead an insurrection, but also shows him breathing in the cold, airless vacuum of space? And yet, despite this colorful insanity - or, more likely, because of it - this may be the greatest Batman cartoon we've seen in years. More »

Batman: The Brave And The Bold Premieres Tonight

Graeme McMillan — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:30:00 PST

The spirit of Bob Haney lives on with tonight's premiere of Batman: The Brave And The Bold on Cartoon Network at 8pm. The new show teams up a happier, gentler Batman than we've seen for awhile with a host of lesser-known DC Comics superheroes, including Green Arrow, Aquaman and Plastic Man, starting tonight with the Blue Beetle. From what we've seen of the show so far, it looks like it's going to be a pitched somewhere between the 1960s Adam West show and the Bruce Timm Justice League Unlimited series - which is to say, exactly the kind of Batman that I've been waiting years to see more of. We'll have a review of the premiere tomorrow for you. More »

Who Should Lose Their Superhero Card?

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:00:00 PST

Some superheroes are just more "super" than others. It's just a fact that the superhero genre is a catch-all, which includes a bunch of costumed adventurers and monsters — some of whom aren't even that heroic. So it's time to clean house at the Hall of Justice. Which characters should be stripped of the superhero label? It's up to you! More »

What Movie Will Be The Next Dark Knight?

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:00:00 PDT

Click to viewEven if The Dark Knight hadn't broken sales records - and proved a superhero movie could make you think - there would still be a spandex avalanche coming our way in the next few years. But now, it's inevitable that every one of those films will be compared to Dark Knight. Will any of them measure up? Is this even a fair standard to apply to capes-and-CGI pictures? Here's our forecast of upcoming superhero films - and our verdict on which one has the best chance of being the next Knight. Obviously, Christopher Nolan's third Bat-film, if it actually happens, stands a pretty great chance of being up there with his second. But since there's officially no word on that project right now, here are the superhero films that are actually in the pipeline: The movie: The Spirit, Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's classic comic, coming this Xmas. Why it could be Knight-ed: It's another off-kilter look at an old-school superhero. And the focus is very much on the dark, dystopian city. (Hence the ad campaign, "My City Screams!" Aaaa!) Frank Miller pretty much invented the Christian Bale/Chris Nolan version of Batman, with The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One. and now he's finally getting to make his own superhero movie. Why it could fall short: The trailers look campy as hell. The Spirit is not really your "dark knight" kind of hero, and he lends himself more to a certain amount of goofiness. Instead of Heath Ledger's unnerving Joker, the Spirit will give us Samuel L. Jackson in eyeliner and a fur coat, chewing the scenery like never before. The movie: Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Why it could be Knighted: It's another dark, twisted look at superheroes where the good guys are less than pure. In fact, there's a lot of ethical tangles that could remind people of Bruce Wayne's mass wiretapping in Dark Knight. The psychopathic vigilante Rorschach could be a bit like Heath Ledger's Joker. Nite Owl is like a Batman who can't get it up, according to director Zack Snyder. It'll be visually arresting, judging from the footage I've seen. Why it could fail:Watchmen is trying really hard to capture the original graphic novel, keeping the 1985 setting and the Cold War themes. So it's more like an alternate historical epic. It's also more of a geek wet dream and less of a mainstream look at crime and retribution in a precarious society. Nothing in the movie will be that shocking or startling, because anyone who cares already knows what happens. I imagine most people's experience of watching Watchmen as being more like ticking stuff from the graphic novel off a mental checklist. One of the great things about Knight was that, even with all the spoilers I'd read, I still had no clue where the sequence with two boats and two detonators was going. The movie: Wolverine. Why it could be Knight-ed: It's another dark superhero-ish story that has connections to real-life issues like the War On Terror, thanks to a storyline about young Wolverine joining the military. Plus it includes creepy experiments and stuff, and Wolverine has to face Sabretooth, who's like his dark reflection. And it sounds as though Wolverine's girlfriend probably dies toward the end, if they're following the comics. Why it could fall short: It's going to be as dumb as X-Men 3. We're already hearing whispers that Fox, the studio that messed up I, Robot, X-Men 3 and so many other movies, has been meddling with Wolverine as well, trying to make it less dark. Plus any actual character development or story has to make room for 1,000 cameos of X-favorites. The movie: Green Hornet, directed by Stephen Chow and starring Chow and Seth Rogen. Why it could be Knight-ed: Well, it's another movie that deconstructs the superhero mythos, using a hero who's sort of like Batman: a rich guy who fights crime in a mask. It'll feature a superhero (the Hornet) who's less famous than his sidekick (Kato, played by Bruce Lee in the 1960s). Why it could fall short: Well, it's a comedy, so it probably won't be that dark. Rogen's co-writing the script, which means it could have some self-conscious superhero humor but it could also be a bit painful. The movie: Green Lantern Why it could be Knight-ed: Every DC Comics movie from now on is going to try and be like The Dark Knight. This one sounds like it'll be home run, in any case: a test pilot, struggling with his pain over the death of his father, gets a magic ring from space and gets thrust head-first into the battle against a superbeing named Legion, who's already killed several ring-wearers. Why it could fall short: It's Green Lantern. It's supposed to be about the wish fulfillment of getting a ring that can do anything, wearing bright green spandex without looking like a doofus, and becoming the galaxy's greatest hero. And co-writer Marc Guggenheim already said it won't be a "dark" superhero movie. The movies: A whole slate of Marvel comics vehicles, including Captain America, Iron Man II and The Avengers. Why they could be Knight-ed: With Iron Man, Marvel proved it could make its second-tier characters fun and relatable, by giving them conflicts that connected them to the real world, like Tony Stark's weapons being used by the bad guys in Afghanistan. Why it could fall short: None of these characters is really that dark, nihilistic or urban. If Marvel tries to make Captain America or the Avengers too much like Dark Knight, they'll just end up with a mess. Want a Marvel version of TDK? Make a new Daredevil movie. He's the other urban vigilante character that Frank Miller revitalized in the 1980s, and his best storylines are very Nolan-esque. The movie: Superman: The Man Of Steel Why it could be Knight-ed: See above, with Green Lantern. Warners wants all the DC Comics projects to be like its biggest hit. Warners execs have already suggested the next Super-film will be as dark as the character can get. Why it could fall short: Come on, it's Superman. He wears bright colors because he's the most optimistic superhero. And the last Superman film, Superman Returns, was underwhelming in large measure because it was kinda dark. The movie: Kick-Ass, based on the comic by Mark "Wanted" Millar Why it could be Knight-ed: Wanted brought a kinetic, trippy action movie sensibility to the story of a super-assassin. More importantly, it was crammed with morally gray, self-centered characters and had a stark will-to-power sort of message. Kick-Ass, the saga of a wannabe superhero and a little girl who goes around hacking people to bits, looks like it'll be even more violent and nihilistic. Why it could fall short: It's gritty, violent and amoral - but will it actually make you think, after you're done watching people get splattered? I'm not convinced there's a point to Kick-Ass, any more than there was to Wanted. (Other than, "People suck, and it's cool to be the baddest.") The movie: Super-Max, aka Green Arrow Why it could be Knight-ed: The pet project of David S. Goyer, who cowrote the two Nolan Bat-films. This is the story of a superhero, Green Arrow, who gets accused of a crime he didn't commit. And he gets locked into a super-prison that's chock full of supervillains who want him dead. He doesn't have his gear, and he has no special abilities without it. And he has to break out of this high-tech super-prison, teaming up with criminals along the way. Why it could fall short: It could fail to get made for some reason. They could cast Hayden Christensen as Green Arrow. There could be an invasion of space monkeys that enslave us and force us to pick their nits. Ding ding ding! I think we have a winner. If you're judging upcoming superhero films by the Dark Knight yardstick, the most promising of the bunch (apart from the hypothetical third Bat-Nolan outing) is Super-Max. More »

