Green Arrow (Connor Hawke)
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Green Arrow (Connor Hawke) is a DC Comics superhero. Created by Kelley Puckett and Jim Aparo, he first appeared in Green Arrow (2nd volume) #0 (1994).
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[edit] Character history
[edit] Meeting Ollie
Connor Hawke met Oliver Queen after Ollie came to stay at the ashram where Connor had been studying for some years. Ollie had previously retreated to the ashram decades before, looking for peace after accidentally killing a criminal (in The Flash [2nd series] #217). Ollie returned to the ashram under similar circumstances, haunted by the thought that he had killed his former best friend Hal Jordan, who he at the time believed had gone insane and become the villain Parallax. Thanks to Connor, who was a big fan of Green Arrow, Ollie was able to regain a semblance of inner peace and venture out into the world again, especially after numerous attempts on his life had been made.
Connor decided to journey with Ollie, and created a costume similar to his. Connor served as Ollie's sidekick, also meeting with Eddie Fyers, the former federal agent that acted as a form of counsel for Ollie. It was during this time that Ollie learned about his connection to Connor (albeit from the ghost of Hal Jordan): Connor was Ollie's son, conceived during Ollie's stay at the ashram twenty years before, a truth that Eddie Fyers had already deduced. Ollie didn't take it well and stormed off, agreeing to go undercover in an eco-terrorist group called the Eden Corps for the government. The mission turned out to be fatal for Ollie, as his arm was connected to a bomb in a plane that was headed for Metropolis. Rather than endanger Metropolis, he sacrificed himself to let the bomb explode away from the city. With his father dead, Connor decided to take up the mantle of Green Arrow and continue his hero's work.
[edit] The new Green Arrow
Connor continued to travel with Eddie, accompanied at times by Connor's martial arts mentor Master Jansen, as he tried to find his place not only in the hero world, but also in the legacy of Green Arrow. Akin to the friendship between his father and Hal Jordan, Connor became quick friends with the new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, who himself was struggling to live up to a legacy. Connor also met Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance), Ollie's former and longtime romantic interest, who gave him one of Ollie's old bows, which Connor would use from then on (however, the news that the Ollie was dead would send Black Canary, who was already suffering from a string of misfortunes – loss of income from the destruction of her florist shop and the loss of her superhuman ability – into a despair which would only be ended by her association with Oracle).
Besides making friends, he also came face to face with Lady Shiva, said to be the deadliest assassin in the world, and was able to fight her almost to a stand-still, making him one of the very few to have survived battle with her.
Connor also applied for membership in the JLA, taking his father's place. On what would be his second interview, he single-handedly saved the League from the hands of the Key. Connor defeated the Key's robots using his father's old trick arrows since his own were destroyed. In the end, he knocked out the Key using the famous boxing glove arrow, and was accepted as a member of the League.
He would later be used by Batman as a "traitor" in the League in a ploy to defeat Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang. Connor would leave the League afterward, feeling he was better suited for the street-level work and out of his element in the epic adventures of the Justice League, although he did remain on reserve status. He and Eddie would then return for a time to the ashram where Connor was raised, although they both often returned to the outside world, aiding Robin, Spoiler and Batgirl.
[edit] Return to action
When Ollie returned from the dead, Connor left the ashram and tracked him down. Connor and Ollie moved in together in Star City. The two live with Mia Dearden, a runaway that Ollie has taken in and trained as his new sidekick Speedy. Since returning to the superhero life, Connor has been wounded seriously twice, once by the villain called Onomatopoeia and once by Constantine Drakon, but he continues in his hero role. He is the voice of reason for Ollie, and the two have since formed a real father-son relationship.
[edit] "One Year Later"
After the events of Infinite Crisis, Connor is revealed in Teen Titans (3rd series) #34 (2006) to be on an island with Mia Dearden.
A six issue mini-series Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood will be released in November, written by Chuck Dixon and art by Derec Donovan. Dixon stated, "A big surprise leads to major changes in Connor's life, particularly as it relates to his father." [Wizard #177].
[edit] Controversy
Connor is of mixed Asian, African and European heritage and was originally depicted with Asiatic features, dark skin and fair hair and eyes. However from the Quiver storyline onwards, the character design was changed to have European features and light skin, even though a childhood picture in the later Archer's Quest storyline depicted him with dark skin. This has lead to considerable confusion among newer readers and some anger among older ones. No official reason has yet been given for the change.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Connor possesses no powers whatsoever, but is an expert archer (although not the natural his father is). Unlike his father (who employs trick arrows from time to time), he uses a traditional bow and arrows.
Due to Connor's training in the ashram, he can mimic fighting styles that he witnesses, though this is a learned skill and not a meta-human power. Writer Chuck Dixon used the Brotherhood of the Fist storyline to establish Connor as being among the best hand-to-hand combatants in the world.
