GREEN ARROW (CONNOR HAWKE)

'Green Arrow' (Connor Hawke) is a DC Comics superhero. Created by Kelley Puckett and Jim Aparo, he first appeared in ''Green Arrow'' (2nd volume) #0 (1994).

Contents

Fictional character biography

Meeting Ollie

The new Green Arrow

Return to action

"One Year Later"

Ethnicity

Parentage Confusion

Powers and abilities

Fictional character biography

Meeting Ollie

Connor Hawke met Oliver Queen after Ollie came to stay at the ashram where Connor had been studying for some years. Ollie had previously retreated to the ashram decades before, looking for peace after accidentally killing a criminal (in ''The Flash'' [2nd series] #217). Ollie returned to the ashram under similar circumstances, haunted by the thought that he had killed his former best friend Hal Jordan, who, at the time, was involuntarily serving as the host of the villain Parallax. Thanks to Connor, who was a big fan of Green Arrow, Ollie was able to regain a semblance of inner peace and venture out into the world again, especially after numerous attempts on his life had been made.
Connor decided to journey with Ollie, and created a costume similar to his. Connor served as Ollie's sidekick, also meeting with Eddie Fyers, the former federal agent that acted as a form of counsel for Ollie. It was during this time that Ollie learned about his connection to Connor (albeit from the ghost of Hal Jordan): Connor was Ollie's son, conceived during Ollie's college years - a truth that Eddie Fyers had already deduced. Ollie didn't take it well and stormed off, agreeing to go undercover in an eco-terrorist group called the Eden Corps for the government. The mission turned out to be fatal for Ollie, as his arm was connected to a bomb in a plane that was headed for Metropolis. Rather than endanger Metropolis, and refusing to allow his arm to be amputated, he sacrificed himself to let the bomb explode away from the city. With his father dead, Connor decided to take up the mantle of Green Arrow and continue his hero's work.

The new Green Arrow

Connor continued to travel with Eddie, accompanied at times by Connor's martial arts mentor Master Jansen, as he tried to find his place not only in the hero world, but also in the legacy of Green Arrow. Akin to the friendship between his father and Hal Jordan, Connor became quick friends with the new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, who himself was struggling to live up to a legacy. Connor also met Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance), Ollie's former and longtime romantic interest, who gave him one of Ollie's old bows, which Connor would use from then on (however, the news that Ollie was dead would send Black Canary, who was already suffering from a string of misfortunes – loss of income from the destruction of her florist shop and the loss of her superhuman ability – into a despair which would only be ended by her association with Oracle).
Besides making friends, he also came face to face with Lady Shiva, said to be the deadliest assassin in the world, and was able to fight her almost to a stand-still, making him one of the very few to have survived battle with her. Conner would later face Shiva again, during the Brotherhood of the Fist storyline, in which the brotherhood held a martial arts tournament in Gotham city, attempting to prove their worthiness and skill after having been dishonored. Under the alias "Paper Monkey," Shiva fought and defeated many other competitors. Her final opponent was Conner. Though it was a very close and taxing contest, Shiva was the victor in the end. Thankfully, Shiva's old pupil, Robin (Tim Drake) who had saved her life during a previous encounter, asked her not to kill Connor, trading a life for a life. After warning Robin that using the favor now meant she would challenge and kill the boy wonder when he was older, she refrained from killing Connor.
Connor also applied for membership in the JLA, taking his father's place. On what would be his second interview, he single-handedly saved the League from the hands of the Key. Connor defeated the Key's robots using his father's old trick arrows since his own were destroyed. In the end, he knocked out the Key using the famous boxing glove arrow, and was accepted as a member of the League.

He would later be used by Batman as a "traitor" in the League in a ploy to defeat Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang. Connor would leave the League afterward, feeling he was better suited for the street-level work and out of his element in the epic adventures of the Justice League, although he did remain on reserve status. He and Eddie would then return for a time to the ashram where Connor was raised, although they both often returned to the outside world, aiding Robin at one point when his Brentwood Academy roomate had been attacked by a demon, and again when Robin, Spoiler and Batgirl were attempting to protect Robin's father from an ancient cult.