Smallville Doesn't Care About Green People. Thankfully.

Graeme McMillan — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:40:00 PDT

Last night's Smallville didn't just give you a very rushed version of the origin of Green Arrow, it also gave any over-partying celeb the perfect excuse for whatever drunken behavior they want. Just stumble forward into someone's arms and remember to say these magic words: "I've been poisoned... I only have twelve hours to live!" More »

Superhero Cops And Star Trek Keep A Quiet Week Of Comics Upbeat

Graeme McMillan — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:00:00 PDT

As the American economy crashes and burns around our ears, it's comforting to know that the comic industry is doing its bit to help out your bank balance by having an exceptionally quiet week filled with... well, not an awful lot of things to look at, really. Isn't it unusually reassuring to know that someone out there is (accidentally) on your side? More »

Smallville's Season Premiere Brings the Crazy and... The Enjoyable?

Graeme McMillan — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:13:19 PDT

If there's one thing that the season premiere of Smallville showed, it's that they don't lack for ambition. Acting talent, believable dialogue or any shred of plot that doesn't make you think that the writers went to the Roger Corman School of Writing, sure, but ambition? They've got that in spades. That's how we ended up a plot that brought together Russian terrorists, mind control serums and, of course, Lois Lane dressed up in a ridiculous outfit. Welcome back, Clark. More »

Secrets Of Super Max's Prison And Terminator 4's Killing Machines

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:00:00 PDT

The playing field between humans and machines has never been slantier, judging from new spoilers about the new and deadly Terminators in Terminator 4 and the automated super-prison that Green Arrow gets locked inside in Super Max. We also learn a little bit more about the backstories of killer super-car movie Death Race and killer video-game movie Game. There are tons of new Heroes spoilers, including a video and a sneak peek at episode six, and a bunch of Chuck news. Also, some tantalizing hints about Lost, Battlestar Galactica and Eureka. Plus, your morning wouldn't be complete without another awesome Knight Rider video. (Right? Right?) You can't fight the unstoppable spoiler machine. More »

Are We Heading For A Summer Superhero Glut?

