Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Cool Costume Revamp: Green Arrow

Green Arrow first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in 1941 with a costume drawn by Mort Weisinger. Mort was inspired by a movie serial, The Green Archer. Green Arrow's second appearance graced the cover of Leading Comics #1.

Green Arrow's costume basically did not change for the next 28 years, until 1969 when Neal Adams revamped it in
The Brave and the Bold #85. He updated the character's visual appearance by giving him a Vandyke beard and a new costume.

What is interesting is that Neal Adam's design is much closer
to the Green Archer design then Weisinger's design.

The Neal Adams costume was Green Arrow's primary design for the next 18 years. This design was used in cartoons and toylines through the 70's and 80's. Alex Toth did this design for the Super Friends.
In 2008, WB's Batman: The Brave and Bold airing on Cartoon Network brought back Weisinger's original Green Arrow costume.

So Neal Adam's changed it in a Brave and Bold comic and then it was changed back in the Brave and Bold cartoon. That's kind of funny!

Dork Note: I still prefer Neal Adams's costume to the original.

4 comments:

Superhero Legacy said...

Yeah, I have to agree with you on Adam's version of the costume. But I think most would also agree that the Justin Hartley version is the best...

The Dork said...

Hum, oooookay! Smallville is just painful to watch. I still want to see the Justice Society episode.

Rocky WonderPug said...

Neal Adams also designed the costume that is most identified with the Earth-2 Robin, which is also a very very cool costume revamp. No straps, pouches, shoulder pads, or black leather jackets - just straight up superheroic goodness.

The Dork said...

Preach on, Rocky WonderPug...I love Neal Adams's Earth 2 Robin costume.
So goofy yet so cool!