Speedy (comics)

Speedy is the name of two DC Comics superheroes that have each served as teenaged sidekicks for the Green Arrow.

Fictional character biographies

Roy Harper

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.

There was a second later origin in Adventure Comics #209 (Feb 1955, The Origin of Speedy). His parents (John and Anna) were both killed when an experiment by his scientist father exploded. This was in the wilds of Arizona and Roy was found by Indians and brought up by Chief Thunderhead, a great archer who could do many fantastic things with a bow and arrow, who trained the boy in their use. Later he told Roy to seek his future with the great archer, Green Arrow. The Chief is now dead.

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 named Lian 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 starred in the mini-series '' Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal'' during which he retook the name of "Arsenal".

Mia Dearden

Mia Dearden was introduced in ''Green Arrow'' (Vol. 3) #2 in 2001. Mia was a teenaged girl who ran from her home after being abused by her father and fell into child prostitution. Mia was rescued from one of her clients by Oliver Queen, who had just recently returned from the dead. Mia began to secretly train with Connor Hawke in archery and combat. Mia continually petitioned Green Arrow to allow her to serve as his sidekick, but Oliver continually demurred, not wanting to put another youngster at risk. Mia redoubled her efforts and Green Arrow finally allowed her to become the new Speedy. Shortly thereafter, she joined the Teen Titans. She has since left the team.

Powers and abilities

Speedy (like their mentor) has a wide variety of trick arrows, most famously his punching glove arrow which is capable of knocking out villains. Speedy also has several other arrows ranging from sleeping gas arrows, exploding arrows, and regular arrows. Roy Harper got his superhero name Speedy by being able to shoot more arrows quicker than the Green Arrow. His speed and accuracy of his arrows was recognized by the Green Arrow while training with him. Speedy's name is often confused with Kid Flash's superhero name; bystanders would mistakenly call Kid Flash "Speedy".

Along with his excellent archery skills, Speedy has mastered several different types of hand-to-hand combat including judo, kickboxing, and karate.

As Arsenal, Roy Harper displayed proficiency with a greater range of weapons, such as guns, truncheons, and boomerangs. He also became a master of Moo Gi Gong, allowing him to use virtually any handheld object as a makeshift weapon.

Roy Harper can speak Japanese and can understand Russian.

Other versions

Speedy of Earth-Two

There was an Earth-Two version of Speedy who was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and All-Star Squadron in the 1940s along with his mentor Green Arrow. Aside from their origin, having been trained on a mesa top together, their history nearly parallels the history of the Earth-One version up until the point when Speedy and Green Arrow, along with their teammates, were thrown into various periods of time during a battle with the Nebula Man. He and his teammates were later retrieved by the Justice Society and the Justice League in order to assist them in saving Earth-Two from the machinations of their old foe the Iron Hand. Speedy had been sent to the island of Circe in the past and turned into a centaur controlled by Circe, but was restored. Years after returning to the present, Speedy came out of retirement, along with his mentor who died during the ''Crisis on Infinite Earths''. This Speedy and his Green Arrow were retroactively wiped from existence by the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Bizarro World

A Bizarro version of Roy Harper as Arsenal appears as one of the heroes of Bizarro World. In addition to sporting a robotic left arm (as opposed to his right one), the Bizarro Arsenal is shown wearing a quiver filled with dead cats, which he uses as weapons.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the '' Flashpoint'' event, Roy Harper is a member of mercenary squad working for industrialist Oliver Queen. Very early in the story, however, Roy and his fellow mercenaries were killed by an unshown explosion set off by Vixen and a group of anti-Queen activists. The explosion actually kills everyone in the facility save for Vixen and Oliver Queen, who is remarkably unscathed even though he had been standing right next to Roy, discussing the possibility of becoming a group of actual heroes rather than mercenaries, at the time the explosion went off.

Titans Tomorrow

In the ''Titans Tomorrow'' future, Roy Harper took on the role of Green Arrow and was killed in battle.

Thrillkiller

''Batman: Thrillkiller'' is an Elseworlds story set in the early 1960s. Roy Harper is depicted as a biker who buys drugs in order to get friendly with schoolgirl Hayley Fitzpatrick (aka Harley Quinn), but a terrifying ordeal with drug runners leads him to alert the police after being helped by Batman and Black Canary. He is later shown practicing archery, though it is not clear if it is part of a rehab scheme or training for vigilantism.

