The Green Arrow by Jack Kirby

Plot

Collects the Green Arrow stories from Adventure Comics (1938-1983) #250-256 and World's Finest (1941-1986) #96-99.

All are illustrated by Jack Kirby, with writing duties shared between Dave Wood, Ed Herron, Bill Finger, and Kirby himself. These stories are straight out of DC's Silver Age (1958 - 1959, to be exact), so this is not the familiar goateed Oliver Queen, but the clean-shaven happy-go-lucky adventurer, complete with his pal Speedy. The Silver Age was at once a time of great creativity and ludicrous storytelling, and few characters' adventures were more ludicrous than Green Arrow's. There are plenty of laughs to be had from the physical implausibility of Ollie's various trick arrows, as well as the hare-brained criminal schemes he must foil in each story. But there's no doubt that they're also a lot of fun, especially with Kirby's action-packed pencils. There's also a great origin piece that makes this collection an "essential" Green Arrow, of sorts - really, this is all the Silver Age Green Arrow I need, as the longer "Showcase Presents" collection got a bit tiring after a while. As stated in the book's introduction, these stories were published between the time Kirby worked on Challengers of the Unknown and the debut of Marvel's Fantastic Four, so it's not the cosmically energetic style that most would associate with him, but more realistic (and, it could be said, a bit on the boring side). Still, it's pure Kirby without a doubt, so sit back and enjoy a brief diversion from a classic Silver Age creator.