DC’s Green Arrow is known for his various trick arrows, but one arrow in particular has remained controversial among some readers, who deem it too silly. Recently, famed Green Arrow artist Phil Hester mounted a defense for the divisive boxing glove arrow, relating how he thinks it’s an essential part of the character.
Appearing at the Dragon Con 2023 panel “Green Arrow: A Look Back at the Hester & Parks Era,” Phil Hester discussed bringing back the boxing glove arrow he and Kevin Smith re-introduced in their Green Arrow run.
“We wanted to bring back trick arrows,” Hester said, before discussing their reasoning: “The boxing glove arrow was a reminder of what Green Arrow should be. It should be fun.”
Green Arrow Uses The Boxing Glove Arrow In “Quiver”
Working with Kevin Smith, Phil Hester and Ande Parks were responsible for bringing Oliver Queen back in 2001, after the character was killed off in the early nineties. The resulting “Quiver” storyline went on to restore much of what the character had lost following the gritty Longbow Hunters arc from the eighties. They brought back Ollie’s original costume and roguish attitude, but – perhaps most importantly – the character’s trick arrows made their triumphant return. These had previously been phased out of Ollie’s arsenal following The Longbow Hunters, when Green Arrow took to using regular arrows, as the character acquired a more lethal edge in the post-Dark Knight Returns years.
Green Arrow “Should Be Fun,” According to Artist Phil Hester
Comparing the boxing glove arrow to Superman’s trunks, Hester acknowledges that it is an aspect of Oliver’s skill set as a hero, one which fans “either love or hate.” The concept of an arrow tipped with a boxing glove, designed to knock out his opponents, is admittedly very silly, but it was a crucial feature of the hero’s early characterization. When Green Arrow made his debut in the 1940’s, he didn’t want to kill or seriously injure anyone, so instead he made use of various trick arrows to subdue criminals. Pretty much anything and everything was used as the tip of an arrow in GA’s early days, including the boomerang arrow, the handcuff arrow, and even a magnet arrow.
These various non-lethal arrow alternatives may be silly, but as Phil Hester states, the Green Arrow’s trick arrows are also a part of the charm of the character. While most people appreciate grit-and-grime storytelling to some degree or another, many fans of the genre would argue that superheroes work best when they are allowed to be fun, and Green Arrow is a prime example of why this aspect is so important. By bringing back the boxing glove arrow, Kevin Smith, Phil Hester and Ande Parks brought back an essential element of Green Arrow’s characterization, one that should be centered in his future DC appearances.
