Arrow Hits The Man Of Steel

Well, sometimes Ollie and Clark weren’t the best of friends, so the Emerald Archer might have wanted to hit the Kryptonian Crusader, but for the most part their relationship was cordial.
And, it isn’t a small screen/big screen crossover that brings them together (though Arrow is enjoying success on the CW, and the Man of Steel sequel will be rocketing into theatres….).

It took a while for these two characters to meet, and it was while they were young!

First Shot

In Adventure Comics #258 (March, 1959) in a story by Jerry Coleman and George Papp entitled “Superboy Meets The Young Green Arrow”…well, that’s what happened!  Superboy creates a “time-viewer” and learns about Green Arrow and Oliver Queen’s future, and tries to steer the young, spoiled rich lad in a better direction by getting him into a Robin Hood costume…though Oliver shows no ability to wield a bow and arrow, and he and his family move away from Smallville (with Ollie eventually ending up on an island, and adopting the Green Arrow identity without Kal-El’s help).  Green Arrow even returns the favor to Superman, when in Adventure Comics #266 (November, 1959) when Ollie and his ward, Speedy (Roy Harper) make some new arrowheads out of green rock they found outside the Arrowcave…arrows which seem to mysteriously disappear for a time…until Superman explains that green rock is kryptonite! 

This issue is the first meeting of Green Arrow and Superman (and one of the earliest crossovers, as at this time, DC characters didn’t interact much…other than the Justice Society of America and the Seven Soldiers of Victory…the Justice League hadn’t had their first appearance even!), and happens even before Green Arrow has met Batman (though Superman and the Darknight Detective have been friends for some time, and Green Arrow meets the Gotham Guardian soon enough…).

In fact, along with Aquaman, Batman and Green Arrow compete for Lois Lane’s affections in Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #29 (November, 1961), after Green Arrow has joined the Justice League.

A League of their own

Superman was a charter member of the Justice League of America (though he, along with Batman, weren’t that active in the League’s earlier cases), and Green Arrow joined the team with Justice League of America #4 (April-May, 1961), and Clark Kent, Oliver Queen (as well as Lois Lane and the Arrow’s paramour, Bonnie King aka Miss Arrowette) all had a chance encounter in Justice League of America #7 (October-November, 1961).

Green Arrow even learns the secret origin of the Justice League in Justice League of America #9 (February, 1962) (which ends up helping the JLA later on, especially in Justice League of America #200!).  There aren’t too many cases that focus on the Superman/Green Arrow pair, but they do encounter Felix Faust and the Demons Three for the first time in Justice League of America #10 (March, 1962), and there are a few other places along the way (like Superman facing Green Arrow’s greatest foe, Merlyn, who appears for the first time in Justice League of America #94 in November, 1971…and Merlyn’s second appearance is in Action Comics #443 in January, 1975 along with a group of JLA villains…and Green Arrow faces Lex Luthor, kind of, in Justice League of America #61 in March, 1968…).  So, Green Arrow’s and Superman’s histories start to mix…

Updated Arrow meets Kryptonian Crusader

…and Green Arrow needed the help, as he had become homeless (losing his Adventure Comics spot with #269, and even his back up behind Superman and Batman in World’s Finest Comics with #140, so other than Justice League of America (and their guest appearances), Green Arrow only had Brave & the Bold and meetings with Batman to look forward to!  In Brave & the Bold #85 (August-September, 1969), Green Arrow got a new costume (by artist Neal Adams, who had major influence on Green Arrow’s life), and in Justice League of America #75 (November, 1969), Ollie lost his fortune….and that led him to work with Green Lantern, in a hard travelling run from Green Lantern #76-89…and Clark Kent stopped by in Green Lantern #87 (December-January 1971-1972) to give Ollie a little advice (and led into a somewhat unrelated adventure in a magical land with Superman in World’s Finest Comics #210 in March, 1972, when DC was experimenting with having Superman team up with others besides Batman for a little while….).

