Warning! Spoilers for Green Arrow #18!Green Arrowhas an iconic costume - one of the best in superhero comics - but how he keeps his identity secret has never really made much sense. While Green Arrow often wears a hood or a classic domino mask, the lower half of his face is completely exposed. While this isn’t an issue for characters like Batman, Ollie has a distinctive beard that has always made hiding his identity hard, but his newest costume fixed this problem.
After working with Amanda Waller,Green Arrow is back in his cityand doing his best to protect the people he cares about. This return also comes with a brand-new costume, and it’s a fantastic update to his iconic look. Not only does Ollie have a cool cloak now, but most importantly,he’s wearing a face mask that completely obscures his iconic blond beard, as seen inGreen Arrow#18 by Chris Condon, Montos, Adriano Lucas, and Hassan Otsman-Elhaou.
While this new mask might seem like a little thing, it actuallyfixes a pretty huge weak point in Ollie’s costume from over the years. While comic book logic usually dictates that anyone wearing a mask is unrecognizable, this “logic” hasn’t been the case for Green Arrow. His iconic beard has gotten him in trouble several times over the years.
Green Arrow’s Beard Is the Biggest Threat to His Secret Identity
Panels from 2001’sGreen Arrow#3 by Kevin Smith, Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Guy Major, and Sean Konot
Green Arrow’s secret identityhas been jeopardized several times due to his beard. While it’s true that most heroes don’t bother covering their lower faces, such as Batman, Nightwing, Green Lantern, and the Flash, none of those characters traditionally have facial hair. It’s been pointed out several times that Ollie’s beard is kind of a problem, especially sinceOllie’s identity was easily figured out by Mia Dearden thanks to his beardinGreen Arrow#3. Mia then essentially bullied him into accepting her as his new sidekick.
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With Green Arrow in Amanda Waller’s clutches, Oliver attempts to pass his legacy to a former sidekick, who wants nothing to do with the mantle.
When it comes to keeping a secret identity, one of the most important aspects is simply not having anything that’s overly identifying. Mia even points out that Ollie doesn’t wear a mask that “Batmans his face.” Ollie simply wears a domino mask, sometimes a hood, butneither obscures his golden hair nor his recognizable beard.It’s ironic that while Ollie does wear a mask, he has a worse time concealing his identity than characters who don’t, such asSuperman. But this new costume completely fixes this decades-long issue.
Green Arrow’s New Costume Will Finally Keep Oliver Queen’s Identity Safe
Plus It Has a Cool Cloak!
Characters get new costumes all the time. Batman has had literally hundreds of different Batsuits over the years, but rarely does a costume upgrade fix a major problem concerning the character’s secret identity. Superman has never gotten a new suit, which made people less likely to guess that he was Clark Kent. But this is exactly whatGreen Arrowgot. Not only does this new costume look absolutely amazing and completely fit in with his aesthetic, but it’s finally fixed the biggest pothole about his secret identity, too.
