Green Arrow: How Oliver Queen REALLY Died - CBR

In the Arrowverse, "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and the final season of Arrow may have also brought the literal end to Green Arrow, with the hero dying to take on an even greater role. This tragic yet heroic death has had a dramatic effect on the Arrowverse, but it’s not the first time that Green Arrow has even died.

In the comic book DC Universe, the Emerald Archer has gone down swinging a few times, with one death being especially familiar to Arrowverse viewers. Now, we're taking a look back at the time when DC's main Green Arrow fired his last shot.

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The first death of Oliver Queen saw the end of the original Green Arrow, who first appeared during the Golden Age in Mort Weisinger and George Papp's More Fun Comics #73. In Marc Wolfman and George Perez's Crisis on Infinite Earths #12, this incarnation of the character made his first appearance in years, as his adventures were relegated to the secondary Earth-Two with other Golden Age characters. Appearing briefly in the wake of the Anti-Monitor’s war upon reality, the older Green Arrow rose to the challenge against the attacking wave of Shadow Demons. Unfortunately, these creatures quickly overwhelmed the old archer, who helplessly died while crying out for help from Peacemaker.

This death would be adapted in the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, though the original version was far less dramatic. The minute emphasis given to the original Emerald Archer’s death can be attributed to how the original Green Arrow's relative lack of popularity, as well as how much more popular the definitive subsequent Dennis O’Neil/Neal Adams incarnation of the character had become.

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Oliver met a far more tragic, hard-hitting death in Chuck Dixon, Rodolfo Damaggio and Robert Campanella's Green Arrow #101. Just a bit over 20 issues beforehand, Mike Grell had completed his landmark run on the character that had begun with the miniseries The Longbow Hunters. This run was a decidedly grounded take on the character, eschewing trick arrows and supervillains for gritty violence and ripped from the headlines storytelling. The change from comic booky Star City to grim Seattle brought with it a change in wardrobe, with the Neal Adams design giving way to a hood fitting the drizzly new city. The series was also effectively removed Oliver from the happenings of the greater DC Universe, with the only other hero appearing being a civilian Hal Jordan.

Once Grell completed his run, DC editorial quickly reinstated Green Arrow into the DCU proper. Oliver Queen left Seattle and traveled America, facing crooks, gang members, and interacting with the Justice League once again. His newest mission of taking down an eco-terrorism cell, however, would sadly be his last for a while.

In order to stop the terrorists' scheme of destroying Metropolis, Oliver -- wearing a rustic new green and brown costume -- straps himself to a bomb in order to activate it prematurely. Unfortunately, he's unable to get himself out of the contraption, and the gravity of the situation becomes apparent when the Man of Steel himself enters the plane. With no way to safely remove Ollie from the bomb, Superman warns that his options are to either have his arm forcibly removed, or go down with the plane. Refusing to lose his arm and likely his archery abilities, Oliver Queen dies as the plane explodes, saving Metropolis in the process.

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This idea hearkens back to The Dark Knight Returns, in which the armless elderly Green Arrow was said to have lost his appendage due to a situation involving Superman. During this time in DC publication, elements of dark futures such as The Dark Knight Returns and Kingdom Come were introduced into the mainstream universe to the sow the seeds of their potentially coming to pass.

With Oliver's own passing, his son Connor Hawke would take over the role of Green Arrow for several years. However, Oliver's old friend Hal Jordan revived him, and the original Green Arrow returned in Kevin Smith and Phil Hester's acclaimed run on the character.

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