DEFENDING DEMOCRACY

LegalDispatch 111

Howdy. Welcome to another LegalDispatch. Once again, I’ve skipped the previous Friday. Apologies for that. I was in New York City for New York ComicCon.

Overall, it was really a terrific convention. I got to see some wonderful people, spend time with friends, get to meet fans, and have quality time with my eldest daughter. I remain blown away and humbled by the love people still have for the Arrowverse.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. On the first day, my throat was getting very scratchy due to the air conditioning in the convention center. Accordingly, for the second day, I did something wholly out of character for me: I packed a water bottle.

I was headed to a pre-convention appointment and felt a wetness down my back. I opened my backpack to discover that I hadn’t properly closed the bottle and my precious laptop was sitting in a puddle of water about an inch high.

Suffice it to say, I’m typing this on a new MacBook.

“I HAVE A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS”

One of the highlights of the convention for me was the announcement of the new Star Wars project I’ve been teasing for many months now: It’s a new ongoing series set before the events of The Phantom Menace and Marvel’s first to focus on the Jedi Knights. Each issue is a self-contained story (a rarity in comics these days), a little 20-page “Star Wars movie.”

Cover by Razzah

Madibek Musabekov and Luis Guerro are providing the art. Because we’re all working so far ahead of schedule — the book debuts March 2025 — the first 10 issues will all be by the same creative team (another rarity for comics).

You can read the official announcement at Marvel.com. Money quote:

Marvel’s first series focusing on the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy will be brought to you by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and acclaimed Star Wars comics writer Marc Guggenheim and drawn by rising star artist Madibek Musabekov.

Taking place before The Phantom Menace, STAR WARS: JEDI KNIGHTS stars the Jedi Order as fans came to know it during the Prequel Trilogy including legendary characters like Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Count Dooku, Mace Windu, and many more. In addition to featuring iconic and fan-favorite Jedi duo, the series will introduce all new Jedi characters that served the Republic during this pivotal era.

Each issue will spotlight a different Jedi duo on a different mission throughout the galaxy, but an overarching threat binds them together. Who is the mysterious new villain targeting Qui-Gon Jinn for death and how will it force the Jedi Order to evolve for a new age?

Gizmodo had one of my favorite pieces of coverage:

Jedi Knights will pair characters new and old from across the Order for new adventures. One of these will apparently feature the canonical debut of a truly deep cut in a story, appropriately titled “The Deepest Cut.”

That story, Guggenheim announced to a room of Star Wars fans flummoxed into silence, will feature the first appearance in current Star Wars continuity of Atha Prime. Prime was created by Star Wars toymaker Kenner in 1986 in an attempt to keep the successful Star Wars toyline going after the culmination of the original trilogy. Kenner pitched a project called “The Epic Continues,” an all-new story set after Return of the Jedi that would’ve brought new factions, creatures, and characters (all in need, of course, of new toys) to the galaxy far, far away. Chief among them was the primary villain of “The Epic Continues,” Atha Prime: an ancient evil clad in red robes and shiny metallic body armor that was awoken on the edge of the galaxy in the wake of Emperor Palpatine’s death.

Just how Atha Prime will leap into current Star Wars continuity remains to be seen, but it’s always nice to be surprised with just how deep the galaxy far, far away will dig to find something to bring back. 

You can read the whole thing here.

I WROTE A THING

PHONEBANKING

I also participated in a phoneback earlier this week. This was my first attempt at doing so. I don’t mind speaking to strangers, but I was afraid of how I’d come off if I encountered a Trump supporter or, worse, a unicorn. Er, I mean “undecided voter.” Spoiler alert: I was very polite and diplomatic and was encouraged by the number of people I spoke to who were kind and normal and genuinely invested in our democratic process.

“I’M NOT BATMAN, DAMMIT.”

For some incredibly frustrating reason, not all my Dropbox data has made the leap from RuinedLaptop to NewLaptop. Accordingly, I found myself pouring through the depths of my Dropbox and this little essay jumped out at me. I wrote it for DC Comics’s Green Arrow 80th Anniversary collection. It’s my rebuttal to assertions — often lobbed at Arrow the show — that Green Arrow is just a cheap Batman knockoff.

Enjoy!

By Oliver Queen (as told to Marc Guggenheim)

I was dead once.

Yeah, it wasn’t fun.

Short version: I died to save Metropolis -- not even my city but, hey, that’s the super-hero gig for you -- from being destroyed by eco-terrorists. (Do not get me started on the asinine hypocrisy of eco-terrorism, okay? Environmentalism and terrorism go together like orange juice and toothpaste.)

Anyway, it turns out dying wasn’t that huge a deal. My friend Hal Jordan -- a guy with his own “being dead” issues, by the way -- resurrected me. Well, more accurately, a version  of me. He brought me back without a soul. (You’re an attorney, Guggenheim. You get it.)