Graeme McMillan — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:00:08 PDT

Hope everyone out there liked The Dark Knight, because if Warner Bros have their way, there will be plenty more where that came from - Four such movies a year, in fact. Variety is reporting that, while the studio may be light on summer blockbusters next year, they're looking to DC Comics in particular to remedy that in future. More »

Only Big-Name Villains For Supermax

Graeme McMillan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:05:12 PDT

For everyone waiting to see the Riddler show up in the sequel to The Dark Knight, you're probably going to have a long wait coming. But that doesn't mean that he won't get his day in the cinematic sun - He's just one of the supervillains being lined up to appear in Warner Bros' planned Green Arrow Prison Break movie. More »

Kevin Smith Takes On Batman

Graeme McMillan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:20:59 PDT

Just announced during the DC Nation panel, Kevin Smith will be writing a three-issue Batman miniseries, Batman: Cacophony, starting in November. The miniseries will bring Onomatopoeia, the villain from Smith's Green Arrow run, into the Batman universe, as well as featuring appearances from the Joker and other more familiar Bat-Villains. When Smith, known for his late and unfinished Marvel comics, was told that the series starts in November, he laughed and said "Good luck." Nonetheless, the series is planned to run through January 2009. More »

Will Bruce Wayne Visit Smallville?

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:40:00 PDT

The B-team of the Justice League is all set to appear again in the new season of Smallville. Kelly Souders, a producer and writer for WB's superhero series confirmed the return of the Green Arrow, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman in the next season. So if this truly is an origins story and since Superman is a founding member of the Justice League, when do we get to see the other starting members including Batman and Wonder Woman? Click through for more season eight spoilers. More »

Trapped In A Shape-Shifting Prison Full Of Supervillains

Meredith Woerner — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:05:00 PDT

Superhero movies' best writer is taking the genre someplace it's never been before: a maximum security prison. David Goyer (Batman Begins) is working on Super Max, a movie stuffed to the brim with comic book baddies. Super Max follows the Green Arrow's fall from grace and grueling experience in a super-prison. More »

DC Makes Decisions To Bring Superheroes Into Politics

Graeme McMillan — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:30:00 PDT

While Green Arrow has never made much effort to hide his particular brand of liberalism - including running for (and winning) the role of Mayor of Star City - the same can't be said of other superheroes. Is Batman really the hardline republican that we all suspect him of being? What kind of "American Way" does Superman stand for, anyway? Those questions, as well as many others that you didn't even know anyone wanted to ask, will be answered this year in DC Universe: Decisions, a new series from DC Comics due this fall. More »

The Slowest, Stretchiest Countdowns In Science Fiction History

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:47:00 PDT

When life and death for everyone hangs on a ten-second countdown, those ten seconds can feel endless because of your adrenaline rush and your super-focused attention. Or maybe those seconds actually are endless. (Like this awesome moment from Time Chasers via MST3K — thanks t3knomanser!) Science fiction TV shows (and some movies) have a long and honorable tradition of cheating on final countdowns, where seconds last ridiculously long. It's like ten, nine, eight and a half, eight and a quarter.... Here are some of the most unreal countdowns from science fiction. More »

Post-Patriots and Other Fakers In This Week's Comics

Graeme McMillan — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:00:00 PDT

Here's hoping that you guys are ready to read about Tony Stark this week, as an incredible amount of Marvel Comics' output has some kind of role for the soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture Iron Man. In comparison, DC only have three Batman-related books out, showing once again how willing they are to lose their market share in this competitive, movie-led environment. Will they never learn? More »

Warning: You May Hate Hayden Christensen In Jumper

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:00:07 PST

The first reviews of Jumper are starting to pop up online, and they're not good news for the people who thought Hayden Christensen might be likable (or even tolerable) this time around. The movie features a lot of scenes of people jumping off tall buildings and cliffs, and may leave you wanting to do the same. But fear not: We also have exciting Dragonball info, a new Hulk-related toy spoiler, a Sarah Connor preview, and info on Smallville and X-Factor. More »

Green Arrow's Shaft Makes Black Canary Scream On Smallville

Kevin Kelly — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:20:01 PST

Tonight's episode of Smallville features Green Arrow finally returning from the "wherever the hell he's been" limbo that the character has been languishing in since his informal Justice League decided to stop Lex's operations around the world. Although with that much superpower on a team you would have expected them to wrap things up a long time ago. Heck, Impulse and his speed powers could have taken care of it in an afternoon. Anyhow, he's back and he comes face to face with the Black Canary and her screaming O-face this clip above. More »