In 1851, Arthur Denny and his family left their home in Illinois in search of a new life in the American Northwest. In Oregon, they heard about Puget Sound, and Arthur’s brother David went ahead to scout the region. He landed at Alki Point and immediately began building a log cabin. The rest of the Denny Party followed shortly thereafter and arrived on November 13, 1851. It was raining when they landed and the cabin was still in need of a roof. The women even began to cry after taking a look at their surroundings. Upon surviving the winter, Arthur Denny set out in a canoe to better explore Elliott Bay, and as a result moved his homestead to what is now Pioneer Square in present-day Seattle.
In 1987, Oliver Queen and his domestic partner Dinah Lance left their home in Star City and traveled to the Puget Sound region, where they likewise hoped to build a new life for themselves. Writer Mike Grell’s intention was to explore Queen’s alter ego Green Arrow within a real world setting devoid of superpowered superheroes and supervillains. By the time Grell finished his run on the Green Arrow comic book six years later, Oliver Queen had overstayed his welcome in Seattle, and like Arthur Denny a century before, decided to find a new place to call home.
Oliver Queen’s troubles began a few issues earlier when a moment of indiscretion with a younger woman resulted in Dinah Lance ending their relationship. The newly elected sheriff of King County, meanwhile, believes that Seattle is no place for a vigilante crimefighter like Green Arrow who plays by his own set of rules. The final nail then arrives in the form of two superpowered humans who further ostracize him from his adopted city – in the minds of many, superpowered menaces would never have appeared in Seattle if a superhero like Green Arrow wasn’t residing there.
Issue 81 of Green Arrow – written by Kevin Dooley and entitled “Home Alki” – begins with the Emerald Archer confronting a man in an alleyway spray-painting graffiti on a wall. “You’re messing up my town, creep,” Green Arrow tells him. The man, however, refuses to be intimidated. “Come off it, willya?” he replies. “You ain’t no Seattlite! What’s this ‘my town’ garbage?” The encounter causes Green Arrow to again reflect on his future in the city. “So, Dinah and I split up,” he says to himself. “Does that mean I have to leave? So what if Seattle belched the happy face. It’s still got microbrews at O’Shaughnessey’s, KPLU, Griffey’s hitting, and perfect weather for my mood – rain.” He then adds, “Seattle’s bad weather is all a ruse. Keeps relocators away. Let’s her at least keep the pretense of small-town innocence.” Pause. “Then why do I pursue the iniquity?”
“Away from big city travails, it gets amazingly quiet here at times,” he next reflects. “And that’s what I want, right?” Another pause. “Then why do I always run to the noise.?”
In this case, the noise is caused by the superpowered Shrapnel and Nuklon fighting over a woman. It’s not something that Green Arrow particularly needs at the moment, but he also knows that superpowered types can cause a lot of collateral damage to the surrounding area and thus has no choice but to intervene. The pair are able to thwart the Emerald Archer, however, then head off to continue their ongoing battle. Green Arrow hesitates at first to go after them, but when the gathered crowd cheers him on, he takes off in pursuit.
An exploding arrow stops Shrapnel and Nuklon in their tracks and attracts the attention of the woman they were fighting over. “Got a problem, Mr. Shooting-Phallic-Symbols-All-Over-Town?” she angrily asks Green Arrow. “I mean, all I did was be nice to the metal guy and all of a sudden he thinks we’re engaged. The guy in the red suit was just trying to protect me.” Her tone then changes when she throws herself into Green Arrow’s arms and says, “I do wanna thank you for stopping them.”
Unfortunately for Green Arrow, Dinah Lance is in the crowd of onlookers and immediately walks away when she sees the affection being directed at her former partner. Realizing that he just made matters worse, the superhero turns to the trio responsible for all the trouble. “Shrapnel, I’ve been there,” he begins. “If a woman wants you out, you better be packed. Nuklon, fight for someone who doesn’t want it and you’re fighting for yourself. And if there’s one thing I don’t need right now, it’s another woman in my life!” The words do not go over well, and Green Arrow quickly finds himself verbally attacked as a result.
“If you’ve ‘been there,’ you’ve screwed up too – piss off!” Shrapnel tells him.
“I fight for what I think is right,” Nuklon chimes in. “If it doesn’t work out, I still go home secure. Do you?”
As for the woman, she simply replies, “I didn’t wanna be ‘in your life.’ I just thought you were kinda cute, in an ugly way. Jerk.”
Stunned by the words, Green Arrow is next confronted by Seattle Police Lieutenant James Cameron, a sometimes ally to the Emerald Archer. “Is this your doing?” he asks Green Arrow. “You know, I always thought you were okay, but I knew it’d come to this. Your kind always attracts their kind.” By now, Green Arrow can see the writing on the wall and announces that he is leaving Seattle. Cameron backpedals, but Green Arrow merely turns in the opposite direction, quietly whispers “Seattle babe, I’ll miss you,” and walks away – leaving his personal Alki Point behind in the process.
Anthony Letizia