Justin Hartley is Green Arrow... make that Hawkeye
Let’s get one thing clear. … the entire concept of “bringing a knife to a gun fight” is seen in a guy who shoots arrows at bad guys instead of using firearms. It’s just stupid. “What about a man who flies or sticks to walls like chewing gum!? Huh!?” – Shut up you.
Look, what makes the comic/sci-fi/fantasy universe work is “suspension of disbelief.” For example, 2001: A Space Odyssey is hands-down, the closest thing to reality in space that we’ll ever see on the screen. They got it right, even for a movie made in 1968. But Star Wars (the first movie, which is the last (6th) in the series) was infinitely more entertaining to the masses regardless of it’s ludicrous plausibility. You don’t hear, or see, lasers in space. You can’t walk on an asteroid with nothing more than a gas mask and Lord knows Tashi Station is the WORST place in the galaxy to get power converters! “So! What’s that have to do with my hero Hawkeye!!!” – SHUT up you!
Boomerang Arrow
The deal is that, even though all of these Star Wars flaws are true, we tend to “ignore the man behind the curtain” and suspend our disbelief while we are entertained. Can we believe in a man who flies or sticks to walls? … of course we can’t, but we waaaant to believe it soooo bad, that we will set aside our logic for the sake of entertainment.
Boxing Glove Arrow
What about a guy who paints a white skull on his chest and takes vengeance on the mobsters and bad guys? Who wouldn’t!? You tell me you wouldn’t after they did that to your wife and kids. The Punisher is probably the most believable character in the entire comic universe, movies aside where he’s friggin’ SWINGING FROM A CHANDELIER UPSIDE DOWN while firing twin 9 millimeters, that’s just stupid writing. I’ll take a flying man in skivies any day of the week over that scene. … that didn’t come out right, but you know what I mean.
“You’re still not getting to the point! Why do you hate Hawkeye? I love Hawkeye!” – egad. Let me finish. So Star Wars is flawed and our desires to want to be billionaire crime fighters or invulnerable heroes is so great we can over look the the realities of their inherent problems of existing in reality.
boxing Glove Arrow
This is not the case with a guy who shoots arrows at people who carry AK-47s, grenades and all other sorts of military hardware that is used in the field of war! Look, the idea that someone picks up a device that was developed by people who lived in mud back in the stone ages and was antiquated over 250 years ago is just ludicrous. Apparently Marvel AND DC never bothered looking into exactly why the American Indians lost the gun battles over the years. Yeah, we cheated and used germ warfare on them, but point is that they lost and not having a handgun or rifle played no small part in their tragedy.
OMG!!!
So, Smallville aside, Green Arrow, played by Justin Hartley, who does a spectacular role of Green Arrow, is still of disbelief proportions so great, that only a handful of people refuse to swallow it. … ok, so I’m the only one. Brian, co-owner of Superherostuff, in charge of the warehouse, says I’m full of it. Oh Yeah? These images of some of those highly plausible arrows is just a smattering of what DC has(had) going on. The whole Arrowete thing is just…. well just darn not believable.
“What’s this have to do with Hawkeye! He’s no GL! He wears a purple skirt, by golly!” – For the love of…. It doesn’t matter what color his outfit is, or if he’s wearing a skirt, they’re both using a weapon used by people in the stone age!!! It just doesn’t work in reality.
“But Hawkeye’s cool!” – .. sigh… What’s cool is that someone took the time to photoshop Justin Hartley’s GL into Hawkeye. THAT’S what’s cool. Aside from these two characters being pretty much the same thing, they shoot arrows (big deal) this is still a cool image, capturing both Hawkeye along with GL in a very cool pose with a very cool bow. For imagery, it works.
Tags: Green Lantern, Hawkeye, Justin Hartley
Your argument would only make sense if you carried it through to every hero. It’s no secret in our office that you love Batman. Batman, like Green Arrow, is a man without powers but with massive resources. Sure, he is smarter than Ollie but he is still just a man. He also doesn’t carry a gun but goes up against some of the most demented villains who most certainly pack a lot of firepower. Don’t get me wrong, I love Batman, but I would rather nail someone with a trick arrow than throw a ridiculous bat-a-rang at them! Talk about an antiquated weapon. But we still love him because he is cool. He faces down villains with more firepower than he has and he wins by smarts, force of will and cool toys that may not be practical but are fun. You suspend your disbelief because you want Batman to win. Same with Green Arrow and Hawkeye.
If Batman’s Batarang was his primary weapon that identified him as who he is, then I believe you’d be correct. But it’s not the case. In most of the situations Batman finds himself in, he is only throwing the Batarang to use as a grappling hook, in the older comics, now I believe, ever since Michael Keaton in the first Batman movie, he uses the gun to shoot the grappling hook, and as Rorschack did in Watchmen.
Yeah, he still throws it, on occasion when in close quarters, but it’s just not what he’s identified with. Batman is primarily identified with being 1) The Detective, who is able to solve complex cases and out strategize the opponent, even the entire Justice League, 2) a terrorist, striking fear and terror into the hearts of bad guys, and 3) a sneaky pummeler who sneaks up behind bad guys and beats the living crap out of them 4) a gadgeteer who has a ton of different technological devices that can be used in a multitude of situations.
