“It’s soon, folks. Real soon. In a little over a month, you’ll all be able to weigh in on ‘Green Arrow’ #1.

Needless to say, I’m nervous.

Please – don’t expect miracles from issue one. It’s the start of a very long story, so I didn’t want to shoot my wad right away. All I ask is that you give the story a chance. Give it to at least issue three. If you’re not hooked by then, feel free to bow out.

Regardless, though – hasn’t it been cool to see the ‘GA’ swag in circulation? The poster up in stores? The stickers on the doors? A cool-ass statue of our hero is not that far off either (I’ve seen the designs). For the first time in ages, Ollie is the man!

And I’ve heard a rumor of some sales numbers that knocked my socks off…

It’s a good year to be a Green Arrow fan. Thanks for waiting for me, and thanks for the support – even if it’s only on issue one. But for those of you willing to stick it out, I promise, you’ll be delighted.

I know I am so far.”

“Did the B&W preview you received lack the last three pages? I remember hearing something from the DC marketing folks to the effect that they weren’t sending out the entire issue – opting instead to leave out the last few pages. The issue I wrote (not to mention the issue that’ll hit the stands in late February) has Ollie returning on the last page.

Based on your answer above, you seem to think that Ollie doesn’t return in issue one. If that’s the case then you didn’t get the entire issue. And if you didn’t get the entire issue, I have one small question…

Why in hell are you reviewing it?

That aside, I’d also like to address your concern with DC for letting the issue ride without proper introductions to some of the characters.

For that, they should be applauded – because it means they didn’t muck around with what the writer was trying to do.

I hate re-introductions to characters. I hate re-capping the last issue at the start of the latest. When I was working on ‘Daredevil’, it was like pulling teeth for Joe, to get me to re-cap. Re-capping, to me, is a waste of time. As a reader, I hate it. And since I write what I’d like to read… well, there you go.

The notion of telling a “Green Arrow for Dummies” story appeals to me about as much as being forced to read one. Your objection to the lack of explanation as to who’s who seems to stem (and correct me if I’m wrong) from the fact that you imagine new readers who’ve never been into comics will be checking this out, and finding themselves feeling lost by not knowing who Black Canary or Connor Hawke are. I disagree with that take.

Throw a person into the deep end of the pool and they’ll either sink or swim. I’d rather have the swimmers reading the book. The sinkers? Well, I’m with Darwin on them.

When I got back into comics (circa ‘88), I didn’t know Atom from Captain Atom. But did I bi-otch? Heavens no. I figured it out as I went along. In fact, it encouraged me to be a more diligent reader – as it forced me to seek out the info I wanted, as opposed to having it spoon-fed to me by the comic I was lost in. I don’t like reading comics that do all the work for me. I like reading comics that make me think or do a little work on my own.

Also, while I appreciate the vote of confidence, let’s be honest: the folks who’ll pick up ‘GA’ are primarily comic fans to begin with. Chances are, they know who the characters I didn’t properly introduce are. And the few folks who pick up the book cold, not knowing Green Arrow from Xeno’s Arrow – well, let ‘em do some investigating of their own, if they really give a sh*t. That’s how I define comic book fans – by their passion for the subject matter in question. If someone reads ‘GA’ #1 and can’t figure out who the hell Connor (or is it Conner? Yipes – I’m sure I’ve filled a few of you with doubts right there) is, they can pick up some of Chuck’s back issues of the last volume of ‘GA’ and get to work finding out. And maybe they dig on Chuck’s stuff (how can you not? Anyone reading that ‘Robin: Year One’ mini? It’s fantastic), and decide to pick up some of Chuck’s other titles. And in reading Chuck’s other titles, they disco! ! ver characters that Chuck doesn’t properly introduce, and it makes them go out and pick up some back issues of other titles.

I mean, how could that ever be a bad thing?

But it’s an incestuous market, Ed, and as such, I trust most people reading the book will have a working familiarity with the DCU. I trust, also, that there won’t be too many befuddled issue one readers out there.

Unless, of course, they’re befuddled by the fact that I’m even allowed to write comics, so poor a writer am I; at that point, no amount of proper character introduction is going to bring them back for issue two anyway.

I do thank you, however, for the kind words you had for the book – particularly the part about me seeming to know a great deal about DC continuity.

However, that comment you wrote in which you said you feel I’m fixated on oral sex? I submit that – gay or straight – we’re ALL a bit fixated on oral sex. And why the hell not? It feels great, and it’s one of life’s few, innocent pleasure. I’d wager that – except for priests and nuns – you’d be hard pressed to find folks out there who don’t often think about getting a good hummer.

Actually, the more I think about it, you can include the priests and nuns in that equation too. In fact, you could probably put them at the top of the list.”