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Description

Decades ago, around the mid-to-late XXth century, there was the Golden Age of Superheroes. Trailblazers. Pioneers in those with special abilities and larger than life personas, willing to risk life and limb for those who couldn’t. Amongst them, there was Black Canary. Donning a domino mask and a black corset, she became one of the first female heroes close to the end of World War II alongside Wonder Woman, fighting sexism and condescension about as much as she fought the Axis powers and criminals. Having no superpowers of her own, however, age and injury eventually took their toll on the dashing heroine. Already having married and having a kid by then, it wasn’t hard for Canary to hang her fishnet stockings and go back to being Dinah Drake full time.

Days became years and the years became decades, and before she even noticed, Dinah Drake had become a grandmother. Her relationship with her daughter having strained with years, she nevertheless found kinship in her granddaughter, Laurel Lance. The young girl spent as much time as she could with the former heroine, marveling at her tales of daring stunts, protecting the citizens of the world and throwing bad guys back where they belonged. To young Laurel, her grandmother was a role model. So were her fellow retired heroes of the Justice Society of America, who frequently visited and babysat the spirited young girl. They all taught her a thing or two about self-defense, with both her grandma and Ted Grant teaching her martial arts, and when she unexpectedly developed a meta gene in her teenage years, Kent Nelson taught her how to keep it in check.

With all these role models, it is natural that Laurel (Now taking her Grandma’s first name, Dinah) grew up to be such a spirited young woman, willing to stand for those in need, even in the most mundane of scenarios. Fresh off of college and the lead of a moderately successful rock band, it seemed that she was content with leading a relatively normal life away from the heroics that defined her family. That is, until a string of disappearances began to spring around her neighborhood in Star City. Although Dinah already had connections with super powered individuals, most of them were retired, too old or missing, leading her to make a long overdue decision: To take on the family business and become a hero. For all her training, however, Dinah was still unexperienced, and lacked the proper street smarts to take on a proper hero gig. She knew she might need backup. Someone with experience. A proper superhero.

As a native of Star City, she knew just the guy.

Some years ago, Oliver Queen was known as the useless heir to Queen Industries. A slacker with zero business sense, he was very open with his plans for just living off of his family’s fortune, drinking, partying and hooking up with the most beautiful women. That was his exact intention when he went on a luxury cruise across the pacific: An entire weekend of reckless hedonism.

His retreat proved to be far longer and less fun than originally planned.

The cruise sank in the middle of a nasty storm. Most people were saved, except for the young millionaire, who remained unaccounted for for nearly five years. As it turned out. Oliver Queen washed up ashore in a remote pacific island. For the first time in his life, he had to not only work to survive, but also fight for his life. Slowly he built up the necessary means to live in his new, less luxurious environment. He became friends with the natives, who taught him how to fight and (Most importantly in the long run) how to handle a bow and arrow. By the time he came back, Oliver Queen was a changed man: No longer the materialistic youth he had once been, he was now an altruistic, intelligent, and humble man, ready and willing to lead Queen Industries into a path of charity and social well-being. This was just one side of Ollie’s new mission.

In private, however, Ollie had a more hands-on approach for the improvement of Star City. Inspired by his favorite show growing up, “The Gray Ghost”, he fashioned a costume, a lair and vehicles to become a vigilante by night, his signature being an armory of high tech tricked arrows and deadly precision. He’d need a name, however, and looking back at his inspiration once again, he took the “Color-name” approach and became the hero Star City needed. One who’d punish those who’d failed his great city: Green Arrow.

…Which didn’t last that long. Already living in an area with little crime, Ollie was convinced that he wasn’t meant to be a superhero when he failed to save his young ward, Roy Harper. Ollie, instead, decided that he could do more good as Oliver Queen than as Green Arrow, so he hung up his costume, sold most of his company’s assets to the likes of Wayne Enterprises and Kord Industries, turned his mansion into a homeless youth shelter and welcomed a life of relative anonymity, opening a flower shop in a quiet neighborhood, never to become a superhero ever again.

And then Dinah Lance entered his shop one day.

Having deciphered his identity as Green Arrow, she demanded him to help her in discovering the truth behind the missing person cases, trying to appeal to his humanitarian side. At first, Ollie categorically refused, having vowed to never shoot an arrow ever again, but he relented once he followed Dinah and witnessed her almost getting killed. As it turned out, Ollie kept his body and skills in shape even in retirement, mostly out of habit and just in case, and agreed to aid Dinah in this one case to ensure she wouldn’t die the first time she jumped off of a rooftop.

Now with the resources provided by her cantankerous but still wealthy partner, Dinah could now fulfill her fate as a hero. The journey wasn’t easy, but they already knew that. And although they uncovered the missing person cases, they also made several, very dangerous enemies, Like: The spellbinding Count Werner Vertigo, the rock-solid crime boss Brick, the psychotically obsessed Cupid, the mysterious assassin Shado, and the far reaching League Of Assassins.

As it turns out, the void of crime had filled in the years Ollie retired. He came to realize that he wasn’t a fool looking for a romantic fantasy, but maybe a man ahead of his time, now that the Modern Age of Superheroes was in full force. He certainly wouldn’t be alone this time. And among all his new allies (Including his former partner, now named Arsenal, Artemis, Huntress, Question and more) his most prized partner in fighting crime is the one who took him out of retirement in the first place. The one who gave him a new mission in life. The new love of his life.

The ongoing roster of heroes in the modern age has gotten two new additions. Forged from long lasting legacies, redemption, and hope for a better tomorrow: They are the duo of Green Arrow and Black Canary . Star City’s biggest defenders.