A more analogous model of Oliver Queen’s quiver of “trick arrows” would be Batman’s utility belt. … which friggin’ ROCKS! How could it not, he even has Bat Shark Repellent in there for Christ’s Sake.
Whether it’s a bat-a-rang, a utility belt or a plethora of gadgets, most of those gadgets are still non-lethal and he is still taking on lot’s of bad guys with guns with nothing more than those gadgets and his fists. Olliver’s utility belt is his quiver, he has a ton of gadgets, just like Batman, they just all happen to be attached to an arrow. An arrow he can shoot with significantly more force than Batman could ever throw one of his little toys.
I thought this article was focusing more on Hawkeye and Green Arrow?! Did you know that Green Arrow can win a fight by pummeling you with liberalism, and Hawkeye can argue longer than Superman can hold his breath? HAH! And will Batman “sneaking up” behind Black Adam do anyone any good? Green Arrow could, though. Black Adam is vulnerable to green. Yep.
Ok, yes, you’re right. The stuff “thrown” at the Riddler or Penguin will only get Batman so far. But if you were to describe Batman to some one living in a cave in Tibet, you wouldn’t start off by saying, “he’s a superhero who wears a mask and throws shiet at bad guys in the hopes he’ll poke them in the eye or something.”
No, what you’ll say is, “Batman’s a bad-ass, billionaire superhero who’s life’s goal is to stop crime by becoming the best at everything in both physical and mental prowess. He is a detective who solves crime with his head, has cool gadgets to facilitate fighting crime, with a kick-ass hot rod and can beat the living sheeit out of anyone short of Bane on a bad day. … oh, and he also throws a batarang at people, some of which have explosives for dealing with Doomsday clones. .. and he wears a cool cape and cowl, wears symbol of the bat, has young ward living … with him…. but he’s gay.”
Oliver Queen, on the other hand, you CAN’T say that about. (I think I just ended a sentence with a preposition, but it sounded right.) To this cave dwelling Tibetan, you’d say, “Green Arrow? … yeah.. he shoots arrows, many are trick arrows,.. like… er… a boxing glove or … smoke grenade, at criminals. … who have guns. What? … yeah.. arrows…. yup, those things the Indians used when…. yeah the African Zulus too who were devastated by the Brits when…. yeah the Japanese had them too during the Opium wars when we had stuff like MX missle of their times and stuff.. what? .. yeah they all lost the fights… yeah.. knife in gun fight thing.
THAT’S what you’d be forced to say about Green Arrow, and Hawkeye for that matter. Though the Ultimate Hawkeye, who was a little more like Bullseye, killed 9 guys by ripping off his fingernails and flinging them at the bad guys throat, while strapped to a chair, I think he threw some forks and butter knives at guys too, who killed his family, Frank Castle style, killing all the baddies. Not THAT was bad-ass. Who’s going to mess with a guy who’s willing to rip his own finger nail off and fling it at your throat?
Not me. I’ll take on the guy in green tights and unbalance, un-aeordynamic boxing glove arrow any day of the week. Talk about far fiction. Totally unbelievable, but it transcended criticism and shot right through suspension of disbelief and banked it on the “This is James Bond kinda cool, I don’t care what you say,” realm that automatically gives it a green light.
A side note:
Who desided that all superhero outfits had to be leather. See the first image above. Photoshop or not these guys are starting to show up in leather more and more. X-men, the whole crew was in leather. Now they’ve made purple leather? Please tell me that was just a photo manipulation.
Solution: We start having heroes wearing the spandex unitards they are destined to bear. See the 1978 television show “Supaidaman”
http://marvel.com/news/moviestories.9035.watch_japanese_spider-man_episode_22_now%7eexcl%7e
Now that’s what I’m talking about!
-L
That’s a completely different argument, now you are saying because Green Arrow isn’t thought of the same as Batman, his weapon of choice is not as realistic as Batman’s? Sorry, that makes no sense. Who cares what someone in a cave thinks of when you give them the two names? How does that impact whether or not the weapon they use is cool or realistic?
Your argument was that the weapon he chose is ludicrous in a world of guns, not how someone who doesn’t know the characters all that well would perceives them. Ollie is also a smart billionaire who fights crime and is a very skilled hand to hand fighter. Okay, so, he isn’t as smart as Batman but he also strives to perfect himself physically and mentally.
You would have to dismiss half the DC and Marvel universe if your gauge at realism is whether or not these characters are packing something as powerful as a gun. Daredevil fights baddies every day with nothing but his cane. Bullseye throws knives and darts.
The reality is, guns are fairly meaningless in the comic world. You are talking about universes that have heroes and villains with god-like strength. Where heroes like Batman, with no powers and expensive toys is standing next to Superman and fighting the same bad guys. Who cares in that instance if someone has a gun and points it at Superman? A gun is most assuredly not a representation of modern day power in the comic world.
So, why do these lesser characters exist? If every hero was super powerful, it wouldn’t be any fun. There is a place for every hero and how realistic and enjoyable that character is depends largely on who is writing the story. If you think Ollie’s weapon of choice is unrealistic and ridiculous, then you have to feel the same about the half of the comic universe.
