Saturday, July 26, 2014

The One Way In Which Green Arrow Is Better Than Batman

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you think about it for 30 seconds, the Bat-Signal is pretty inefficient, not to mention stupid.

Scene:
BATMAN: Why did you use the Bat-Signal, Commissioner?
GORDON: Two-Face is loose and just robbed two banks on the upper east side!
BATMAN: But I was just patrolling the upper east side!! I only left to come see what you wanted with the Bat-Signal! Now I have to schlep all the way back there?
GORDON: Well, I would have called or texted, but somebody won't give me his damn phone number. Paranoid much?
BATMAN: Shut up.

Anyway, I trust you can see what I'm getting at here. The Bat-Signal says "Batman, you're needed," but doesn't say where or how. So the Caped Crusader has to go to police HQ, and only then to the scene of whatever crime. Terribly inefficient.

Green Arrow, though? He has that problem licked:

See how easy it is? Just by adding a little information to the Arrow Signal, you've cut out the middle-man, as it were. Ollie & Roy don't have to waste time going to the Commissioner first--they can just go to the (general) location where they're actually needed!

That is the one and only way that Green Arrow ever has been, or ever will be, better than Batman.

Well, OK, two ways: at least Green Arrow is actually in the TV show about Green Arrow (cough cough Gotham cough cough).

From Adventure Comics #174 (1952), as reprinted in Brave And The Bold #117 (1975)

1 comment:

SallyP said...

The things you learn!