The usually-stoic Green Arrow's history of "borrowing" his ideas. A moment of reminiscing about Oliver Queen's old arrow-themed equipment got Batman to reveal his thoughts on just how unimaginative Green Arrow actually is.
When Batman hit the scene as a comic book hero, he didn't just excite readers with his thrilling stunts and keen detective skills. More than anything else, people loved seeing the impressive gadgets that the Dark Knight used against numerous foes. With toys like the Batmobile, who wouldn't get a kick out of Batman's inventions? But Batman's biggest knockoff, Green Arrow, has taken a lot of heat for modeling his crimefighting after the Dark Knight—for good reason. Because, interestingly enough, names like the "Arrow-Cave" sure don't seem like they came from the most original place.
At least, that's how Batman feels and he was willing to tell Green Arrow as much. In Green Arrow #5 by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester, Oliver Queen is being examined by Batman after the former has come back from the dead with no clue as to what's going on. After accepting that it's actually Green Arrow, Batman catches the hero up on things, including Green Lantern’s fall as evil Parallax. The shock of the missing years is overwhelming to Green Arrow, but he convinces Batman to assist him in trying to figure out how Oliver has returned from the dead. The two head out to Queen's hometown of Star City using Batman's Batwing plane. Green Arrow is impressed by the machine and says it vastly overtakes his own Arrow-Plane. The two have a small discussion about Oliver's lackluster machine names, prompting Batman to ask if Green Arrow has ever had an original thought.
Considering that most of Green Arrow’s gizmos followed the same naming conventions as Batman’s best gadgets and weapons, Bruce has a point. Granted, both heroes did premiere during the Golden Age of comic books when subtlety wasn't exactly a strong suit in writing. What's interesting about Batman's critique isn't so much that he's angry that Green Arrow modeled himself after Bruce, but how little imagination Oliver put into his own efforts.
Green Arrow and Batman are far from the only heroes who operate on a street-level in the DC Universe. In Gotham alone, there's dozens of heroes who work alongside Bruce, many of whom were directly trained by him. But unlike Green Arrow, heroes such as Nightwing and Red Hood have made their identities their own. There’s no Nightmobile or Hoodcave, so Green Arrow definitely should be feeling a little embarrassed at his lack of originality. And sure, maybe there's an argument to be made that Batman isn't exactly super original with his ideas, seeing as he simply puts the word "Bat" in front the names of his weaponry. But Batman made a name for himself with his unique brand of crimefighting, so it's no wonder he's a bit ticked off at Green Arrow's copycatting.
