Although I am getting older but none the more wiser, I have a fascination for superheroes. While I maintain my stoic disposition, inside I am screaming with joy when the bad guys are being bashed up. Maybe I will never really grow up. Consider the alternate DC universe of batman, superman, the justice League, the marvel’s avengers, spiderman or the weekly shonen jump of naruto, bleach, one piece, fairy tail-everyone loves a superhero because it signifies everything that we want to become but eventually lose sight of. My ramblings today is about one such superhero-the Arrow.
Brief history- billionaire playboy who went on a sailing trip with his father and girlfriends sister was shipwrecked on an island, an island which changed him forever. On return, he decided to don the crime fighting mantle to free his city from the corporate villains who, in his own words “have failed my city”. In this quest he is joined by his bad ass ex-marine sidekick Diggle and the super sexy(yes, I like my ladies with brains) techie and hacker Felicity.
Comparisons with Batman is harsh. Billionaires with their own secret lives and trusted sidekicks trying to save the city they live in, that’s where the similarity ends. Batman fights against what he hates, evil in its purest avatar. Arrow fights against the things he had grown up loving. Batman is for revenge, Arrow is to atone for the sins of his family. You might sympathize with Batman, an orphan who lost everything he loved and is driven by rage in his crime fighting spree. But Arrow is fighting although he knows that in the process, he might lose everything he loves. It’s easy when you have nothing to lose, but when you stand to lose everything, that’s where your strength of character comes in.
I love Batman, I love Spiderman, I love Superman, all heroes with tragic pasts but I love Arrow as well. He might not be as popular as the others in this genre but he is definitely someone you can relate to. Keep an open mind while following him, you won’t be disappointed.