Comic Book Battles: Green Arrow vs Old Man Logan

For the second edition of Comic Book Battles (click here for the first fight), I thought it would be fun to use two heroes with completely different strengths and tactics: DC's Emerald Archer versus Marvel's Elderly X-Man!  Even in his old age, James ‘Logan’ Howlett, aka Old Man Logan, is tough to drop and he’s a talented brawler; however, his options in a battle are very limited. Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, may not be the best fighter in his universe, but he makes up for that with astonishing accuracy and cleverly using a variety of trick arrows that range from sonics to explosives.

To better picture the entertaining encounter, imagine this fight takes place in a generic city setting. It’s nighttime, the street’s unpopulated (aside from the two heroes, of course), and they’ve spotted each other from a pretty good distance – let’s say 100 feet or so. This is a completely random encounter, meaning neither hero knows anything about their enemy – they’re from different universes, after all – but they can tell that it’s clearly time to fight. Since the DC universe has an elaborate history, please know this is the current version of DC’s archer, which includes his showings from the New 52 and his Rebirth run.

Friendly reminder: Both of these characters have excellent comics to read, so go give ‘em a shot after you’re done imagining this clash between claws and arrows. While you're reading the article, be sure to appreciate the awesome artwork featured below. In order, it's by Juan Ferreyra, Mike Deodato Jr.,  Andrea Sorrentino, and Otto Schmidt.

FIGHTING SKILL

Oliver may not be on par with heroes like Black Canary or Batman in hand-to-hand combat, but the guy’s not bad. He has what it takes to hold his own against multiple enemies and even block or dodge a couple hits from more skilled opponents, like Cheshire, Shado, and Black Canary. The pre-New 52 version of Ollie received extensive martial arts training from Natas – the man who trained Deathstroke – but it appears the current version doesn’t still possess that level or skill, or he hasn’t had the opportunity to display it yet.

Old Man Logan may not show amazing technique, but he shares the primary version of Wolverine’s history (up until the villains take over, that is), which means he’s also experienced decades and decades of training and combat experience. He may not bust out any fancy moves, but it’s clear that if this comes down to a contest of pure hand-to-hand skill, Old Man Logan’s going to earn the win and he’s a ridiculously dangerous brawler, especially when you factor in his claws and the fact that his fists are packing an extra punch thanks to his adamantium-laced bones. Logan has the potential to break Ollie’s bow with one slash, too.

The Emerald Archer would be wise to keep his distance, and that’s a lesson he’d quickly discover if these two ever squared off.

Edge: Old Man Logan

EQUIPMENT

Old Man Logan doesn’t need weapons because he’s always equipped with six adamantium claws. At the time of writing this article, one hand only has bone claws, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s assume this fight takes place before Logan had his had chopped off and it regrew without the virtually indestructible metal. Up close, the claws are hugely effective weapons that can slice through or block just about anything. They’re only about a foot long which means he needs to get in close to put ‘em to good use, but thanks to his healing factor and speed, that usually isn’t too big of a problem for him.

DC’s archer is known for his uncanny accuracy with arrows. He’s able to fire several of them at an absurdly fast rate and he can even pull off elaborate ricochet shots. He’s not limited to run-of-the-mill arrows, though. Green Arrow always carries a variety of trick arrows on him, including but not limited to a variety of explosive arrows, grappler arrows, anti-riot arrows (which releases expanding foam), net arrows, glue arrows, flash grenade arrows, electric shock arrows, smoke bomb arrows, sonic arrows, an umbrella arrow (which releases several arrows that ignite upon impact), and even a tornado arrow which does, well, exactly what you’d expect it to.

While Old Man Logan has exceptional pain tolerance against blunt force trauma, several of the DC hero’s trick arrows have the chance to really faze him. After all, the Reaver Bonebreaker showed that a direct hit with an explosive has the potential to drop Logan and significantly impact him. Old Man Logan’s tough to take down, but his healing factor isn’t as good as it once was and Oliver has several ways to hurt him once he sees regular arrows – to non-lethal areas – won’t be enough to stop him.