Guns are meaningless?? Tell that to the Punisher. I guess that’s why they gave “Cap” a gun, and is why Doom carries one as well.
The deal is that most characters don’t BEG to have their existence or powers questioned. Do we go to the nth degree about what actually causes Spiderman to stick to walls? No. We’ll accept that it’s some sort of controlled “bio-static electricity.” Good enough for me. Can a teenager come up with a webbing strong enough to slow down the Juggernaught? … sounds plausible to me, because it works. There’s enough sci-fi happening to compensate for the technical issues that contribute to one’s inability to suspend disbelief. Basically, Spidey’s smart and strong and has powers that we don’t really know enough about to have to question.
Same with Batman. Hell, they just came out with a “jet pack” last month for $75,000, it’s not that hard to think that a billionaire can spend his time creating custom gadgets that assist him in fighting crime, like the Batmobile.
Do we ever question the Mach 5? Hell no! Sure the blades in front are ridiculous, but Speed doesn’t use them every time, in fact I only remember once in the cartoons that he used them. The power jacks, “Ch Ch Ch Ch ch ch” cool as hell, and why not? Hydrolics can do it, shouldn’t take too much effort to make a super-fast hydrolic. Sounds good to me.
And DD, he has heightened senses, can hear heart beats. He can basically figure out what’s pointing at him and who’s pulling the trigger, and when, to the extent that he can not be in the path of the bullet when it’s fired. Big deal. And the cane is no different than a cops tonfa or ‘Billy Club,” which cops actually carry, last I saw when the LAPD had me face down in a mud creek while they were kicking me.
But this isn’t the case with Green Arrow or Hawkeye. A bow and arrow is a lethal weapon. A Billy club, tonfa and batarang aint! The purpose of a bow and arrow is to kill. To use it against criminals, with a friggin’ boxing glove (never mind the faulty aerodynamics involved or decreased range due to the added weight) is just crazy talk. You’re not going to see a cop pull out a bow and yell, “Halt, Police!” No, he pulls out his club and beats the crack head to death! … then yells for him to “Halt!”
Other than the bow, Green Arrow and Hawkeye have nothing going for them. Batman has his computer and a cool car and is known for his martial arts. Ollie is just an angry hippy who has a hot babe for a girlfriend. Daredevil is a hand-to-hand expert. Hell, half the martial arts films are full of of old blind Chinese men with white beards taking on all their students, not that much of a stretch for a blind lawyer in prison doing the same thing.
Which reminds me, Bruce did the same damn thing in prison, bet the crap out of 3 felons who walked into his cell and went out on stretchers.
It all comes down to suspension of disbelief, sci-fi plausibility and charisma. If we like a character enough, they got cool technology happening to decrease our knee jerk skepticism, then we’re likely to give them a little latitude when it comes to disbelief. Batman has a lot more going for him than a Batarang… he has exploding batarangs, like the ones he threw at the clone Doomsdays. To be honest, I thought he was toast, but they did the trick.
Do you think Ollie, and his bow, could have threatened Darkseid with the destruction of an entire planet, killing billions of lives? As Bruce did in Superman/Batman #12. That was Bats at his finest, and he even did it without a Batarang!
Tssss!!! R:10, B:2
this guys theory is out of wack, he’s talking about the cartoon network version of green arrow(do your research kid) go look up green arrow the longbow hunter and tell me he isn’t a badass, he doesn’t use trick arrows but instead just shoots to kill, not a guy you wanna mess with, by the way using arrows is smarter and stealthier when being a superhero not to mention a bigger fear factor, personally i’d rather get shot with a bullet than an arrow
I think he just might be jealous that Smallville used Oliver instead of Bruce as a companion for Clark.
Not that that I wouldn’t love to see a TV show featuring a young Bruce Wayne travelling the world learning his craft, but this arguement about Green Arrow, err I mean Hawkeye, uhm Green Arrow(?) is ludricous.
The only thing Batman really has over an Archer is years and years of literary support. If Kane had decided to give Batman a bow instead of a gun in those first issues this arguement would be a moot point. He’d have the same background, and attitude. Just different toys.
The most interesting Archer in comics is possibly Hawkeye – of the Young Avengers. Green Arrow and Mr. Hawkeye suffer from being created in a time when the market was having a glut og heroes shoved at the public with little thought or effort into developing a character the public could identify with on a psychological level. Maybe to no fault of their own, after all there are only so many persinality types that are going to be effective.
By the way, 9mm has a decent chance of going right through you. If it doesn’y hit artery or bone then you have a chance of survivng and continuing the fight. Put a 90lb pull compound bow’s titanium broadhead into you your effectively out of the fight. If it doesnt go through you it’s going to continue to cut you up inside til it hits something vital, and if the head does pop out oneside, then good luck pulling it through.
I’ll take that over the Bat’s wimpy little throwing bat-stars anyday
Am I the only one noticing that you kept refering to Green LANTERN, not Green ARROW. You kept saying GL. There is a big difference between the two characters.