Hanging around with Superman must have led to Ollie getting a new home (along with his new paramour, Black Canary) in the back of Action Comics, starting with #421 (and alternating with the Atom and the Human Target for a time), and even working with Superman (as well as Flash and Green Lantern) in #437, and the whole Justice League and their individual foes in #443.  Ollie even handled some super-stuff, with Krypto in #440-441, a team-up with Superman and Atom in #455, and facing Luthor in #456-458 (both multi-issue arcs drawn by Mike Grell…a major artist in the life of Green Arrow!).

World’s Finest heroes!

Green Arrow moved from his home in Action Comics over to World’s Finest Comics (from #244-284), only missing a few issues along the way…yet not usually meeting with Superman (except for World’s Finest Comics #250 from April-May, 1978), wherein Superman and Green Arrow, along with Batman, Black Canary and the Wonder Woman of World War II (this coming about due to Lynda Carter’s success on TV in the World War II adventures of Wonder Woman!) had to save the entire universe from ending….and the fact that there were issues after #250 shows they were successful!

At least Green Arrow was being social at this time!  That would change as time progressed…though Superman just kept expanding who he’d work with….and got more titles for himself as well!

DC Comics Presents Superman and Arrow

Superman and Green Arrow kept working together in the Justice League of America as well, and Green Arrow even stopped by Superman’s new team-up magazine, DC Comics Presents, two times, for old times sake!  In DC Comics Presents #20 (April, 1980), the duo faced off against an evil rich man named Bo Force, and in DC Comics Presents #54 (February, 1983), Black Canary joined the boys in an adventure against Dr. Titus Selinger and a monster he created while trying to harness energy (seems Superman and Green Arrow fought the same fight against the rich  industrialists that Superman and Batgirl did for a time…which was ironic, since Green Arrow at this time had taken over Batgirl’s spot in Detective Comics…).

After Crisis Arrow and Steel

But, after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Green Arrow was homeless again…at least until Mike Grell started Ollie on his adventure with Green Arrow: the Longbow Hunters in 1987 (and the regular series that followed…wherein Green Arrow stayed away from the more “super” elements of the DC Universe, including Superman!).

Still, both Ollie and Clark found time to stop by each other’s books when they died…both later to come back as well!

Meeting in Smallville

Ollie and Clark’s friendship even crossed genres, as Oliver Queen popped up on Clark Kent’s television show, Smallville, starting with season six, and their friendship continued through the end of the series with season ten, with Clark portrayed by Tom Welling and Ollie by Justin Hartley from 2006 to 2011.  Amazingly, the history related above showed up in a few of the episodes (battles with Lex Luthor, and an affair with Lois Lane for Ollie) as well as seeing one of Ollie’s foes (Meryln, though in Smallville, he was called Vordigan or the Dark Archer) and a few other things as well.

Still, this show does NOT relate to Arrow (as that has adapted the Mike Grell idea of less super heroics, and has Stephen Amell as Arrow…but one never knows what the future may hold, so who knows?  Maybe some future meeting of Arrow and the Man of Steel is what Superboy saw when he looked into his “time-viewer”….

…or maybe it was back to Earth-2, where the original Green Arrow and Superman met for the first time, in All-Star Squadron #31 (March, 1984), though the story was set in the early 1940s…and the two crossed paths again in the Crisis on Infinite Earths!

The Weddings of Superman and Lois Lane

Men are from Krypton and women are from Earth.

That’s been true since the days of Action Comics #1 (June, 1938, by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster) when Superman (Clark Kent) and Lois Lane first met as newspaper reporters.  These two were just fated to get together, weren’t they?

But, when did the weddings start?

Early Wedding

Action Comics #206 (July, 1955) is when “Superman Marries Lois Lane”…in an issue drawn by Wayne Boring, where Superman did indeed marry Lois, and there were criminals trying to blow up the wedding cake…with Clark Kent as the best man?

What's going on here?

Sometimes, life is but a dream...

…but, there would be more attempts at a marriage for this duo during the course of the Silver Age coming up in the future (but, sadly, this tale has yet to be reprinted...)!

