Reading Room: NOT WHO YOU THINK: THE ARROW "Correcting the Colonel's Court-Martial"

No, he's not the guy currently on the CW...

...since that character is based on Green Arrow, who was given that colorful name to avoid confusion with this guy, comics' first archer superhero, as detailed HERE!

Ironically, the CW superhero visually-resembles this character more than DC's Green Arrow,  whose back-story has been Smallville-ized for the tv series.

Written and illustrated by Paul Gustavson (who also created another archer hero who predated Green Arrow...Quality's Alias the Spider), this tale appeared twice in Centaur titles, first in Funny Pages V2#12 (1938), then in FantoMan #2 (1940), which was actually the short-lived title's first issue.

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Reading Room: ONE-SHOT HEROES Rainbow

Of all the comic characters inspired by other comic characters...

...this one has to be the silliest of all!

...the next issue of...???

As it turns out, this appearance in the back of Centaur's The Arrow #3 (1941) was the Colorful Crusader's one-and-only foray into superhero action.

Face it, it's not much of a gimmick, and the costume doesn't really show a "rainbow" effect, like Holo-Man, for example...

Art by Don Heck and Joe Giella

...but the concept of a character inspired to become a superhero (albeit one without weapons or powers) from reading a comic book is rather cool.

Written by "Ed Herron" (France Edward Herron aka France Herron), who was a writer/editor at several companies, co-created the Red Skull (with Jack Kirby) and Captain Marvel, Jr. (with Mac Raboy), and was a major contributor to various Superman and Batman series of the 1950s-early 1960s.

Illustrated by Alfredo "Al" Plastino, who went on to better things as one of the two primary artists (along with Wayne Boring) for Superman in the 1940s thru early 1960s (including working with Herron again)!

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Reading Room: NOT WHO YOU THINK: THE ARROW "Smashing the Protection Racket"

No, he's not the guy currently on the CW...

...since that character is based on Green Arrow, who was given that colorful name to avoid confusion with this guy, comics' first archer superhero, as detailed HERE!

Ironically, the CW superhero visually-resembles this character more than DC's Green Arrow,  whose back-story has been Smallville-ized for the tv series.

This tale was written and illustrated by Paul Gustavson, who also created another archer hero who predated Green Arrow...Quality's Alias the Spider!

And, as pointed out by reader DarkMark, this never-reprinted tale appeared in Centaur's Funny Pages V4 #1 (1940).
I had listed another appearance, also written and illustrated by Gustavson.
(This is what happens when you drink the last of the holiday eggnog and then keyboard a blog entry...)

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The Arrow

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The FIRST SuperHero Archer--The Arrow!

Before Green Arrow!
Before Hawkeye!
Before Alias the Spider!
There was...The Arrow!
First appearing in Funny Pages V2N10, The Arrow was US Intelligence Agent Ralph Payne, who feeling constrained by government rules and regulations, decided to use his archery skills to deal with lawbreakers who otherwise would get away with crimes!
He wore either a red or blue hooded costume without a mask (which color depended on what worked better with the cover's color scheme) , though artists would hide his face with shadows or angle him so his face wouldn't show to the reader.
Besides alternating cover appearances (and the lead spot) with other heroes in Funny Pages, The Arrow also had his own title for three issues!

Atomic Kommie Comics™ has returned him to the pop culture scene in a new line of collectibles featuring three of his best covers both from Funny Pages (including his first cover appearance) and his own short-lived title.
Head over to Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ to see him and all the other characters who Alex Ross has revived for a modern-day audience in the amazing Project SuperPowers comic!
(In fact issue #5 cover-features both The Arrow and The Target & Targeteers together! Hmmm, an archer and three guys with bulls-eyes on their chests!
Sounds like one of those Marvel Comics when heroes run into each other and..."When Titans Clash!")

As we always say, BUY Project SuperPowers! It's well worth your hard-earned cash!
And, if you happen to pick up an item or two from Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ , so much the better! ;-)