Right after the first big "Crisis on Earth-Blog" crossover organized by the Irredeemable Shag, he suggested putting together a sort of "Justice League of Bloggers." My mind flashed to virtual meetings where each member would speak in character, or maybe photographing ourselves cosplaying so someone could Photoshop "team pictures." My reply was of course, "yeaheheh NO. Like Groucho, I'm not much for joining any group that would have me. Still, I'm a big believer in character- and team-oriented blogging. I know there are plenty of fan pages and Facebook/MySpace profiles related to specific characters, but there's something special about public blogging that I adore, and I think that in the future, every decent character should have their own blog. For the longest time, I'd quip that sooner or later, even Captain Comet needs his own blog, and when the opportunity presented itself, I made one myself.
I bring this up because of Dispatches From The Arrowcave, created by Adama on Thursday, November 15, 2007. Adama was the Green Arrow blogger of our group, offering a substantial 214 posts over two years. He came up with some wonderfully unique bits, like a guide to trick arrows, dossiers for Star City characters, and the always fun occasional mocking of Speedy. I "met" Adama through Luke of El Jacone's Comic Book Bunker, and it was partially through Adama's work on his blog that his pal Luke was inspired to produce Being Carter Hall, the Hawkman blog. Not only was Adama covering a cornerstone of the DC Universe, but he brought in a buddy to erect a whole other pillar.
The problem is, after a very productive 2008, posting dipped to roughly twice a month in 2009, and the blog has been on an indefinite hiatus since Wednesday, October 28, 2009 (aside for a few seasonal greetings, excluding the entirely appropriate recent Valentine's Day.) So not only have we seemingly lost a swell blogger, but poor Ollie Queen & family are also in limbo. With all the work Adama put into his blog, it would be nice if there was some sort of blogger support network to help a guy get through a rough patch in regular writing, so he doesn't lose his audience or sense of forward momentum. Also, Lord knows tackling a daily or multiple-times-weekly blog can burn you out.
I'm not going to say that blogging on any kind of regular basis is a snap, but it seems to me that virtually anyone could adopt a random character and give them a blog home on a weekly or even monthly schedule. Maybe Shag's idea could even be reworked into a central blog home where different people would offer occasional pieces about their character of choice, so that they wouldn't even have to create a unique blog? All I know is, I want my Green Arrow blog!
Articulation Arrow:
25th Anniversary of the Super Powers line
DC Direct Green Arrow and Speedy
DC Direct Green Arrow and Speedy (cont.)
DC New Frontier Green Arrow
Infinite Heroes Arrow Family Set
JLU Arrowcycle
Dossier::
Black Canary
Brick
Mia Dearden
Roy Harper
Connor Hawke
Count Vertigo
Hal Jordan
Merlyn
Onomatopoeia
Interview Arrow:
Mike Norton
Spotlight::
Adventure Comics #250
Adventure Comics #251
Adventure Comics #254
Adventure Comics #255
Adventure Comics #256
Adventure Comics #257
Green Arrow vol.2 #1
Green Arrow vol.2 #2
Green Arrow vol. 2 #3
Green Arrow vol. 3 #4
Green Arrow vol. 2 #5
Green Arrow vol.2 #6
reen Arrow vol. 2 #7
Green Arrow vol. 2 #8
Green Arrow vol. 2 #9
Green Arrow vol. 2 #10
Green Arrow vol. 2 #11
Green Arrow/Black Canary #1
Green Arrow/Black Canary #2
Green Arrow and Black Canary #4
Green Lantern #76
Green Lantern #77
Green Lantern #78
Green Lantern #79
Green Lantern #80
Green Lantern #81
Green Lantern #82
Green Lantern #83
Green Lantern #84
Green Lantern #85
World's Finest Comics #95
World's Finest Comics #97
World's Finest Comics #98
Trick Arrows:
Aqua-Lung Arrow
Arrow-Bomb plus!
Balloon Arrow
Bolo Arrow
Boxing Glove Arrow
Buzzsaw Arrow
Drill Arrow
Fire Extinguisher Arrow
Flare Arrow
Glue Arrow
Grapple Line Arrow
Handcuff Arrow
Heli-Spotter Arrow
Mind Reading Arrow
Mummy Arrow
Net Arrow
Power Ring Delivery Arrow!
Tuning Fork Arrow
Yeah, but Green Arrow sucks... :|
ReplyDelete:)) JKs!
Well not really. I think he's become too poisoned by Marvel. MM, Superman, even Batman retain their core goodness as inherent. Green Arrow, by virtue of being a cipher (Ripoff of Batman, substitute for Batman in JLA, Robin Hood, Hawkeye...) has inherited too much of Marvels "flawed hero" approach for my tastes. I can't fully hate him though, and the Mike Grell stuff is great. And the Winick/Mcdaniel stuff I read was alright. I much prefer his son Connor.
Now that I've been all negative, Comicx blogging is wonderful!
I used to really like Ollie, but realizing that his personality was lifted wholesale from Hawkeye (aside from the knee-jerk liberalism that was dated from jump) and his years under Grell killed it for me. While it was nauseatingly overdone with Batman, it's essential to emphasize the competency of non-powered super-heroes in team books. By taking Queen off the grid for nearly a decade, using standard arrows against real world bad guys, Grell destroyed Ollie's credibility. Whatever was left was iced alongside Ollie when Connor Hawke took over the role. I haven't been able to accept the reconstituted Queen since his return.
ReplyDeleteIn my heart of hearts, I always wanted Roy Harper to take over as Green Arrow. He's got the roguish quality down, while being a more complex and ultimately admirable hero. That would have finally released poor Dinah from bondage as "& Black Canary," and saved everyone the grief of Ollie's infantile rants. Plus, since he's never been an exceptional hand-to-hand combatant, he could form a "Green Hornet & Kato" type partnership with the wonderful Connor Hawke. Maybe then we could bypass the question of Titans or JLA and form a new Seven Soldiers of Victory to give the DCU an alternative to its stagnant parade of readymade team revivals (Doom Patrol, Challengers, Metal Men, etc.)
That Seven Soldier idea is pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteSome characters should really be allowed to retire. Bruce Wayne is clearly to stubborn (and bad ass) to throw in the towel. Supes WW and MM all have extenuating circumstances, so even without reboots they can always be around. Heck, even Barry Allen gets away with a return, since his adventures often involved ridiculous time travel shenanigans. Ollie has lived a full life, and should either settle down with his kids and wife, or at least go part time heroin'. One of the few things I thought was cool on Meltzer's JLA run was that Red Arrow replaced Green. That felt right. No MM or Aquaman on the other hand...baloney.
Yeah, I have 0 problem with Barry coming back. I know a lot of work was put into finally getting people to accept Wally as the Flash, but no one ever figured out how to make Wally West work outside the Flash. Plus, his name is Wally West. There's just no getting around that. Meanwhile, Barry Allen as a forensic scientist is more hip now than ever. Even though there's no getting around the name "Barry," at least it's an adult's name, and isn't alliterative.
ReplyDeleteI was okay with "Red Arrow" in all but name, yet, so long as Ollie was around, you just knew it was a passing thing. I was happier to see Vixen validated with membership, but then the first story arc revolved around The Usurper. Anyone who would ditch Martian Manhunter for Red Tornado is cooking with expired ingredients.
"expired ingredients" ZING!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I miss the blog now that its essentially DOA. I enjoyed it, and GA needs some blogger love!
ReplyDelete