The Longbow Hunters

 

The Longbow Hunters

Mike Grell (Author and Illustrator)

DC Comics (Publisher)

Green Arrow started out as one of the lamest characters in the DC Universe, a Batman knock-off with a bow and arrow.an Arrow car, an Arrow plane, an Arrow cave and a kid sidekick. In the socially conscious early 70’s he was recast as the DCU’s resident leftie. And then in 1987 along came writer-artist Mike Grell. Grell was already a fan favorite, the creator of two popular series, Warrior, a sword and sorcery series, and Jon Sable, Freelance, tales of a mercenary bounty hunter. Starting with The Longbow Hunters, Grell began changing everything about Green Arrow.  Gone were all the super hero accruements. Gone was the spiffy plumed cap replaced by a green hoodie. Gone was the domino mask. He moved Green Arrow and his lover, Diana Prince, the former Black Canary, to the very real city of Seattle. Grell made two very major changes. He  replaced GA’s quiver of trick arrows (how he ever got the boxing glove arrow out of his quiver without dumping all the other arrows was never adequately explained) with the real thing, deadly sharp broad head arrows. And he brought Oliver Queen, Green Arrow’s alter ego, firmly into middle age subject to the crises faced by a man in his forties.

 

As both writer and artist, Grell was employed dramatic layouts to tell his story. Each page was an artwork in itself.

The Longbow Hunters was the equivalent of a pilot episode. Its immediate success quickly lead to a monthly series. Grell penned eighty issues in which he chronicled the lives of the characters he had introduced in Long Bow Hunters, none more so than the brave but conflicted Oliver Queen.

Over three decades the Longbow Hunters has never been out of print.

Mike Grell will be the very special guest at the Buffalo Comicon, September 17^th and 18^th.

Something there is About a Wall

 

I called my friend Matt the contractor

Me: How much would it cost to build a wall?

Matt: That depends on many factors.

Me: Like what?

Matt: How big is the wall?

Me: Say ten feet tall, ten feet long and two feet wide.

Matt: What is it made of?

Me: What are my choices?

Matt: You’ve many, wood, bricks, cinder blocks, concrete…

Me: How about concrete?

Matt: Poured in place concrete or pre-formed concrete panels like those noise barriers on the Interstate?

Me: Poured in place.

Matt: On what kind of surface?

Me: Does that matter?

Matt: Sure, you don’t want your wall to fall over so it has to be anchored somehow. That depends on the surface. You’d use different systems for say, a wall built on sand as opposed to a wall built on rock.

Me: What if I’m not sure?

Matt: I can probably figure some sort of average.

Me: Ok, is that it?

Matt: Nope. Where is this wall?

Me: Does that make a difference?

Matt: Well, sure. The building materials have to be brought to the site so the cost of the materials will depend on the distance to the site. If you want to pour concrete you’ll need roads for the concrete delivery trucks. If there aren’t adequate roads, you’re going to have to build them. Do you want lighting anywhere long this wall? Do you want security cameras? Once you’ve made those decisions, you’ll have to engage a design professional to draw up the plans. You can’t build anything anywhere without a permit and to get that you’ll need and environmental impact study. It all adds up.

Me: Enough! Just give me quick estimate.

Matt: Fifty thousand dollars.

Me: So if a ten foot wall costs fifty thousand, how much for a mile long one.

Matt: About twenty-six point four million

Me: What would a one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three mile wall cost?

Matt: Why one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three miles?

Me: That’s the length of the US – Mexico border.

Matt: OK, lemme see, a little over fifty-one billion.

Me: Wow, it not that simple.

 

Matt: It never is.