Old Man Logan could potentially win without his claws, but Oliver is going to need almost every trick arrow at his disposal if he wants to win. Thankfully, he’s got a lot of options and that gives him the edge in this category.

Edge: Green Arrow

MENTALITY

Because of his accelerated healing factor and adamantium-laced bones, Logan’s a pretty confident guy. Now, that’s not implying that he’s foolish or confidently walks around and taunts his enemies, but he does know that he can take just about anyone on and survive just about anything they could dish out. Because of that, he tends to be straightforward in his fights. That’s not to say he’s not intelligent. If needed, he can rely on stealth (a smoke bomb arrow would really backfire if Ollie used one) and his years of combat experience means he’ll know to fight strategically if the threat warrants it.  But a regular guy with a bow and arrow?

Logan’s not going to feel too threatened right off the bat; however, Green Arrow will realize very quickly that he needs to fight intelligently or he’s going to be in serious trouble. With this scenario, he’ll see his enemy isn’t an ordinary human. Those claws can block arrows and Logan won’t be hindered by ordinary arrows to non-vital areas. This is something Oliver will discover almost immediately and he’ll know he needs to adapt by keeping his distance and deploying his variety of trick arrows. Whether or not he can effectively do that is another story, but he’ll be tactical almost the whole match – Logan won’t need to be.

Edge: Green Arrow

PHYSICALITY

Ollie’s in great shape for a regular human and he’s swift enough to block arrows, but c’mon, this category has a pretty obvious winner, doesn’t it? Old Man Logan may not heal as quickly as he once did, but he’s still extremely durable against blunt force trauma (thanks to his adamantium lacing), has exceptionally high pain tolerance, and can eventually heal from virtually any attack. He's simply above any non-powered human in this category. Ollie’s no slouch – he’s nimble and he’s done his best to fight after being impaled by several arrows - but the old guy has him beat here.

Edge: Old Man Logan

WILD CARD

It was tempting to make Green Arrow’s wild card “Black Canary on speed dial” because that sure would make thing interesting if she joined the brawl, wouldn’t it? That said, I think Ollie’s wild card should be his versatility.  Ollie has shown that he’s willing to use his arrows as melee weapons – even going as far as stabbing a villain in the eye with an arrow, and even yanking an arrow out of himself and using it as a weapon – and he knows that sometimes there’s no shame in giving himself some extra distance between himself and his dangerous target. With those pointy adamantium claws popped, it’s likely Ollie would do anything and everything in his power to keep his distance and keep bombarding the X-Man with regular arrows and, when it’s clear they’re not working, a variety of trick arrows.

Old Man Logan’s the best there is at what he does, but what he does isn’t very nice. And it’s really not nice when he goes into a berserker rage. If Old Man Logan gets aggravated before he’s endured too much damage, he can begin to truly let loose with his sharp claws and ignore vast amounts of pain while he snarls and slashes.

If Old Man Logan loses control, Ollie's best bet is to use every trick arrow in his quiver and then head for the hills as fast as he possibly can. No shame in running, man.

Edge: Old Man Logan

Before we get to my verdict, let's see what writer Benjamin Percy (Green Arrow, Wolverine: The Long Night, Teen Titans) has to say about this match.

“Green Arrow would get his ass kicked!"

Don't worry, Ollie. Benjamin still loves you. Okay, on to the verdict!

VERDICT

I agree with Benjamin Percy that Old Man Logan’s going to eventually win this fight. There’s no doubt that this is an uphill struggle for the Emerald Archer, but in my opinion, it’s still a really entertaining fight that’s fun to think about. Oliver has a chance to incapacitate the adamantium-clawed X-Man thanks to his variety of powerful and versatile trick arrows and his quick-thinking. He has the potential to win and it would undoubtedly be a fight that he'd never forget. That said, Logan’s pain tolerance - along with his healing factor and adamantium - and violent fighting skills means he’s likely going to get close to the Emerald Archer and then it’s just a matter of time until Ollie's down for the count.

Thank you so much for reading the second edition of Comic Book Battles - I hope you enjoyed it! Follow me on Twitter for updates about the site.