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Another year and another season of Arrow dear readers, almost like clockwork. This year, to celebrate the CW superhero show that started it all I’ve elected to bite the bullet and finally dig into the best covers Green Arrow ever appeared in the DCU. For the sake of context I’m mostly going to be drawing from what’s known as “the Long Bow” era from the 1980s as I really like the visual design of it and don’t care for the New 52 or Silver Age Green Arrow stuff quite as much, though I reserve the right to return to this particular subject matter should those other eras produce something worth digging into in greater detail. With that said, let’s take a look at everyone’s favorite emerald-clad Batman knock-off (that’s literally his origin) with the top 10 Green Arrow comic covers.
10.
Right out of the gate we’re starting extremely gothic with this excellent cover. That’s going to be a theme for this entire run, a unique blend of classic medieval gothic romance with ‘80s urban trash. That skull is thoroughly gothic and the low-detail background just adds to its weird visual design, though the puddles on the bottom of the page give this a nice moody vibe. I actually really like the green rain dripping down onto the scene, it gives it a nice urban vibe in that Secrets of the Ooze sense.
It also reminds me of acid rain given the way it’s combined with that perfectly stripped bare skull. The real selling point of the cover though is that arrow sticking out of the eye socket, perfectly bisecting the cover and naturally drawing the eye from the title to the main content of the page. What’s more, it has a really ambiguous vibe to it, like we don’t know for certain if this anonymous skull is Green Arrow, impaled on his own weapon, or an unfortunate victim of his.
9.
This is actually a fairly classic cover design though we’re seeing it somewhat filtered through the brighter color work of ‘90s comics. The hero on his knees to symbolize them being broken or at a serious low point has been used plenty of times, most especially in Daredevil which fits given how much Green Arrow tends to borrow from the man without fear. In any case, what I really like about it here is the minimalism of the colorwork and shading: the red pool of light around Oliver gives the sense of blood and loss without having to tint his costume red (which would’ve probably made this look a little too Christmas-esc.)
What’s more, the pure black background evokes a sense of isolation that really complements the way we can’t see GA’s face. Also, that subtle touch of the blood on his hands is a really nice dimension here with how often this iteration of Arrow tended to actually kill people. The only real issue with the cover is the logo, which has gotten a lot pointier and more aggressively ‘90s. Still, it’s a small detail in what’s otherwise a really great vision of our hero at an all-time low.
8.
Now we’re back to that good ‘80s style comic cover, back when comics were still trying to figure out a way to indicate they were for mature readers while also sporting the kind of eye-catching weirdness that moved material prior to the direct market exclusivity. You actually got a lot of these weird close-up type covers in this era, DC even dedicated a whole month of covers to just the hero’s faces in the early ‘90s which was a shockingly boring month for the cover artwork.
However, there’s nothing boring about this amazing cat’s eye cover though I super wonder what the actual content of it could be (which is absolutely the point.) Like the previous cover, there’s a good use of three kinds of color to break up the cover between the pink of the cat’s mouth, the black of its fur, and the lime of the eye/Green Arrow. It helps the human eye process the cover more quickly as you can segregate the contents into three compartments at a glance even though the Green Arrow in the cat’s eye is a little hard to make out with all the detail that’s scrunched into it.
7.
This is such a strange cover I almost had to include it, it’s one of those things where the unclear nature of the intent ends up making it paradoxically more memorable. In case it wasn’t obvious 30 years later, the poster in the background is meant as a parody of the popular Rambo movie franchise, probably because the hero of that series used a bow and arrow in the 3rd installment. I’m not really sure why Green Arrow felt the need to take pot shots at Rambo as they actually seem more in line than you’d think given the original First Blood was all about neglected veterans persecuted by authority, the kind of thing Green Arrow would absolutely jump on and make for a pretty good story with him.
In any event, this is another great example of using arrows and line work to draw the eye through the cover; specifically, the line of the bullets creates a flow of movement with Oliver’s weird crouch position. You’ve also got a return to the skull style cover of using his lime green costume to pop the color work, with the fence wall behind him rendered in dull off-pink. I will say that making the bullet lines and his bow both red is a bit of a problem as the bow and arrow disappear into the bullets and is overshadowed by that giant perspective arrow but otherwise, it’s solid if bizarre.
6.
Can you tell this is a ‘90s comic cover? I should hope so cause this may be one of the MOST ‘90s covers I’ve seen that isn’t just the hero’s ugly face staring out at the audience. I actually like that the guns aren’t the only addition to the Green Arrow costume here, though the fact they kept his puffy sleeves and weird semi-stripped gloves make the dissonance of this cover even more pronounced. The idea of Green Arrow in the ‘80s was to amp up his Robin Hood fixation, hence the costume reworking to actually make him look like a transplanted fantasy character and less of a superhero.