Convergence

During the ''Convergence'' event, the New Earth version of Roy Harper is shown following the events of the ''Titans'' series. Still struggling with Lian's death, he has now devoted himself to helping the community to make amends for his time with Deathstroke. When the Extremists attack the city, he dons his Arsenal costume and helps his former teammates from the Teen Titans fight off the villains. Dreamslayer then uses his powers to pull Lian out of the timestream shortly before her death and offers to return her to Roy in exchange for him turning on the Titans. Using trickery, Roy pretends to betray his friends, but instead scrambles Dreamslayer's teleportation field. As the Extremists retreat, Roy stays behind with Lian, finally reunited with his daughter.

Teen Titans Go!

Speedy has also made eight appearances in the comic book series ''Teen Titans Go!'' (based on the cartoon). His first appearance in issue #10 was a cameo. He made a reappearance with the rest of Titans East in #20 and 25. A super-deformed version of him posed as Cupid in #27. One of the two stories in issue #30 focuses on him and Aqualad. Thus far, he and Aqualad both have made appearances in each tenth issue. He appeared in issue #39 and after being struck by Larry's arrows falls in love with Cheshire, similar to the comics. In issue #48 he appeared as Arsenal in alternate reality in a group called the Teen Tyrants.

Arrow

In the ''Arrow'' tie-in comic, ''Season 2.5'', Roy Harper as Arsenal goes with Oliver on mission to stop "drug plane". While Oliver puts an autopilot device on plane's controls and kicks other enemies, one of the thugs fires on Roy and begins falling from the plane, but Oliver managed to rescue him and is put in hospital. While recovering, Felicity is kidnapped by Church of Blood and mercenary group Renegades. Oliver calls Roy for help and gives him kevlar-lined suit after he recovered from injury. Heading to the Church's base of operations, they are contacted by Clinton Hogue, a Church's new leader, who demands Oliver in exchange for Felicity, which Oliver accepts despite Roy's advice not to. Roy goes to Lyla Michaels for help and they, along with another backup released from prison named Huntress, go to Bludhaven where Felicity is held. Infiltrating their base, Roy fights against Cyrus Vanch and Winnick Norton, but after taking them down, he is knocked out by Lyle Bolton electrocuting them and taking the hostages, only to be knocked out by Helena who saves them. Roy and his friends bound the mercenaries and leave for helicopter piloted by Oliver. However, Hogue comes in helipack and attempts to kill Roy. In the middle of the air, the two are knocked out of the plane, held by Roy and Hogue attached to his leg. Roy kicks him and Hogue falls to the ground to his death.

In other media

Television

''Smallville''

*Speedy (Mia Dearden) appeared in Season 9 of ''Smallville'' in the episode "Crossfire". This Speedy is the ''Smallville'' version of Green Arrow's apprentice, Mia Dearden, played by Elise Gatien. She is a prostitute who has trained herself in street-fighting and is attempting to raise enough money to get away from her pimp, Rick. Oliver Queen sees her as a kindred spirit and takes her in to train her while teaching her how to overcome her anger. Rick forces her to lure Oliver to a remote location so he can kidnap him, but Mia turns against him. Rick is arrested, and Mia continues to partner with Oliver. In "Disciple" she is kidnapped by villainous archer named Vordigan, but is rescued by Oliver and Clark and discovers that Oliver is Green Arrow, becoming his disciple. Mia wears red and yellow clothing, which represents the colors of Speedy's costume in the comics. Unlike the comics, Mia is a brunette and is only seen with blonde hair when wearing a wig as a prostitute. The character appears in the comic book continuation ''Season 11'' and prominently in the miniseries like ''Smallville: Titans'' and briefly in ''Smallville: Harbinger''.

