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Day 10 in the Popverse Comics Advent Calendar 2022

Oliver Queen, you've got some explaining to do

Features by Graeme McMillan, Editor

Published on Sat Dec 10 2022

Every day of December counting down to Christmas Day, Popverse is hijacking the grand tradition of the Advent Calendar to share a moment from a holiday comic of yore. What else could you want from a classic combination of comic books and the yuletide gaze? Today, it’s the turn of 1989’s 'An Old Fashioned Christmas', which sees Hal Jordan reveal a secret about another DC icon — namely, that he’s really not that good at gift-giving.

There are those who would have you believe that Oliver Queen, DC’s Green Arrow, is somehow less impressive than his fellow members of the Justice League. “He has no powers! How can he stand up to the Flash, Aquaman, or even Batman, who makes up for his own powerlessness with all manner of expensive gadgets and his advanced intelligence,” they’ll say — I mean, I assume they do, I’ve never had this conversation myself — as if it doesn’t take real guts to stand up against Darkseid, Pariah, or even just Lex Luthor armed with just a bow, arrow, and a smart-ass attitude. Green Arrow, dear reader, is great.

Except when it comes to giving Green Lantern Christmas gifts, it seems. In this panel from 'An Old Fashioned Christmas,' a short from 1989’s Christmas With The Super-Heroes #2 by William Messner-Loebs, Colleen Doran, and Ty Templeton, Hal Jordan reveals the unfortunate truth about his fellow hard travelin’ hero: that he’s really uncreative when planning presents.

And, look, I get it — planning out just what to get your friends, especially your best friend, isn’t easy. It’s the kind of thing that requires some thought, as well as some time to sit down and really go through all your options. Maybe Green Arrow just didn’t have enough of either in the run-up to the holidays each year; maybe he was too busy fighting Merlyn or trapped in the Arrow Cave or something. Perhaps he was helping out Black Canary in her flower shop, I don’t know; the man’s pretty busy, okay? Nonetheless, there are priorities that he should be bearing in mind, especially at this time of year. I’m glad you’re keeping the world safe from the threat of supervillains, Ollie, but if you can’t put in more than a moment’s thought into buying gifts for your friends, then, really, haven’t the bad guys already won?

Want more? You can read the entire story in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2, available via Comixology and on DC Universe Infinite.

Stuff those stockings and fill those empty spaces under the tree with Popverse's recommended gifts for friends, loved ones, and yourself.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.