Return to action

When Ollie returned from the dead, Connor left the ashram and tracked him down. After Connor managed to save his father from the evil wizard Stanley Dover- a 'blood seal' had been placed around the house that meant that only someone related to anyone in the house could get in- Connor and Ollie moved in together in Star City. The two live with Mia Dearden, a runaway that Ollie has taken in and trained as his new sidekick Speedy. Since returning to the superhero life, Connor has been wounded seriously twice, once by the villain called Onomatopoeia and once by Constantine Drakon, but he continues in his hero role. He is the voice of reason for Ollie, and the two have since formed a real father-son relationship. During his recovery from Onomatopoeia's attack, Oliver Queen and his former sidekick Roy Harper went on a trip across the country recovering old possessions. One of them was an old photograph which revealed that Oliver had been present at Connor's birth, but later ran from the responsibility of being a father. Oliver still keeps this fact from his son.

"One Year Later"

Main articles: One Year Later

After the events of ''Infinite Crisis'', Connor is revealed in ''Teen Titans'' v3, #34 (2006) to be on an island with Mia Dearden and Oliver Queen as Ollie trains for his return to Star City.
A six issue mini-series ''Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood'' began release in November 2006, written by Chuck Dixon and art by Derec Donovan. Dixon stated, "A big surprise leads to major changes in Connor's life, particularly as it relates to his father." [Wizard #177]. Connor appears with the Black Canary on the cover of Green Arrow/Black Canary #1, due on October 10th, 2007.

Ethnicity

Connor is of mixed Asian, African and European heritage and was originally depicted with Asiatic features, dark skin and fair hair and eyes. However, when the ''Green Arrow'' series was rebooted, the character design was changed to have European features and light skin, even though a childhood picture in the later ''Archer's Quest'' storyline depicted him with dark skin. Connor's original features were later restored with Dixon's ''Dragon Blood'' miniseries. He now appears to have Asian-American facial features.

Parentage Confusion

There has been some confusion in recent years about the identity of Connor's mother. Throughout the later issues of the first Green Arrow series written by Chuck Dixon, Connor's mother was identified as Moonday Hawke; a flighty ex-Hippie, whom had reportedly been one of many conquests for a young Oliver Queen. Moonday played a frequent supporting role in the series, often requiring rescue due to the machinations of her husband - an arms dealer named Milo Armitage, who would be a frequent foe of the new Green Arrow.
Shado, an assassin who also mothered a child with Oliver Queen, is often incorrectly identified as Connor Hawke's mother. One reason for this is because of a Wizard Magazine issue, which incorrectly identified Connor's first appearance in comics being in ''Green Arrow'' vol. 2 #24. While this was the first appearance of Shado's infant son (who was later revealed to be named Robert), Connor appeared as a man in his early-twenties in ''Green Arrow'' vol. 2 #0. Both Robert and Connor were seen together, many years apart in age, in Chuck Dixon's 2007 ''Dragon's Blood'' miniseries.
The issue has been further confused by ''Birds of Prey'' #109, in which Barbara Gordon incorrectly identifies Shado as Connor Hawke's mother when running down a list of women whom Oliver Queen "cheated" on with long-time girlfriend Dinah Lance. Writer Tony Bedard has acknowledged this as "just a good old fashioned f
★ ck-up on my part." [1]

Powers and abilities

Connor possesses no powers whatsoever, but is an expert archer (although not the natural his father is). Unlike his father (who employs trick arrows from time to time), he uses a traditional bow and arrows.
Due to Connor's training in the ashram, he can mimic fighting styles that he witnesses, though this is a learned skill and not a meta-human power. Writer Chuck Dixon used the Brotherhood of the Fist storyline to establish Connor as being among the best hand-to-hand combatants in the world. One Year After ''Infinite Crisis,'' Connor furthered his training, and like his father and Mia, is able to wield a sword proficiently.