Truth in Advertising

A few other get-togethers were attempted over the next few years, but the oddest was Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #15 (February, 1960, by Otto Binder and Kurt Schaffenberger).

There was indeed a marriage in the issue, and it’s not a hoax, not a dream or done by robots!

The cover truly says it all…except what happened inside!  This story is also reprinted in Superman #207, and in Showcase Presents: Superman Family Volume #3, so you can find out the trick used if you so desire (pretty sneaky, really!).

This is a Silver Age

Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #37 (November, 1962, by Leo Dorfman and Kurt Schaffenberger) gives us (and the happy couple) a solution…where Lois ends up marrying Clark!

Lois and Clark were indeed at a wedding to each other in this one, but sadly, it didn’t hold up, though at some point, you have to figure that the Silver Age Lois and Clark do get together in matrimonial bliss (as the Legion of Super-Heroes and other future tales promise this….).

“Lois Lane’s Wedding Day” was reprinted in Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #86 if you are interested in the full story....

A Golden Opportunity

In Action Comics #484 (June 1978 by Cary Bates and Curt Swan, with a cover by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez) Lois and Superman are getting married in “Superman Takes A Wife”…right on the cover…but, is that the Daily Star?  Where’s the Daily Planet?  Why is Superman’s Fortress of Solitude in the Metropolis mountains and not by the North Pole?  Why did the couple face the Wizard, a foe of the Justice Society of America?  Yes, it was the original Golden Age Clark Kent and Lois Lane who got married…once Superman was out of the triangle.  This allowed Clark Kent to be the hero who shaped the future (and beat Colonel Future…the foe of the issue; with a little later assist from Superman).

Mr. and Mrs. Superman even had further adventures set in the 1950s, in Superman #327 and #329, and issues of Superman Family from #195-222 before the Crisis on Infinite Earths took that Superman and Lois away for a time.  The tales of a married Superman and Lois have yet to be collected, but Action Comics #484 was reprinted in Superman in the Seventies TPB and in DC Retroactive: Superman – the 70s #1.

More Modern Times

That Crisis gave us a new Superman and Lois Lane with Man of Steel #1 (October, 1986 by John Byrne)…and they grew together over time.  Lois realized she couldn’t have Superman, but came to love Clark Kent…and the two even got engaged, and then married in Superman: The Wedding Album (December, 1996 by Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, David Micheline, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, John Byrne, Terry Austin, Kerry Gammill, Murphy Anderson, Gil Kane, Bob McLeod, Stuart Immonen, Jose Marzan Jr., Paul Ryan, Brett Breeding, Jon Bogdavone, Dennis Janke, Kieron Dwyer, Doug Hazelwood, Tom Grummett, Denis Rodier, Dick Giordano, Art Thibert, Jim Mooney, George Perez, Curt Swan, Jackson Guice, Nick Cardy, Al Plastino, Barry Kitson, Ray McCarthy, Ron Frenz, Joe Rubinstein and Jerry Ordway, quite the all-star list of Superman creators!).  This wedding was to last forever (and was collected in Superman: The Wedding and Beyond TPB)…or at least until Flashpoint rewrote DC history again…making Lois and Clark’s relationship less perfect…


But, as Lois once said to Clark: “Perfection’s a hard thing to get your hands on…I promise that I will always have your back as you will have mine.  You’re my best friend, you’re my home, and you are my true love, and I am yours and will be forever.”

And, Clark to Lois: “When I’ve been lost, you’ve always been there to bring me back….  You’ve always believed in me, and I believe in you.  And when you believe in someone, it’s not just for a minute, or just for now, it’s forever.”

(The above lines from Lois and Clark’s near wedding in the season finale of Smallville TV series with Erica Durance and Tom Welling)

It was the Lois and Clark TV series deciding to marry the duo that prompted DC to marry them in the comic at that time….(with Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain).

May all your weddings be this happy (and free of kryptonite!).

