Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Quick Thought re: Arsenal

I haven't read Outsiders 34 yet, just skimmed it now during my lunch hour because I couldn't wait. The cover bothered me. The red-haired guy is Capt. Boomerang and inside, the red-haired guy has the goatee or whatever that patch of hair on the chin is called these days, but it's still Owen Mercer, Capt. Boomerang. I'd seen a clip of the interior art showing him in basically a headshot and had just assumed it was Roy Harper in yet another new costume. But it's not. There's no sign of Roy in the book.

I'm not dropping the book yet, but I can't think of reading The Outsiders without Roy in it. My belief that Roy survives Infinite Crisis has been shaken. I'm not sure what I think about the possibility that Roy's gone, from this book and maybe from the DCU.

In 1985, I stopped reading comics, except for Teen Titans for a few more years, because one of my favorite characters, Kara Supergirl, had been killed. I stopped reading comics completely in 1991, when the decline of Titans was too much for me to bear. I didn't start reading comics again for another 4 or so years, when it was the Nightwing mini and then series, and the Arsenal one-shot and mini that rekindled my love affair with the format.

Roy Harper has been my favorite character for more than 35 years and without him, the DCU just won't be the same for me. He isn't likely to appear in Green Arrow since we've been told Ollie's the only archer there. Clearly, OYL, Ollie's going it alone.

What I don't get is why Owen Mercer is being drawn to look like a double for Roy. Is that supposed to be a clue, or carelessness? Or are we simply supposed to not notice the red hair, including that patch on his chin?

I just handed in a revised pull list at my comic shop; in the coming months, I'm going to have to seriously reconsider all the titles I've added. If Roy is gone, I don't feel like giving DC so much of my money.

Right now, I am one very unhappy comic book reader.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:11 PM EST

    I don't read Outsiders but I'm saddened to hear this. Hopefully Roy's not gone, as he's always been one of my favorite Titans. I would feel very cheated if Roy is killed and Connor Hawke survives. Call me stubborn, but I've never forgiven DC for creating a long lost child to take over when Ollie was killed rather than having Roy step into the role.

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  2. Ditto. I wasn't reading comics when that happened, and had stopped reading GA's book at issue 45 cuz I got tired of waiting for Roy to guest star. When I found out years later that not only was Ollie dead, which was upsetting enough, but that some unheard of son had shown up and was now GA, I was very annoyed. I do appreciate the stories Brad Meltzer and Judd Winick have written with Roy and Ollie together in recent years. Finally, someone bothered to show how close they really are.

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  3. Anonymous5:33 PM EST

    Aaargh I'm so upset at the moment its unreal,I've also follwed Roy for a couple of decades, I dropped out for awhile when I got sick of waiting for Roy to appear, and when I came back I discovered he had a new look and a new name (which is pretty cool, esp now hes not wearing the wiered blue and purple number with the chaps), and DC was actually useing him for a change. I too was infuriated to find Connor in GA's place, not so much because Connor had the role of GA but because they never even bothered to ask Roy if he wanted it and much much worse they asked Connor to join the league and not Roy. I'm sick of writers ignoring Roys past with GA, we get some glimpses in the current GA series, but really it not near enough to make up for the kicks Roys had in the past. I've stopped buying any books again now that Roy is out of the Outsiders, and I'll wait untill we hear word about Roy before I buy again, meanwhile I've emailed the editors at DC asking why they don't think loyal Roy fans are worth more than this, a simple coment that Roy will still be used OYL is all we need, they don't have to give secrets away, just a bit of reassurance, none of this refusing to comment like they did when asked by a fan at a recent convention, and I'd encourage more Roy fans to email them also, the more emails they get the safer our boy will be(hopefully)

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  4. That's a good idea about the email, Kim. I'm going to give that a try. I miss the days of the LoC.

    Of all the characters in the DCU, Roy's grown the most over the years. He's so much like a real person. And most of the time, he's treated like an afterthought.

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