In the late 1960s, writer Denny O'Neil, inspired by the character's dramatic visual redesign by Neal Adams, chose to have him lose his fortune, giving him the then-unique role of a streetwise crusader for the working class and the disadvantaged.

Green Arrow was not initially a well-known character outside of comic book fandom: He had appeared in a single episode of the animated series Super Friends in 1973.

When Mort Weisinger was creating the character, aside from the obvious allusions to Robin Hood, he took inspiration from a movie serial, The Green Archer, based on the novel by Edgar Wallace.

[4] These include Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy, his use of an Arrowcar and Arrow-Plane for transportation, his use of an Arrow-Cave as his headquarters, his alter ego as a wealthy playboy, the use of an Arrow-Signal to summon him, as well as a clown-like arch foe named Bull's Eye, similar to Batman's arch-foe, the Joker.

In Superhero Comics of the Golden Age, Mike Benton writes that "their front cover star status was probably due to Speedy's appeal – teenage sidekicks were the current rage.

"[9] The duo embark on a quest in a beat-up pickup truck to "find America", along the way witnessing the problems of corruption, racism, pollution, as well as overpopulation confronting the nation.

[11] In this three-issue prestige format limited series, a routine adventure against a group of drug runners led to tragedy as the Black Canary was captured and brutally tortured.

As the series was part of DC Comics' mature audience line, it took on a more gritty, violent, as well as urban tone, with Green Arrow often using deadly force against his enemies.

In addition to Shado, Grell introduced Seattle police Lieutenant Jim Cameron, who was disgusted with Green Arrow's vigilante actions (including killing criminals), renegade CIA agent Greg Osborne, who began to monitor Queen's activities, as well as mercenary Eddie Fyers, initially introduced as Queen's adversary, but later to become a companion of necessity when Green Arrow was forced to leave Seattle after false accusations of aiding terrorists.

His ongoing series (mostly written by Kelley Puckett and drawn by artist Jim Aparo) was removed from the "Mature Audience" line (which had evolved into "Vertigo") with No.

3) #47, which had Oliver aiding Green Lantern in rescuing his longtime girlfriend Carol Ferris and her family from one of Hal's enemies, as well as the 1994 DC Comics mini-series Zero Hour.

[16] After the resurrection storyline, Smith wrote a second and shorter arc involving a super-powered serial killer, calling himself Onomatopoeia, who sought to claim Connor as his latest victim.

Oliver, having once again amassed a large personal fortune, is the newly elected mayor of Star City, continuing his fight for justice both on the streets and within the political system.

Using concepts from previous iterations, Oliver Queen is a rich, thrill-seeking activist who is attacked, thrown overboard and washes up on an island where he learns of a smuggling operation.

The Green Arrow/Black Canary series ends during this story arc, as well as in the pages of Justice League: Rise and Fall Special; Oliver is tried, but found not guilty as most of the jury sympathise with his motives.

Powered by the entity of life on Earth, the ring created a vast green forest, that instantly grew in the presence of the white light, in much of what remained of Star City.

[27] In the post-Flashpoint continuity, Oliver Queen is Green Arrow and he balances his own breaking of laws with his efforts to bring outlaws to justice across the globe.

Beginning with issue 17, the series received a new creative team in writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino, who brought more positive reception to the book.

Following the cancellation of JLA at the conclusion of the Forever Evil storyline, Green Arrow appears in its replacement series, Justice League United, also written by Lemire.

Following DC's Convergence storyline in April–May 2015, the title again received a new creative team in writer Ben Percy and artist Patrick Zircher, whose run was more influenced by the horror genre.

[29] Ben Percy remained the principal writer for the series, with a rotating art team consisting of Otto Schmidt, Juan Ferreyra and Stephen Byrne.

[32] In November 2022, it was announced that Joshua Williamson would write a new Green Arrow series following Oliver's disappearance at the end of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, with Sean Izaakse illustrating and launching in April 2023.

Two versions of Green Arrow exist in the Amalgam universe: For many years, DC Comics wrote stories in what it called a Multiverse, or a series of infinite parallel Earths.

[50] Oliver Queen also appears in Mike Mignola's Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham, where he is portrayed as a guilt-ridden latter-day Templar equipped with magic arrows dipped in the blood of Saint Sebastian.

[52] An older, balding Green Arrow appears in Mark Waid and Alex Ross' futuristic Kingdom Come, in which Oliver has joined forces with Batman to oppose Superman's army/Justice League.

Near the end of Year One (the comic's first volume) he is beaten to death by Superman in his Fortress of Solitude after the former mistakenly believes that the Insurgency has come to harm his adopted parents kept there (though in reality it was a botched attempt to gain a super pill meant to give humans great power).

When Batman was killed during the Apokoliptian invasion, Red Arrow continued to guard the Codex that contained the DNA of every animal, plant, and organism in an underwater fortress built by Bruce Wayne.

Smallville Season Eleven, a comic book continuation of the show, reveals he is Oliver's son; Jonathan Queen, named after Clark's adoptive father.

Hartley however refused to entertain the idea, feeling it was his duty to respect what Smallville had accomplished in five seasons, and not "steal the spotlight" because there was "talk" of a spin-off after his two appearances.

[65] The series, titled simply Arrow, follows the story of former playboy billionaire turned vigilante Oliver Queen after he is rescued from a presumably deserted island, where he was shipwrecked five years earlier.