TVs Black Canaries

Black Canary first appeared in the Golden Age of comics in Flash Comics #86 (August, 1947) in the Johnny Thunder back-up (written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino), though she took over the feature in Flash Comics #92 (cover by Infantino).  Black Canary was in Flash Comics #86-104 (and even had one story later presented in DC Special #3), and even took over Johnny's spot in the JSA from All-Star Comics #38-57.  Black Canary joined the JLA with Justice League of America #75 (October, 1969, by Denny O'Neil and Dick Dillin, and cover by Infantino and Murphy Anderson), though technically that was the original's (Dinah Drake Lance) daughter (Dinah Laurel Lance), and she now had her sonic weapon, the "Canary Cry".

Mostly, the new Black Canary was a guest or supporting character, working as a member of the JLA, and working with Green Lantern and Green Arrow in Green Lantern's book.  Dinah then was in back-ups with Green Arrow in Action Comics, World's Finest Comics, and Detective Comics, as well as team-ups in Brave and the Bold and DC Comics Presents, and a small feature in Action Comics Weekly.

Black Canary did break out on her own, first in a 4 issue mini-series by Sarah Byam, Trevor Von Eeden, and Dick Giordano (which led into a 12 issue regular series)....and even later, working with Barbara Gordon (the former Batgirl, Oracle at this time) in Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey #1 (January, 1996 by Chuck Dixon and Gary Frank), which led to a few Birds of Prey mini-series and regular series...with Black Canary in most of them (except when she was in Green Arrow/Black Canary, and in the various JSA and JLA titles).

All this, and Black Canary has made it to live-action television as well!

Birds of Prey

Black Canary's first series  was as the junior member of the group gathered together to protect Gotham in Batman's absence in the WB's Birds of Prey (from October 9, 2002 to February 29, 2003).  These heroines include Helena Kyle (the Huntress, played by Ashley Scott), Barbara Gordon (former Batgirl, played by Dina Meyer) and Dinah Lance (teenage runaway with uncontrollable telekinetic powers, played by Rachel Skarsten...).  Developed by Laeta Kalogrids, the series was an odd mix (using Huntress as Batman's daughter from pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths days), the most modern (at the time) take on Barabra Gordon as Oracle, and our first look at young Dinah's high school days.

It was an odd mix (and even had Mia Sara as Dr. Harleen Quinzel (aka Harley Quinn), and a visit from Dinah's mom, Caroline Lance (played by Lori Loughlin, who was the first Black Canary!).  Lacking real costumes, it was still in the early days of super-powered people on TV, and couldn't quite find an audience in its one season of 14 episodes (ironic for what soon followed...).

Sadly, the show couldn't seem to find an audience...after all, who would want to watch a series set in Gotham without Batman?

Rachel Skarsten did well after, going back and finishing high school and college before coming back to acting on series like Flashpoint and the L.A. Complex, and movies like the Vow.  Most recently, Rachel has been a regular on the series Lost Girl about the Fae (beings of supernatural origin) split into light and dark factions, and fought by Bo (series star Anna Silk), who refuses to choose a side.  Rachel plays Tamsin, a Dark Fae, who joined the cast in season 3, as a partner to Dyson (Light Fae werewolf cop, one of Bo's lovers, played by Kris Holden-Reid), and helped turn Bo's life upside down (but has been more help in the fourth season....and more!).

Smallville

Slightly more successful than Birds of Prey, Smallville premiered on October 16th, 2001, and ended up running for 10 seasons, focusing on the pre-Superman life of Clark Kent (Tom Welling).  Season 6 saw Clark meeting Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), and that led to the season 7 episode of February 7th, 2008 (written by Kelly Souders and Brian Wayne Peterson, directed by Kevin Fair), called Siren...in which we met the Black Canary!  Black Canary (played by Alaina Huffman) was there as an agent of Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), trying to take out Green Arrow and his team that had interfered with Luthor's operations across the globe.

