COMICS PORTAL: When Artie Met Ollie

That Green Arrow guy is in the news a lot these days! There’s a team-up series coming with Ollie and Aquaman, which I hope will lead to more of this kind of thing!

WHAT’S GOING ON?

They both wear green and have blonde hair, but that’s pretty much the only similarities between them!

Aquaman (Arthur Curry) is teaming up with Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) for a seven-issue miniseries that will debut in October called Deep Target. It will be written by Brandon Thomas and have art from Ronan Cliquet and Ulises Arreola with covers by Marco Santucci and InHyuk Lee.

Back in the days of the Justice League of America, Aquaman was an early member with Green Arrow being the first new addition.

I mean, Ollie has teamed up with several DC heroes, including Batman, the Martian Manhunter, Flash, Black Canary, and, of course, Green Lantern. I miss him having a monthly title! If this sells well, who knows?

Aquaman has done very interesting team-ups as well. He’s worked with Hawkman, Batman, the Atom, Superman, Scooby Doo, and even Jabberjaw in a recent combining of DC heroes with Hanna Barbera characters. He always ends up fighting Wonder Woman for some reason. Sadly, Arthur is still not taken seriously, as pointed out by Geoff Johns in his first Aquaman issue.

Arthur could stand a little attention, especially after that successful live-action movie!

SOMETHING NEW

I hope this is the beginning of less-than-usual team-ups in comics. I guess I wasn’t surprised when DC recently cancelled Batman Superman (it’ll be back, and given the previous history, it’ll again return to being Superman Batman next).

As much as I enjoy team books like Justice League and Avengers, I often enjoy smaller pairings in comics because we get to see how two characters interact that we don’t see working with each other that often.

I fondly remember Brave and the Bold even after it became “Batman and…” as well as DC Comics Presents which turned into “Superman and…” before too long. As a big Bat-fan, I enjoy seeing the Dark Knight work with someone different rather than the Bat-family. And the Man of Steel often ends up bailing out other heroes since he’s so powerful.

Marvel has had their share of two-person team-ups as well. Hawkeye used to work with the Black Widow, for example. Daredevil and Elektra were a big deal for a while. Also, Spider-Man and Black Cat have had fun stories told about them. Of course, it would be crazy not to include Spidey and Wolverine, who had their own miniseries’ for a while.

Yes, I still remember the days when Marvel and DC crossed over in those big books that featured Superman meeting Spider-Man and Batman with the Hulk. I know that won’t happen again anytime soon, but I can dream, can’t I?

NOW WHAT?

There is at least one other similarity between GA and Aquaman, and that’s the fact that neither seems to be able to stay in one place very long.

Ollie keeps losing his fortune, then finding it again. He’s with Black Canary, then they break up only to reunite at some point. He’s a big part of the Justice League, then he’s not. He’s even been mayor of Star City for a while, then he turns into a wandering guy on his motorcycle for a time.

It’s kind of the same for Aquaman. He’s the ruler of the Seven Seas, then he’s not. He’s the King of Atlantis, then he’s not. He’s married to Mera, then he’s not. He’s got a son, then he doesn’t. I can never tell which version of Aquaman I’m coming across anymore! (Of course, in his big-budget movies, he’s not even blonde anymore!)

I think sales has a lot to do with all these flip-flops. The character sells well as the Longbow Hunter, for example, but eventually that slows down, so they have to try something else to get those sales back up. Aquaman is considered uninteresting because he’s hitched, so they un-hitch him. As a king, whatever he wants becomes law, so they un-king him to make him more relatable.

What’s a fan to do?

Actually, all that transition could be something the two heroes will find in common as they team up. I’d like to see them commiserate about their lives, wondering what to do next.

I’m hoping for something unique when these two work together, and what encourages me is that writer Brandon Thomas describes the new project as “a mind-bending, worlds-altering adventure.”

Both of these guys could use a big change or two in their heroic journeys! Maybe this will lead to something great! I hope so!

What do you think? Do you buy team-up stories? Do you prefer big groups or smaller ones? What would you LIKE to see Green Arrow and/or Aquaman do? Whatever your opinions, be sure to share your thoughts in the space below!

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