Speedy (comics)
| Speedy | |
|---|---|
Roy Harper, the first Speedy. Art by Tom Grummett.
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| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941) |
| Created by |
Mort Weisinger (writer) George Papp (art) |
| Characters |
Roy Harper Mia Dearden |
| See also | Thea Queen |
Speedy is the name of two DC Comics superheroes, fictional characters that have each served as teenaged sidekicks for the Green Arrow (a.k.a. Oliver Queen).
The original Speedy's real name was Roy Harper, Jr.. He first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941), where he was identified as the orphaned son of Roy Harper, Sr., a forest ranger who had died saving a Navajo medicine chief named "Brave Bow" from a fire. Brave Bow raised the younger Roy himself, training him at archery. Roy Jr. took to this training eagerly, and idolized the archer superhero, Green Arrow. As a teenager, Roy is given the opportunity to perform at an archery competition judged by Green Arrow, where he assists the hero at foiling an attempted burglary, even proving himself to be a faster shot than the hero. Following the death of Brave Bow, Green Arrow asked Roy to serve as his sidekick, an offer Roy readily accepted, taking the name Speedy. Harper became the ward of Green Arrow's alter ego, billionaire Oliver Queen.
Harper also became an early member of the Teen Titans. After the original Titans disbanded, he joined a band called Great Frog and became a drug addict, a first in DC comics, in an award-winning story in Green Lantern #85-86 (Sept. & November 1971), part of a classic, 14-issue run by the writer-artist team of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. Roy spent some time in the Suicide Squad before returning to the Titans.
He fathered a daughter by the villainess Cheshire, and eventually took the name Arsenal in New Teen Titans #99 (1993). In Justice League of America #1 (vol 3), he is eventually referred to as Red Arrow. After his daughter is killed, and he has one of his arms cut off by the villain Prometheus in Justice League: Cry for Justice, Roy will star in the mini-series Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal during which he will retake the name of "Arsenal".
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