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is I’ve been through some [EXPLETIVE DELETED]. Lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. The road of my life is replete with hairpins and switchbacks, y’know? In addition to being dead and soulless, I’ve also been a grim, humorless vigilante; a wisecracking bleeding heart liberal; and everything in between. I’ve been engaged, married, and divorced (well, separated -- it’s a little muddy, if I’m being honest). I’ve railed against the death penalty and committed cold-blooded murder.

Like Walt Whitman said, “I’m large. I contain multitudes.”

And while we’re on the subject of multitudes, I’m gonna lay a big truth bomb on you now: Our universe is one of many in a giant -- wait for it -- multiverse. (People tell me you know a little about that, right?) And there’s a version of me that’s not only not liberal, he’s practically apolitical -- despite having once been mayor of Star City. Spending five years in hell forged him into a cold-blooded killing machine. And he’s as humorless as an IRS agent performing an audit.

I’ve heard that version of me criticized as being some kind of low rent, television version knockoff of Batman. I think that’s hysterical for a whole bunch of reasons, not the least of which is it’s not even close to being, y’know, true.

I mean, yes, that version of me has the same sense of humor as Bruce Wayne: Non-existent. And, yes, that universe’s Oliver Queen shares Bruce’s brooding intensity, but if I’m gonna be truly honest with you, I’m the Oliver Queen who gets the most [EXPLETIVE DELETED] for being like Bats.

I’m serious. In fact, it was shortly after my aforementioned death and resurrection that Batman -- in reaction to my question about the disposition of my Arrow-Plane, Arrow-Car and, um, Arrow-Cave  -- was caused to comment: “Good lord, man -- did you ever have an original thought back then?” (Look, I’m not proud of it, all right?)

At least he had the decency not to point out the fact we both had orphaned wards fighting crime with us.

Point is, I may have gone through a phase when I aspired towards certain -- shall we say -- Batman-like tendencies in terms of my general approach to crime fighting, but I grew out of them. Like I said, I contain multitudes -- but I’ve always been my own man and I’ve charted my own path.

I’m not Batman, dammit.

Batman has more tools in that [EXPLETIVE DELETED] belt of his than I ever did -- and I’m talking even in the days of the Arrow-Signal. (Yeah, that was also a thing. Like I said: Not proud.) Batman also aligns himself with an entire police force and a veritable army of Bat-people.

But me?

I hit the streets armed with my wits, two fists and a quiver of arrows. That’s it. Yes, true, sure, there have been times when those arrows were outfitted with all manner of technology -- I’ve got arrows for almost everything -- but when they’re spent, they’re spent. And when you can shoot twenty-nine arrows per minute, believe me, they go fast.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m one of a kind.

[MARC SAYS SOMETHING INAUDIBLE]

Okay, if you want to factor in Roy Harper and Connor Hawke, I’m one of three -- but let’s not kid each other here: I started this game.

[MARC SAYS SOMETHING INAUDIBLE]

Do not get me started on Robin Hood, man. Robin Hood’s not real, okay? He’s a 13^th Century urban legend. He didn’t perfect doing good with a bow and arrow. I did. And it’s not easy, all right? Fighting with a bow and arrow is nowhere close to easy.

But it’s the most noble way there is to fight.

Archery is a tradition that is older than recorded history. You can trace its origins back to prehistoric times. And the practice not only transcends time, it spans the entire globe. Africa. North America. Asia. Europe.

And unlike a lot of weapons, a bow and arrow has been used as much for hunting -- to provide food and sustenance -- as it has for violence. And that violence? It requires precision. There’s an artistry to archery that very few disciplines have. The bow is an extension of your body. The nocking of an arrow possesses a certain flow -- a grace. And that moment -- that split-second -- when an arrow is in flight? It’s a beautiful thing, man. For that millisecond, you’re the arrow. You’re flying.

You’re the instrument of the violence you’re practicing.

And that means you’ve got an authorship of the violence that no other weapon can give you. A man can hide behind a gun or assault rifle. Even a dagger lacks the primordial beauty of a bow and arrow. What I’m saying is, every arrow I shoot connects me to a lineage of humanity that goes back seventy-thousand years.

That makes it primal.

Nock. Pull. Aim. Release. Fire.

It’s an ancient dance. A primitive ballet.

And you sure as hell can’t do it with a [EXPLETIVE DELETED] Batarang.

• • •

OLIVER QUEEN can trace his origins back 80 years. He’s served as a member of the Justice League, the Outsiders and the Seven Soldiers of Victory. He has returned from the dead at least once.

MARC GUGGENHEIM in an Emmy-award winning writer of television, movies, video games and comic books. He is the co-creator of the hit series “Arrow.” He has never died.

Be good to each other.

Best,

Marc

JetBlue Flight 1573