Black Canary was really Dinah Lance, right wing radio host, who was into fighting crime in a blond wig and using weapons and her sonic scream.  After being convinced Green Arrow was not the villain, she joined up with Green Arrow's pre-Justice League (with Aquaman/Arthur Curry played by Alan Ritchson, Impulse/Bart Allen played by Kyle Gallner and Cyborg/Vic Stone played by Lee Thompson Young), returning in season 8 in Odyssey and Doomsday, season 9 in Salvation and season 10 in Icarus and Collateral.  Her costume was more like the modern Black Canary of the comics of the time, yet there was also a Black Canary with the Justice Society of America, but no link to her and Alaina's Black Canary was made.

Alaina Huffman continues to work steadily to this day...taking on a permanent role as blond Lt. Tamara Johansen on SGU Stargate Universe (that lasted from 2009 to 2011, wherein a Stargate took a military crew and some civilians to a ship far across the universe, but without the power to return home).  Alaina is currently working on Supernatural as red-headed Abaddon, one of the demons faced by the two brothers (Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) who hunt demons on the CW show.

Arrow

The current home of the Black Canary is on the CW's Arrow show, but it took a while for Black Canary to develop.  There was a little teaser to start with...Katie Cassidy was called Laurel Lance in the first episode (not revealing her full name until the end, Dinah Laurel Lance, the lady that should have been Black Canary...).  Instead, Laurel is the ex-girlfriend of Oliver Queen (secretly "the hood", played by actor Stephen Amell), left behind when he went on his boating trip (that got him stuck on the island, and eventually turned him into the hero).

Laurel also had to deal with Ollie taking her younger sister along (Sara), whose death Laurel's dad (police detective Quentin Larry Lance, played by Paul Blackthorne) blames him for.

Lauren became a lawyer while Ollie was gone, and losing Sara also helped to break up the Lance family (though Dinah Lance, Laurel's mom, did come back thinking Sara was still alive....and was played by Alex Kingston).

While Laurel was in the action here and there, mostly she just caused complications for Ollie (and was sleeping with his best friend, Tommy Merlyn, played by Colin Donnell).

Laurel then suffered some more tragedy as well...

The second season rolled around and Laurel's life just seemed to get worse and worse.  While Laurel did get a job working for Starling City's District Attorney, she lost CNRI (the City Necessary Resources Initiative), as well as having Ollie disappear for a time (she had grown closer to him at the end of Season 1).  The Canary also arrived in Starling City....and Arrow found out that...it was Sara!  Always believe your mom, as Dinah was right, Sara did survive, working as a member of the League of Assassins (and played by Caity Lotz in Season 2; for her brief appearance in Season 1, she was portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, and those scenes were reshot in Season 2 as how Sara survived and found her way to the island and Ollie was explored).

Sara's return (and getting back together with Ollie) helped Laurel's life spiral out of control, but Laurel was always a fighter, and fought to get back all she lost.  Sara spent her time in Ollie's city, fighting crime as well as the Canary (with martial arts and mechanical sonic cry bombs).  Laurel also learned of Ollie's identity, and even helped out during the end attack on Starling City, and both of the Lance sisters fought for redemption.

With Sara leaving the city, she gave Laurel the Canary jacket (and likely...the identity of Canary for season 3!).

Caity Lotz played Officer Kirsten Landry on the MTV series Death Valley (and faced all sorts of supernatural threats...) in 2011.

Caity was also a part of Don Draper's past as Stephanie on Mad Men.  Part of the reason she was so graceful as the Canary is her history as a dancer!

Katie Cassidy is a very happy lady, enjoying her time on Arrow. Previous long running roles of hers include Ruby on Supernatural, Ella Simms on Melrose Place and Juliet Sharp on Gossip Girl.

Katie also runs a fashionista blog, Tomboy KC and she's looking forward to seeing more action with Arrow Season 3 (aren't we all?).

With luck, maybe some of these previous Black Canaries can take time out from their busy schedules to visit on Arrow as well?

Heaven help Ollie if these pretty birds flock around him (though it would make the fans very happy!).