Arrow (2012 TV Series)

[BatmAngelus]

I think you probably could jump right into Season 2 without needing to see the rest of Season 1, though I won't know for sure until Season 2 premieres.  A lot has happened since you left off, but a number of the Season 1 story arcs are finished.  Without giving anything away, I don't think Oliver's going to be consulting "The List" anytime soon, the mysteries surrounding Barrowman's Merlyn and Oliver's parents have been resolved, and the story arc of Oliver versus Fyers on the island is pretty much done, too.

I will say that the show definitely gets better in Season 1, or else I wouldn't have stuck with it either.  To me, "The Odyssey" episode- which mainly consists of an adventure on the island with Slade Wilson- was the turning point.  The writers had a better sense of what the show would be and stuck to that, and, by the last few episodes of the first season, I found the present-day stuff to be a lot more interesting than the island flashbacks and the finale was far better than I ever thought the show could be, back when I watched the pilot.

[riddler]

Perhaps by the end of Arrow, Oliver will actually have the mask, the goatee, and the Green Arrow name, with Thea as Speedy, Roy as Arsenal, and Laurel as Black Canary, complete with Canary Cry.

This has me intrigued. I watched the first five or six episodes of Arrow when it first started, but I quickly lost interest. I'd be lying if I said I was a big fan of the Green Arrow character in the first place and I'm not keen on CW shows in general. I also can't stand John Barrowman, so his presence on the show was a big turnoff for me. But the second season does sound promising. Especially if you're right about the show taking a turn towards the fantastic.

I'm definitely going to watch the Barry Allen episodes and I might start watching the show regularly again. But do you think I'd need to watch the rest of season one first? Or will season two be sufficiently self-contained that I can just dive in without being too confused?

It's a progressive storyline. Sometimes they had episodes that were kind of one offs (didn't build upon previous storylines or open new ones). I myself haven't made it through the season yet, I decided I'll wait for the blu ray in september.

[Silver Nemesis]

I don't fancy watching the whole of the first season, but if you guys say it's worth it then I might check out some of the later episodes.

Am I to take it that Queen doesn't don the classic costume at all in the first season?

[Paul (ral)]

He has the costume from the start.

There are a couple of slow episodes but I think you should like most of them SN. You will probably get a kick out of the references in the show.

[Silver Nemesis]

Truth be told, I know very little about the Green Arrow comics. So most of the references would probably be lost on me.

I've heard they had some DC villains from outside the Green Arrow comics make appearances too. Like Deadshot. But wasn't he depicted as just an ordinary sniper in a leather jacket?

[BatmAngelus]

^ Geoff Johns brought Deadshot back on the show, with the red eyepiece.  One scene implied that Lawton had the death wish that he has in the comics, which I appreciated (but expected from a Johns-written episode).  He's not in the full Marshall Rogers get-up now, but I think it's a step-up from his first appearance, as well as the previous live action incarnation in Smallville.  The character is likely to return in Season 2.

As for comic influences, from what I've seen, most of the show draws on Green Arrow: Year One and The Longbow Hunters, with one scene in the "Salvation" episode that felt right out of the latter comic. 

If I'm not mistaken, The Longbow Hunters was when they changed Oliver's outfit from the Robin Hood-style one to the hooded look that's more prevalent today.  To be honest, I think the Arrow costume looks close enough to the Longbow Hunters one.  What would make this Oliver look more like the character would be a mask instead of the face paint (though even that has some precedence in the Silver Age origin comic as I noted earlier in this thread) and the goatee, rather than any changes to the wardrobe.

[Silver Nemesis]

You clearly know a lot more about Green Arrow than me, BatmAngelus. If I do start watching the show again I'll have to keep pestering you with questions about the mythology.

D'you think you might write a comic analysis thread on this series at some point?

[BatmAngelus]

I might start one up at some point (maybe when the first season is available on DVD) to get at least the Green Arrow: Year One and Longbow Hunters comparisons up, as well as some of the obvious stuff that got covered in the show, such as Deathstroke/Slade Wilson and Wintergreen, Huntress/Helena Bertinelli, Shado, etc.  I have a feeling that Season Two will be more rife with comic references.

[Silver Nemesis]

Well I'll look forward to reading it if you do decide to write one. And while I may not know much about Green Arrow, I do have a decent knowledge of The Flash. So maybe I could pitch in with the analysis of those episodes.

[Silver Nemesis]

It looks like Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins might be making an appearance in the upcoming season: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/movienewsandreviews/news/?a=85631

I might have been worried about this had it happened during season one. But since season 2 is aiming to introduce super powered characters, it just might work. I hope they'll stick closer to the comics than Nolan did; make reference to the Lazarus Pits, to his eastern ancestry, to his environmental interests, to his use of chemical weaponry, etc. And it'd be nice to see Ubu (not Bane - Ubu!) make an appearance too.