What archer could rival Green Arrow but one he had trained?
From his beginning in 1941, readers probably knew that somewhere along the line, Green Arrow would go toe-to-toe with a “Red Arrow.” That’s because, for whatever psychological and/or dramatic reasons, superheroes must inevitably face a mirror-image foe.
All dramatic situations, after all, boil down to 1) a conflict with nature, 2) a conflict with other people, or 3) a conflict with one’s.
The mirror-image foe has the advantage of combining the last two categories.
In Adventure Comics 259 (April 1959), the wealthy Hector Vance offers to donate a million dollars to charity if Green Arrow will instruct him in archery. The too-trusting Emerald Archer even shares the secrets of his crime-fighting trick arrows with Vance.
“The trick arrows were absurd, if only because the quiver could never accommodate them,” Vincent Mariani said. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
But then Vance, who’s underworld kingpin Herb Vraney, embarks on a rampage as the Crimson Archer.
Green Arrow had previously imprisoned Vraney, but the vengeful criminal had had his face altered by plastic surgery and then used stashed loot to establish himself as a respectable man about town.
In a duel, Vraney matches Green Arrow shot for shot and has a built-in advantage.
“This can’t go on!” says the worried crimefighter. “He intends to kill me, and I’ve vowed never to kill with my bow and arrows! He’s got a big advantage, unless…”
Green Arrow had trained Vraney never to let himself be sun-blinded while shooting an arrow. But he was unprepared for GA’s sun arrow, which dazzled him long enough for the Emerald Archer to entangle him with a rope arrow.
“As a work of pure storytelling, this tale would be hard to beat,” observed comics historian Michael E. Grost. “Everything in it works out beautifully. Small seeds of plot ideas that are introduced early in the story develop and flower later. The smoothly flowing story recalls a work of music. When this story was reprinted in World’s Finest 154 (December 1965), editor Mort Weisinger dubbed it the finest of all of the 200 or so Green Arrow tales that had been published so far. Everyone will have their own opinions, but I certainly agree that this story is superb.”
Grost noted that this wasn’t the Modern William Tell’s only instance of operating a “super-archery school.” In The Decoy Archer (Adventure Comics 223, April 1956), the superhero finds that he’ll need to be in two places at once to trap a criminal gang. So he recruits Walt Craig from the City Archery Club as a substitute Green Arrow.
And, after being trained by Green Arrow’s enemy Bull-Eye, another criminal set himself up as the Blue Bowman in Batman 139 (April 1961). He was the Masked Manhunter’s foe, Signalman, hoping to finally prevail by changing tactics.
He didn’t.
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