Arrow comicvine Arrow: Less Batman Stuff, Please

[luis4u]

We love you, Arrow, but we think you're a little too attached to the Dark Knight's world.

Dear Arrow,
Season 3's overall story feels a bit unfocused at times, but it still has several strengths and I'm so anxious to see how it'll end. You've done an amazing job redeeming Thea and Laurel, Matt Nable is killing it (both literally and figuratively) as Ra's al Ghul, Vinnie Jones' Brick was good fun, and the crossover with Flash was so full of awesome. To be brutally honest, there's a lot of issues with this season (sorry, I still can't get over how easily Oliver recovered), but one thing has many of us concerned about the show's future: the frequent parallels to Batman's story. At times, this show almost feels like "The Dark Emerald Archer Knight." Look, I totally get it. Batman has this rich mythos that's packed with interesting characters and Green Arrow's rogues gallery has been, well, to call it "lackluster" would be putting it nicely. But now that the show's a success and it has established a fan base, how about you delve deep into Oliver's universe and do what you can to flesh those characters out instead of pulling from Batman's world? It's not like there's a lack of good Green Arrow stories out there to draw from, after all.






http://www.comicvine.com/articles/arrow-less-batman-stuff-please/1100-151604/

 

[Deltron3030]

Batman is my favorite superhero. I actually like the fact that Arrow is using a lot of Batman, since we probably won't get Batman on the television anytime soon.

 

[BattleCat]

Batman is my favorite superhero. I actually like the fact that Arrow is using a lot of Batman, since we probably won't get Batman on the television anytime soon.

Batman is my favorite superhero and this is exactly why I want Arrow to stop stealing his stuff.

 

[Crimz]

Not a fan of Batman, but know bits and pieces. The thing with Ra's almost made me puke. It's really bad.

 

[Seb]

I'm a massive Bat-fan. I say it like that because I love the Bat mythos, but Batman himself is quite unlikable to me. I do love his stories, though, and I absolutely love the Bat-family (Dick, Cassandra, Stephanie and some of the cops are awesome; Babs and Tim are my two favourite characters in any comic book.)

I also read a lot of Green Arrow (not nearly as much as Bat-family, but a lot), so I feel that I'm watching a show that often fails to give me enough Green Arrow. I do understand that it's working towards it, but this feels alien as an Oliver Queen story, even compared to the Longbow Hunters and early vol. 2 stuff. I'd love to see more Ollie and less Bruciver.

Added to that, some Bat-stories fit well with this Oliver, but feel like someone with Kryptonian strength is having trouble battering the squarest of pegs into the roundest of holes.

 

[JC00]

Oh great another complaint thread

 

[JC00]

Batman is my favorite superhero and this is exactly why I want Arrow to stop stealing his stuff.

What did it steal outside of Ra's wanting Oliver to replace him?

Don't say characters because Batman characters in the comics have shown up in other character's comics and they've only used about 4 Batman characters and 2 of them were C List

 

[Bren]

Oh great another complaint thread

Your comment fits perfectly

 

[JC00]

Your comment fits perfectly

Just saying.

We had one that got deleted, then there is another that is a borderline complaint thread about storylines that didn't work and now there is this one.

 

[Boy Scout]

And the best part is, you don't have to read any of them.

 

[Slade W]

I look forward to next season when Dollmaker cuts off Malcolm's face and then Malcolm staples it back on and says that he hates how Oliver has changed and claims that Oliver has grown weak due to relying on his family (Felicity, Diggle, Roy etc) and then claims that they are fake, unlike him and Oliver who are the same person whether they are wearing a mask or not. He will then proceed to call Oliver his king and proclaim himself as his faithful court jester.

Bad jokes aside, as long as the stories and the show are good and interesting then I don't care how much they rip off Batman and so far I have enjoyed this season. It is my favourite superhero programme ( I like both Gotham and Flash a lot too) and I have loved all three seasons. It is the best superhero live-action adaption along with the Dark Knight trilogy imo.

 

[Victarion]

I like Batman's rogues, don't really like his costume. Arrow's looks better. So a hero with Arrow's costume and some Batman villains is cool with me.

 

[Bathead]

i like batman's rogues, don't really like his costume. Arrow's looks better. so a hero with arrow's costume and some batman villains is cool with me.

blasphemy!!!!

 

[Golgo-13]

Batman is my favorite superhero and this is exactly why I want Arrow to stop stealing his stuff.

This and..

blasphemy!!!!

THIS!

 

[Bathead]

Since GA was originally conceived as a ripoff (can a publishing company rip itself off?) of Batman to begin with, this complaint is kinda moot.

 

[venom892]

I think one of the reasons the comparison persists is not only because the show has used Batman characters, but because Oliver is closer in personality to Bruce than comic Oliver. I think they can rectify this hopefully by next season. Oliver can become more political and show more levity in his personality.

 

[Victarion]

Since GA was originally conceived as a ripoff (can a publishing company rip itself off?) of Batman to begin with, this complaint is kinda moot.

In this instance, the new costume is an improvement over the source's. More League of Shadows please.