As such, having him shed the bow entirely in favor of twin handguns, a samurai sword on his back, and a freaking grenade on his belt is a really great way to say “this ain’t your dad’s green arrow.” What’s kind of funny is that because this Green Arrow was already fine with murder this isn’t really much of a change for him like the kind of transgressive imagery of featuring Batman or Superman with a gun, he’s just upgraded his killing machine because he realized bow and arrow is comically outdated.
5.
Like I said, the Robin Hood parallels were a big part of what ‘80s Green Arrow was banking on, though it had been a part of Oliver’s character since the more socially conscious version of the hero in the ‘70s. What I really love about this cover though is how all out they go on the idea, like the discarded costume is an evocative image all on its own that goes all the way back to the Silver Age but setting inside this archaic castle complete with a Robin Hood painting really gives it something special.
Actually, a unique element of this is the way the background of the painting parallels the background of the main scene. That might seem obvious but it’s clearly a deliberate choice as Robin Hood isn’t actually a character we tend to associate with castles, you’d think he’d be set in the forest of Locksley rather than stalking through the stone halls of some anonymous keep. I also like the way the discarded clothing is strewn up and down the stairs as if someone decided to get naked midway through ascending the staircase, though I’m not totally sure what that’s meant to intimate here.
4.
At last: Green Arrow in chains, where he belongs. Seriously this is actually a good way to do one of these extreme close-up covers as it preserves the shock value that a good cover should trade on, even accepting that putting the murderous GA behind bars really shouldn’t be that surprising. Incidentally, I do appreciate that even though Green Arrow set out to remodel his entire look to be more fantastical and Robin Hood-esc as part of his decision to be crime’s terminal solution he STILL needed to but a big gold G on his belt in case anybody was confused about who he was exactly.
This cover does give you a pretty great insight into how important shading and color work is to make an image like this work, though Green Arrow has a slight advantage as green is the color the human eye can perceive the most shades of. I think for the most part this cover does a good job of keeping the actual content from blending together, though his gloves do bleed a bit too much into the tunic. However, the bright silver of the handcuffs is a nice pop to the center of the page that, along with the belt, helps divide the cover for the eye.
3.
Hey, it’s another great example of that triple color break-up, in fact, this is almost a direct parallel of the lowest moment cover from spot #9. In this case, we’ve traded out the vulnerability of that image for a much harsher one here. It does a good job re-contextualizing similar elements like the black background and red circle, here creating the sniper’s lens as it zeroes in on GA even as he prepares to kill the guy targeting him.
The Green Arrow covers actually really seem to like the use of minimal detail or dulled backgrounds, probably because the green of his costume is so sharp and creates such a pop by itself you need a flattened out area behind him or else it could easily clash or muddle. In this case, the concept of viewing through the sniper lens is a really clever way to create that look and I do appreciate the completely neutral expression on Oliver’s face here as if being menaced by a high powered rifle and killing the guy doing the menacing is just another Tuesday night for him.
2.
And now for something completely different: easily the most detailed cover I’ve showcased so far. I don’t actually know what went into the decision to re-locate Green Arrow to Seattle during this time aside from DC wanting to move away from their fictional cities but I’m glad they did cause the design of this cover is just beautiful. Again, there’s a great use of lines to bisect the cover between the postcard and Arrow’s reflection in the rainwater, not to mention how well the raindrops are integrated into this cover without muddying anything.
The blood splatter in the puddle and on the card especially is well integrated; most notably I like the drops of blood above the collection of flowers, a nice chilling parallel. Also that text “The Emerald City” is a really fun little nod to Green Arrow’s nickname as the Emerald Archer. Finally, the reflection of Oliver is appropriately moody and the way it's distorted in the puddle reflection helps sell the overall look, enhanced by the way his face is shrouded in shadow. It’s a very noir-ish cover that absolutely conveys the right mood.
1.
And one last minimalist black background cover to finish us out. This is easily the best use of the black background, both to create the shape of the arrowhead for the main content of the cover and to parallel that “Black Arrow” story title. Like previous cover the arrow is designed to guide the viewer’s eye, in this case, it indicates the action of the scene being read from bottom to top. You start with that newspaper headline about the police hunting for the emerald Bowman and that leads you to the dead body, colored an icy blue that blends into the pavement while still popping enough to know what it is.
Then finally you’ve got that green arrow sticking out of his back, much like the arrow from the #10 cover, that runs parallel to the mysterious figure shrouded in black. I’m assuming that’s the titular black arrow though honestly with this era it could be just as easily BE Green Arrow. Also, eagle-eyed readers can spot the Space Needle in the skyline background, backed up by that curiously red sky that a lot of the ‘80s and ‘90s media liked to use to indicate things were serious. It’s fitting that we end with one last triple color split with the black background and red sky creating the flat background and the green arrow our pop of color.
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