The latest issue of Justice League revealed that Green Arrow has a rather shocking way to keep others from ever gaining hold of his signature weapon.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Justice League #61 by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, Tamra Bonvillain, Josh Reed, on sale now.
In the DCU, heroes without powers usually rely on gadgets or weapons to get the job done. Batman has his utility belt, Deathstroke has his sword, and Green Arrow has his bow and arrows. It stands to reason, then, that these heroes would have some kind of failsafe in place to keep villains from accessing their equipment.
In the latest issue of Justice League, Green Arrow proves to have taken this frame of thinking into account, revealing that any villain who tries to commandeer his bow is in for a shocking surprise.
Green Arrow traveled with the rest of the League to the ravaged birthplace of Naomi, but they were all stunned and separated upon arrival. When he woke up, he discovered that he was surrounded by a group of bandits, one of which having laid claim to his bow. Arrow warned the bandit that it was in his best interests to leave his bow alone, but his words were not heeded. The thug attempted to fire the weapon, setting off a booby trap that sent an electric charge to both the aspiring bowman and the rest of his group, rendering them all unconscious. Green Arrow then revealed that the bow was synched to his fingerprint, so only he could wield it without being hurt.
It’s a genius security measure and one that makes perfect sense. While Oliver Queen is a gifted fighter, he is an artist with his bow, highly skilled to point of almost having no peer. To take his bow away from him is like taking away a vital part of his arsenal, so it should be expected for the Emerald Archer to have some kind of safety measure in place to keep this from happening.
The mark of any good archer is the ability to keep his foes at a safe distance. Green Arrow can defend himself in hand to hand combat, but if he loses his bow while battling a significantly stronger opponent he would be in a massive amount of danger. So the bow needs to stay with him at all times and more importantly, out of anyone else’s hands. The electrocution security measure is a smart ploy to keep the bow away from anyone who could potentially use it against him.
This is very similar to the electric shock villains get when they attempt to handle Batman’s utility belt. If anything, it’s a painful reminder that even non-superpowered members of the Justice League are still formidable opponents in their own right and should not be underestimated.
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