‘Arrow’ is a solid hit on The CW.  Now two of the writers from the show, Andrew Kreisberg and Ben Sokolowski are going to be taking on the comic book exploits of the main character, Oliver Queen with October’s ‘Green Arrow’ #36.  Are readers more likely to check out the exploits of the title character if the book hews closer to the TV show?

Joining the two writers will be artist Daniel Sampere who has illustrated various books for DC in recent years including ‘Batgirl‘ and ‘Trinity of Sin: Pandora’.  (The provided art is by Garry Brown.)

So will the new Green Arrow be closer to the TV version?  Sokolowski said “Without giving away too much … yes, some of our favorite ‘Arrow’ characters will feature prominently in the comic. Though they may not necessarily be clones of their TV personas.  I think our goal with this comic is to make it an echo of the TV series.  It’s a way to bridge the two universes.  That being said, we’re not trying to make this ‘Arrow: The Comic.’ That’s what the digital tie-ins are for.

“This is more about cross-pollination. How can we incorporate what is working so well for Arrow into the New 52 DCU, while at the same time, keeping what makes the original 2-D Oliver Queen so special? To that end, comic Oliver and TV Oliver have distinct voices and attitudes. We’ll do our best to keep them unique. We really want to bring the old-school Oliver Queen voice back to the character. In other words, the opinionated, liberal Robin Hood-esque hero that has fallen through the cracks a bit, both in the comics and TV models.”

This was the version that so many fans know so well from the famous Dennis O’Neal/Neal Adams stories with Green Lantern and Black Canary from the late sixties that addressed so many society issues from that era.

He went on to say, “Oliver Queen is one of the classic characters you don’t turn down when given the chance to write. What’s appealing about this comic is the chance to write the same character in a different way than how I’m used to.  It should be a creative challenge, but one I’m up for.”

Kreisberg added, “I think the version Ben and I are going for now is an amalgamation of the TV version and his comic book persona. As our TV partner, Greg Berlanti, puts it, at his core, Oliver is an optimist. He believes in people. On the TV show, that optimism is buried under years of torture and suffering, but it’s still there. In the comics, he’s been a bit more fun, a bit faster with a quip, so we are trying to add some of that zest for life.”

Both Kreisberg and Sokolowski have comic experience, scripting the TV tie-in for ‘Arrow’ and also the ‘Green Arrow/Black Canary’ series.

Kreisberg stated:

“What I really like about Oliver is, despite being stranded on Lian Yu and all that happened to him there, he could have just gone back to his old life. He could’ve just dated supermodels and traveled and had a good life.  No one would have begrudged him that. But instead, he decided to help people.  Not because of revenge or anger, but because his experiences shaped him.  He couldn’t stand by and let others suffer and be hurt.

So many heroes are driven by destiny. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, they were all chosen and born to heroism.  Even with Batman, it doesn’t feel like Bruce could do anything else. His whole life was leading him to become the Dark Knight. But Oliver had a real choice. And he decided to be a hero.

And I love him for that.”

Will you be checking out the new Green Arrow once this team comes on-board?

Source: Hero Complex