Arrowverse

*In The CW's ''Arrow'', Oliver Queen's sister, Thea Dearden Queen (Willa Holland) is nicknamed "Speedy" by Oliver (Stephen Amell). Thea starts off as a party lover who is often criticized by Oliver for her actions, and she even winds up in a car accident and is forced to do community service with Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy). She meets Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), a thief, when he steals her bag but becomes attracted to him and eventually starts dating him. In season two, she is still with Roy and runs Oliver's club while being excluded with everyone keeping secrets from her. She later learns that Malcolm Merlyn, the first season's main villain, is her biological father. Thea finds out all of these secrets, except for Oliver's. In the season finale, when she is attacked by Deathstroke/Slade Wilson's minions, Malcolm returns to save her and convinces her to leave Starling City with him. In season three, Oliver reveals to her that he is the Arrow and begins training her.
*Colton Haynes appears as Roy Harper / Arsenal on the series as a love interest for Thea. Roy is at one point seeking the "Vigilante", but by the end of the first season has had little success. In season two, Roy has come to the attention of the Hood whilst trying to emulate the vigilante's successes in combating crime in Starling City. The Hood employs Roy to act as his intelligence man on the ground in the Glades. After the Hood shoots an arrow through Roy's leg to prevent him investigating the Mirakuru serum being used in Starling City, Roy continues investigating and is subsequently kidnapped and injected with the same serum by Brother Blood. Unable to control his new-found physical powers, Roy nearly kills a man. After finding this out, the Arrow successfully offers to train him. Eventually the Arrow is forced to reveal his identity as Oliver Queen, Thea's older brother, to Roy in an attempt to get him to help stop a second undertaking. The Arrow refers to Roy as "Speedy" when out fighting crime as a way to remind him of Thea and their love, and to control his powers. Roy loses control and goes on a rampage through the city and even kills a man until Oliver manages to get him sedated. After he is sedated for weeks Oliver eventually finds a cure and injects him with it which cancels out the Mirakuru effects. Roy later meets up with Thea and promises that they will leave Starling together forever but first takes part in the attack against Slade Wilson's army and finally donning a red mask and red arrow. In the third season, Oliver suggests the name Arsenal, which Roy uses in future episodes.
*In the season three episode "Public Enemy", when Captain Lance issues an arrest warrant for the Arrow, who he knows is Oliver Queen, Roy dresses up and claims that he is the Arrow, in order to save Oliver. In the following episode, "Broken Arrow", Roy fakes his death, but is unable to tell Thea before leaving Starling City. Thea later locates Roy, who hands her his Arsenal jacket, before leaving. In the season finale, Thea dons the red outfit, becoming the vigilante Speedy.
*Speedy is mentioned in the ''Supergirl'' episode " Worlds Finest" when Lucy Lane suggests calling Barry Allen "Speedy".

Stargirl

In the '' Stargirl'' episode, "Brainwave", Pat Dugan shows the titular character a photo of him and the Star-Spangled Kid with Seven Soldiers of Victory members Green Arrow, Speedy, Vigilante, Shining Knight, Crimson Avenger, and Wing.

