Comic books have long proved that superheroes don’t need to be superhuman to be effective, and one of the earliest successful examples of such turns 75 this year – the Green Arrow. Oliver Queen, created by Morton Weisinger (co-creator of Aquaman) and George Papp (Superboy artist), first arrived in the pages of More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941 and has definitely left a mark on the industry.

One of Weisinger’s main inspirations for the hero was the movie serial called The Green Archer, which released in 1940, as well as the obvious allusions to Robin Hood. Appearing alongside Oliver in that first issue was his sidekick, Speedy, who was created to give the Green Arrow more similarities to the already-successful Batman and Robin; other reused ideas were the Arrowcar and the Arrow-Cave. The Green Arrow and Speedy would appear regularly in More Fun, alongside another Weisinger-created hero, Aquaman, as backup features to the main story. They also showed up in Adventure Comics, World’s Finest Comics, and Leading Comics as the backup feature to the likes of Superboy and other stories.

Unlike many of DC’s heroes, the Green Arrow didn’t receive a retooling once the comic industry entered the Silver Age. He still remained powerless, though his archery skills were completely unmatchable. However, his origin story did vary. In the Golden Age, Oliver was an archeologist who studied Native American culture; after his museum was burned by criminals, he went to the island of Lost Mesa and, alongside Roy Harper, defeated the thugs who tracked him down. The treasure they discovered on Lost Mesa helped to fund Oliver and Roy’s careers as the Green Arrow and Speedy.

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