The Next Arrow

Written by GL

Roy Harper is a hero of the great DC Comics Universe. He has been known for decades as Green Arrow's teenage sidekick Speedy. He first appeared in 1941. But, he has been known by several different names before then; formerly Arsenal and currently a member of the Justice League of America under the new guise of Red Arrow.

Roy Harper was raised by Brave Bow, a Navajo medicine chief after his father, a forest ranger, died in a forest fire. Under Brave Bow's teaching, Roy became a remarkable archer, and, after Brave Bow's death, Roy was adopted by Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, and became the Green Arrow's sidekick, Speedy.

In Earth-Two, Speedy was as member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and the All-Star Squadron in the 1940s along with Green Arrow. Aside from their origins of having been trained together, their history nearly parallels the history of the Earth-One versions up until the point when Green Arrow and Speedy along with their teammates were thrown into various periods of time during a battle with the villain known as 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.

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths a new solitary universe was created at the dawn of time by fusing several universes, including Earth-Two, together. Whether he ceased to exist or exists only as an aspect of the post-Crisis Earth has not been determined, although his mentor (Green Arrow) died during the final part of the Crisis defending the new Earth from the Anti-Monitor.

Meanwhile, an Earth-One version joined Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl in the newly-formed Teen Titans, a group originally formed from the various teen sidekicks active in DC comics at that time.

Speedy was initially a successful member and began dating Wonder Girl (Donna Troy). Some time later, however, Roy's fortunes took a turn for the worse. The Titans disbanded, Roy and Donna broke up, and then Green Arrow both lost his fortune and began neglecting Roy. While the Green Arrow was away on a cross-country adventure with Green Lantern and Black Canary, Roy became addicted to heroin. Once Roy's secret was discovered, Green Arrow angrily punched him and threw him out on the street. Green Lantern later found him and left him in the care of Black Canary, who stayed by his side while he went through withdrawal. Soon after, he had a confrontation with Green Arrow that caused the two of them to stop working together.

While still helping the Teen Titans on occasional missions, Roy frequently worked as a counselor for various anti-drug programs. During this time, Roy established government contacts, and was soon hired by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI, also known as Checkmate) as a drug enforcement agent.

Roy was given an assignment to go undercover and gain the trust of the villain Cheshire. The intention was to turn Cheshire over to the authorities, but the two fell in love and had an affair. Roy could not bring himself to turn her in, but he was concerned that his presence endangered Cheshire's life, so he left her, unaware that Cheshire was pregnant with his child.

Roy eventually learned that he was the father of Cheshire's daughter, Lian. He went on a mission with Nightwing (the former Robin) to track down Cheshire and prevent her from assassinating a group of diplomats. Roy was captured by Cheshire and then freed by Nightwing, who also brought Roy's daughter. Cheshire had left Lian in Roy's care.

Roy later returned to the Titans. At this time, he adopted the new identity of Arsenal, now equipped with a vast array of high-tech weaponry.

Soon, another team of Teen Titans emerged. This group consisted of a teen-aged Atom (de-aged by events in Zero Hour) and new heroes Argent, Risk, Joto and Prysm. The team was funded by Loren Jupiter, who had also funded a group of Titans during Roy's time on the team.

Jupiter gathered together the original Titans (now going by the aliases of Nightwing, Tempest, Flash and Arsenal) to combat the threat of his bitter, super-powered son Jarrod Jupiter (Haze). New and old Titans joined forces to defeat Haze – but at a price; Joto apparently lost his life, and Arsenal felt responsible for his death. Arsenal remained with this new group of Titans for a time, but eventually left the group before it disbanded.

Arsenal later came into conflict with Vandal Savage. Savage had discovered that both Roy and his daughter Lian were his descendants. Thus, their organs were suitable for him to harvest to prolong his life.

Roy was able to save his daughter from Savage. After this ordeal, Roy adopted a new look to reflect his Navajo heritage. Shortly after, the original five Titans decided to re-form the team. Arsenal served as a full-time member on the team, and resided at the new Titans Tower with his daughter, Lian.

Later, a mysterious conglomerate known as Optitron offered to sponsor the Titans and Young Justice after summoning them to San Francisco. Before any decisions could be made, a cybernetic girl from the future (known as Indigo) invaded the complex, and immediately engaged both teams in combat. With half the group out of commission, the remaining members tried to track down Indigo, but instead encountered a rogue Superman android, which had been activated. Caught by surprise, Lilith had her neck snapped by the Superman android, killing her instantly. Troia (Donna Troy's new identity) tried valiantly to defeat the Superman Android, but he released a deadly heat beam directly through her chest, killing her. Indigo arrived and shut down the Superman Android, leaving Arsenal and Nightwing to mourn the fallen Troia. Shaken by these losses, Nightwing decided to officially end the Titans.

Roy saw an opportunity. He accepted Optitron's offer and set about forming a new team: the Outsiders. He began by buying a massive secret underground headquarters beneath New York City. Roy outfitted the shelter with state-of-the-art equipment and began recruiting members for the new team. He successfully coaxed the veteran Metamorpho, as well as newcomers Grace and Thunder into joining the team. He also decided to accept Indigo as a member. Even though she had been responsible for activating the Superman android, and ultimately for Lilith's and Troia's deaths, her memories were wiped clean and she convinced Roy that she wanted to atone for what she had done.

Indigo's presence would prove to be a major sticking point for Arsenal's last recruit: Nightwing. The Titans' former leader was completely unwilling to renew his involvement in a team after such a devastating loss. Arsenal argued that the Outsiders were the next logical step for them beyond the Titans, and that perhaps a team of strangers would operate more efficiently than a team with so many emotional attachments. Nightwing, while still reluctant, agreed to join and lead the Outsiders shortly after defeating Gorilla Grodd.

Arsenal was shot in the chest while attempting to stop Brother Blood from activating a global network of sleeper agents. He survived, but was sidelined for months. In the interim, he assigned the Huntress as his replacement. He was hesitant to resume active duty, feeling afraid of his own limitations, but returned with encouragement from Nightwing.

Not long after his recovery, the Outsiders took on a case which involved a child-slaver and molester named Tanner. One of Tanner's informants recognized Roy from years prior, and led Tanner to Roy's daughter, Lian. Lian's nanny was killed and the girl was branded with Tanner's mark. The Outsiders arrived just in time to save Lian and other children from being flown out of New York.

Oddly, his near-death from gunshot wounds saved his life when soon he met Deathstroke. The villain, Arsenal discovered, had been posing as Batman and feeding him information since the Outsiders began. Deathstroke and Arsenal fought, with Deathstroke intending to kill him, but when the mercenary discovered the bullet scars on Arsenal's chest, he figured Arsenal had suffered enough and gave him a "pass". About the same time, Arsenal was also kidnapped by Green Arrow's nemesis Constantine Drakon. Drakon was working with the Riddler, and he slit Roy's throat so that he would have to apply constant pressure or die. The Outsiders helped search for and rescue Roy.

it was currently established that Roy will be serving on the new Justice League. While in battle, Hal Jordan refers to him as "Red Arrow" (attempting to cover for the fact that he almost called him by his real name) and Roy shows some surprise to the use of this. He accepts the membership of the League and official adoption of the new costumed identity Red Arrow, justified as a final "coming of age" and outgrowing his troubled relation with Oliver Queen, his adoptive father and Green Arrow. In fact his costume was a gift from Queen himself, acknowledging that even if he could never make up for having pushed him into drugs and leaving him alone in his time of greatest need, he could at least give him a new purpose and a new chance at life.