Description

Decades ago, around the mid-to-late XXth century, there was the Golden Age of Superheroes. Trailblazers. Pioneers in those with special abilities and larger than life personas, willing to risk life and limb for those who couldn’t. Amongst them, there was Black Canary. Donning a domino mask and a black corset, she became one of the first female heroes close to the end of World War II alongside Wonder Woman, fighting sexism and condescension about as much as she fought the Axis powers and criminals. Having no superpowers of her own, however, age and injury eventually took their toll on the dashing heroine. Already having married and having a kid by then, it wasn’t hard for Canary to hang her fishnet stockings and go back to being Dinah Drake full time.

Days became years and the years became decades, and before she even noticed, Dinah Drake had become a grandmother. Her relationship with her daughter having strained with years, she nevertheless found kinship in her granddaughter, Laurel Lance. The young girl spent as much time as she could with the former heroine, marveling at her tales of daring stunts, protecting the citizens of the world and throwing bad guys back where they belonged. To young Laurel, her grandmother was a role model. So were her fellow retired heroes of the Justice Society of America, who frequently visited and babysat the spirited young girl. They all taught her a thing or two about self-defense, with both her grandma and Ted Grant teaching her martial arts, and when she unexpectedly developed a meta gene in her teenage years, Kent Nelson taught her how to keep it in check.

With all these role models, it is natural that Laurel (Now taking her Grandma’s first name, Dinah) grew up to be such a spirited young woman, willing to stand for those in need, even in the most mundane of scenarios. Fresh off of college and the lead of a moderately successful rock band, it seemed that she was content with leading a relatively normal life away from the heroics that defined her family. That is, until a string of disappearances began to spring around her neighborhood in Star City. Although Dinah already had connections with super powered individuals, most of them were retired, too old or missing, leading her to make a long overdue decision: To take on the family business and become a hero. For all her training, however, Dinah was still unexperienced, and lacked the proper street smarts to take on a proper hero gig. She knew she might need backup. Someone with experience. A proper superhero.

As a native of Star City, she knew just the guy.

Some years ago, Oliver Queen was known as the useless heir to Queen Industries. A slacker with zero business sense, he was very open with his plans for just living off of his family’s fortune, drinking, partying and hooking up with the most beautiful women. That was his exact intention when he went on a luxury cruise across the pacific: An entire weekend of reckless hedonism.

His retreat proved to be far longer and less fun than originally planned.

The cruise sank in the middle of a nasty storm. Most people were saved, except for the young millionaire, who remained unaccounted for for nearly five years. As it turned out. Oliver Queen washed up ashore in a remote pacific island. For the first time in his life, he had to not only work to survive, but also fight for his life. Slowly he built up the necessary means to live in his new, less luxurious environment. He became friends with the natives, who taught him how to fight and (Most importantly in the long run) how to handle a bow and arrow. By the time he came back, Oliver Queen was a changed man: No longer the materialistic youth he had once been, he was now an altruistic, intelligent, and humble man, ready and willing to lead Queen Industries into a path of charity and social well-being. This was just one side of Ollie’s new mission.

In private, however, Ollie had a more hands-on approach for the improvement of Star City. Inspired by his favorite show growing up, “The Gray Ghost”, he fashioned a costume, a lair and vehicles to become a vigilante by night, his signature being an armory of high tech tricked arrows and deadly precision. He’d need a name, however, and looking back at his inspiration once again, he took the “Color-name” approach and became the hero Star City needed. One who’d punish those who’d failed his great city: Green Arrow.

…Which didn’t last that long. Already living in an area with little crime, Ollie was convinced that he wasn’t meant to be a superhero when he failed to save his young ward, Roy Harper. Ollie, instead, decided that he could do more good as Oliver Queen than as Green Arrow, so he hung up his costume, sold most of his company’s assets to the likes of Wayne Enterprises and Kord Industries, turned his mansion into a homeless youth shelter and welcomed a life of relative anonymity, opening a flower shop in a quiet neighborhood, never to become a superhero ever again.

And then Dinah Lance entered his shop one day.

Having deciphered his identity as Green Arrow, she demanded him to help her in discovering the truth behind the missing person cases, trying to appeal to his humanitarian side. At first, Ollie categorically refused, having vowed to never shoot an arrow ever again, but he relented once he followed Dinah and witnessed her almost getting killed. As it turned out, Ollie kept his body and skills in shape even in retirement, mostly out of habit and just in case, and agreed to aid Dinah in this one case to ensure she wouldn’t die the first time she jumped off of a rooftop.

Now with the resources provided by her cantankerous but still wealthy partner, Dinah could now fulfill her fate as a hero. The journey wasn’t easy, but they already knew that. And although they uncovered the missing person cases, they also made several, very dangerous enemies, Like: The spellbinding Count Werner Vertigo, the rock-solid crime boss Brick, the psychotically obsessed Cupid, the mysterious assassin Shado, and the far reaching League Of Assassins.

As it turns out, the void of crime had filled in the years Ollie retired. He came to realize that he wasn’t a fool looking for a romantic fantasy, but maybe a man ahead of his time, now that the Modern Age of Superheroes was in full force. He certainly wouldn’t be alone this time. And among all his new allies (Including his former partner, now named Arsenal, Artemis, Huntress, Question and more) his most prized partner in fighting crime is the one who took him out of retirement in the first place. The one who gave him a new mission in life. The new love of his life.

The ongoing roster of heroes in the modern age has gotten two new additions. Forged from long lasting legacies, redemption, and hope for a better tomorrow: They are the duo of Green Arrow and Black Canary . Star City’s biggest defenders.