Animation

*Speedy's first animated appearance of the Roy Harper version was in the Teen Titans segments in ''The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure'', voiced by Pat Harrington Jr. In those episodes, Speedy serves in the effective place of Robin. Curiously, Green Arrow never appeared in the series.
*Speedy has appeared on the ''Teen Titans'' animated series, where he is voiced by Mike Erwin. Although his real name is not given, his appearance is clearly based on that of Roy Harper. He is described as employing "a veritable arsenal" of arrows, in a nod to his future persona. While not a member of the main Titans team himself, he appeared as a supporting character in the episode "Winner Take All", and fought Robin, trying to convince him if winning is really that important. Speedy later joined up with the team's sister group, Titans East. As depicted in the series, Speedy is serious and businesslike as in his Arsenal years in comics, leading Beast Boy to comment on his similarities to Robin. However, when he reappears in "Titans East Pt. 1", more of his traditional bad-boy Speedy personality is seen, as he refuses to apologize for buying fish tacos, which offends Aqualad that the tacos might be his fish friends. He was mind-controlled by Brother Blood in "Titans East Pt. 2" but saved by the Teen Titans. Speedy's bow was broken by Cheshire in "Calling All Titans" when she overpowered him. However, in the episode "Titans Together", Speedy somehow regained possession of his bow when he was freed from his suspended animation. In the end of the Episode of "Titans Together" he was seen with the other titans standing on a building to battle Dr. Light.
*Speedy appears in the ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode "Patriot Act". Speedy clearly states that he is Green Arrow's "ex-partner", and is visually designed as a slightly older, better built version of his ''Teen Titans'' incarnation - his costume is the same and is voiced by Mike Erwin here as well (despite its coincidence, Teen Titans is not set in DCAU unlike JLU itself). His appearance is also a nod to the original Seven Soldiers of Victory superhero team. Speedy is also featured in issue 30 of the ''Justice League Unlimited'' comic book in which he and Booster Gold have to protect the watchtower from Doctor Polaris.
*Speedy appeared in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "Dawn of the Deadman!", voiced by Jason Marsden. In the episode, Speedy serves as Green Arrow's sidekick, and is possessed by both Deadman and the spirit of Batman, in order to recruit him and Green Arrow into a battle against the undead army raised by Gentleman Ghost. In "Sidekicks Assemble!", Speedy teams up with fellow sidekicks Aqualad and Robin to battle Ra's al Ghul. This version of Speedy differs greatly from the comics, in which he is more sweet and less confrontational than Robin or even Aqualad.
*Roy Harper is a major character in the Cartoon Network series ''Young Justice'', voiced by Crispin Freeman. Speedy becomes tired of being treated with low respect and quits being Green Arrow's partner, changing his name to Red Arrow. He is not a founding member of the series' unnamed team of young heroes, and turns down two invitations to join them, but he does consider himself friends with the team's members, and they have made it clear that he has an open invitation should he change his mind. In the first series' finale, it is revealed that Roy had been kidnapped by Lex Luthor and his associates three years prior and cloned to produce a mole, who later became Red Arrow. His unconscious programming led him to aspire to join the Justice League. When he is finally given membership, he allows for Vandal Savage to come aboard the Watchtower and mind control the League. His programming falters after his prime objective is carried out, and he is devastated to learn of his supposed imposter status. In season two, set five years later, Roy has had his child Lian Nguyen-Harper by Cheshire but has become a disheveled substance user due to his grief over the original Roy. Cheshire and Red Arrow later find the original Roy in stasis, who has had an arm amputated, and reawaken him. The original Roy blames Ollie for not rescuing him from Luthor, and later attempts to get revenge against Luthor using a variety of stolen weapons. He is ultimately unsuccessful, and Luthor buys his own safety by offering Roy a prosthetic robotic arm. The original Roy accepts and takes on the code name Arsenal. Arsenal eventually joins the team, highly capable yet also brash, reckless and disobedient. Arsenal is temporarily fired from the team until he can learn to be a team player. By the end of the second season, Arsenal is operating solo and Red Arrow has retired to focus on being a father. In ''Young Justice: Outsiders'', Red Arrow has taken on the name Will, presumably to differentiate from the original Roy and has made a living by forming a security company while raising Liane and has help from Artemis. Nightwing calls on Will, Jim, and the original Roy for help in freeing meta-humans. Will helps Nightwing get over his remaining grief over Wally's death and step up as a hero. Each Harper is shown to have a unique personality but fight well together, they even seem to regard each other as family.
*Speedy returns in the ''Teen Titans Go!'' episode "The Date" where he is voiced by Scott Menville. In the episode, Robin tries to ask Starfire out on a date to a new restaurant. However, she goes out with Speedy because he had asked her first. To do so, Robin ties up Speedy and poses as him to ruin the date and win over Starfire. However, Speedy manages to escape and poses as Robin to battle Robin (as Speedy). Although Robin defeats Speedy, he felt guilty about his actions and told Starfire the truth. Starfire's reaction went from gentle to violently hitting Robin towards a wall. He makes numerous cameos over the course of the series, but has a more substantial role in the Super Summer Hero Camp episodes.

Film

*The Roy Harper version of Speedy appeared in '' Teen Titans: The Judas Contract'', voiced again by Crispin Freeman. Along with Bumblebee and Kid Flash, he was seen in a flashback of how the Teen Titans first met.
*Speedy briefly appears in '' Justice League Dark: Apokolips War'', as one of the Titans killed by Parademons in a flashback.

Video games

*The Roy Harper version of Red Arrow makes a cameo appearance in Green Arrow's ending in '' Injustice: Gods Among Us''.
*The ''Arrow'' version of Roy Harper appears as a playable character via DLC content in '' Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham''.
*''Injustice 2'' has two variations of the Arsenal costume that can be unlocked as alternate costumes for Green Arrow.
*Roy Harper appears as a playable character in ''Lego DC Super-Villains'', voiced again by Crispin Freeman.

References

{{GoldenAge

Characters created by George Papp
Characters created by Mort Weisinger
DC Comics sidekicks
DC Comics code names
Comics characters introduced in 1941
DC Comics martial artists
DC Comics superheroes
Fictional archers
Fictional male detectives
Green Arrow characters
Teenage superheroes
Vigilante characters in comics