 

[Verick808]

Using Batman's villains is fine but sometimes they take too much. They should have made Komodo the big bad this season. He was created for the purpose of give Ollie his own rogues and stories so that Green Arrow wouldn't have to rely on other here's rogue galleries. It was a good chance to solidify Komodo as character to a larger audience that I feel the writers squandered.

I'm totally fine with the fact that they are borrowing from Batman but I feel they should have done more of their own thing this season. Maybe invent some interesting villains of their own to play serious roles. I know that's not always welcome in a superhero property but since Green Arrow has a smaller rogues gallery than a lot of heroes I feel they should take advantage of that and try to make their own contributions in that respect. The comics are obviously willing to aspects of the show they feel can work. I'm disappointed because I feel they could do better but instead, way too often, they've taken the route of lazy writing just because a lot of fans are willing to overlook it. I still feel Slade's grudge against Oliver is stupid and a stain on an otherwise great character.

 

[venom892]

I loved what they did with Merlyn in season 1 and I feel hey made him more interesting than his comic book conterpart. However I think they have done a complete disservice to Count Vertigo who could have been a season long villain or at the very a nice recurring villain. The fact they made him a Joker rip off and now a Scarecrow rip off is disheartening.

 

[Greenollie]

I think one of the reasons the comparison persists is not only because the show has used Batman characters, but because Oliver is closer in personality to Bruce than comic Oliver. I think they can rectify this hopefully by next season. Oliver can become more political and show more levity in his personality.

This.

 

[Seb]

Since GA was originally conceived as a ripoff (can a publishing company rip itself off?) of Batman to begin with, this complaint is kinda moot.

I've never understood this argument. I think pretty much everyone that likes Green Arrow likes him for his unique characteristics, not for his origin as a carbon copy. We're supposed to be watching Oliver's evolution as a person, not the Green Arrow comic book's evolution from rip off to truly individual property. The fact that he's moving towards Batman (Nolan Batman, not comic Batman) is a large part of the problem. He and the show were less Batman-lite in season 1 and 2, so why are they doing this? Is it just because Flash is now the bright and happy show, so they want to make this more dark and gritty in comparison? 'Cos that's kinda dumb.

Urgh. I just want it to be Tuesday so I can watch more Flash, then Wednesday so I can find out what Ra's' reasons are for choosing Oliver so that I know whether I should be happy or sad about this new Bat- I mean Arrow story arc.

 

[Seb]

I loved what they did with Merlyn in season 1 and I feel hey made him more interesting than his comic book conterpart. However I think they have done a complete disservice to Count Vertigo who could have been a season long villain or at the very a nice recurring villain. The fact they made him a Joker rip off and now a Scarecrow rip off is disheartening.

I agree so much with this. He's one of Green Arrow's few iconic villains and they just used the name as an excuse to rip off a couple of Bat-rogues. At the very least they could use more communal villains, like they did with Slade.

 

[Boy Scout]

Using Batman's villains is fine but sometimes they take too much. They should have made Komodo the big bad this season. He was created for the purpose of give Ollie his own rogues and stories so that Green Arrow wouldn't have to rely on other here's rogue galleries. It was a good chance to solidify Komodo as character to a larger audience that I feel the writers squandered.

I could not agree more.

I'm totally fine with the fact that they are borrowing from Batman but I feel they should have done more of their own thing this season.

I don't really disagree with that, but I also don't mind that they've had Oliver go up against the League. They are, after all, a worldwide organization that is much bigger than Batman.

Maybe invent some interesting villains of their own to play serious roles. I know that's not always welcome in a superhero property but since Green Arrow has a smaller rogues gallery than a lot of heroes I feel they should take advantage of that and try to make their own contributions in that respect. The comics are obviously willing to aspects of the show they feel can work.

They did a decent job of it in season one, at any rate.

I still feel Slade's grudge against Oliver is stupid and a stain on an otherwise great character.

Yep. It's one of the stupidest things they've ever done.

I loved what they did with Merlyn in season 1 and I feel hey made him more interesting than his comic book conterpart.

I loved Malcolm in season one. He was a great villain. I wish he had stayed dead.

However I think they have done a complete disservice to Count Vertigo who could have been a season long villain or at the very a nice recurring villain. The fact they made him a Joker rip off and now a Scarecrow rip off is disheartening.

What I'll never understand is why they killed the first one in the first place if they weren't going to do anything different with the second one.

I've never understood this argument. I think pretty much everyone that likes Green Arrow likes him for his unique characteristics, not for his origin as a carbon copy. We're supposed to be watching Oliver's evolution as a person, not the Green Arrow comic book's evolution from rip off to truly individual property. The fact that he's moving towards Batman (Nolan Batman, not comic Batman) is a large part of the problem.

Preach.

"He started as a Batman ripoff, so portraying him as a ripoff years and years later is perfectly justifiable!"

Weakest. Argument. Ever.

 

[Lencho01]

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[Bathead]

Don't get me wrong, I also agree GA should be his own character, I was basically just pointing out the history. I may have misspoke when I said complaining about it now was moot. I still don't think it's all that big a deal, although a good number of villains so far could be considered Batman foes, they seem to be those that have generally bedeviled any number of different DC heroes, they're not that exclusive to Batman anymore, unlike ones like the Joker and the rest of Bats' rogues gallery.