Arrowette
Encyclopedia
Arrowette is the name of two fictional superhero
es in the DC Comics
universe. The first character is the mother of the second.
and general nuisance to Green Arrow
. She first appears in World's Finest Comics #113 (November 1960).
When Bonnie was a child, her mother Millie put her through archery training and was very controlling of her progress. She does well and ends up competing in the Olympic Games, where she wins a bronze medal. However, her mother is not pleased as she had expected Bonnie to win a gold, and harasses her daughter over Bonnie's alleged failure. This ends up driving Bonnie to abandon both her home and archery and she never speaks to her mother again.
Alone in Star City
, she eventually becomes inspired by Green Arrow and Speedy
and decides to use her archery skills in a way that counted. She makes a costume for herself and names herself "Miss" Arrowette. Like Green Arrow, she carries trick arrows but with a feminine slant (such as the "Powder Puff" Arrow). She attempts to aid both archers a few times, but they repeatedly rebuff her attempts. Despite her good intentions, Arrowette turns out to be too clumsy to become a hero and too vain to even wear a mask. Arrowette briefly dates the Green Arrow in his civilian identity of Oliver Queen, as shown in Justice League of America #7 (October–November 1961).
At some point, she meets a journalist named Bernell "Bowstring" Jones, who remembers her from her Olympic Games and is probably the only person to consider her a star. She nicknames him Bowstring because he is as thin as one and takes him briefly as her sidekick so he will give her publicity in his journal. Eventually, however, Green Arrow convinces Arrowette to give up superheroism.
She has to permanently give up archery because due to carpal tunnel syndrome
in her wrists, and also due to her job as a secretary. She talks Bowstring into marrying her and, one year later, she has a daughter they name Cissie King-Jones. When Bowstring dies five years later from fish poisoning, Hal Jordan
(working as an agent for the company that holds Bowstring's life insurance policy) gives Bonnie and Cissie the policy's beneficiary check; the money enables Bonnie to train Cissie into a superhero. Cissie hardly has time to breathe between lessons of archery, judo, kick-boxing, gymnastics, ballet, and many other fields, and eventually comes to resent her mother deeply.
Bonnie's name is a parody or play on Green Arrow's civilian name, Oliver Queen.
wearing a frilly costume and a bejeweled mask that apes her mother's old costume. Despite Arrowette's success as a heroine, Impulse
's mentor, Max Mercury
, is concerned by what he sees as Bonnie's exploitation of her daughter. Child Welfare Services gets involved, and Bonnie loses custody of her daughter, who is sent to the Elias School for Girls, a boarding school
.
Arrowette next appears in Young Justice
#4 wearing a more practical costume. Acting alone, she battles the villainous Harm
and is injured by him with one of her own arrows. However, she manages to escape and contact Young Justice, later joining the team, along with the second Wonder Girl
(Cassie Sandsmark) and Secret
(Greta). The three quickly become close friends, although Cissie admits during a game of 'Truth or Dare' that, if put in a position where she had a choice to quit being a hero, she would ask her mother's advice and then do the opposite to establish herself as an independent person.
After her school therapist—one of the few adults whom Cissie trusted—is brutally murdered, Cissie tracks down the killers in a violent rage. She nearly kills one of them herself, but is stopped by Superboy
. Cissie is so shaken by the incident that she vows never to be Arrowette again.
Despite leaving the team, Cissie remains close friends with her teammates and eventually reconciles with her mother, who convinces her daughter to try out for the "Summer Games" in Sydney
(a thinly-veiled reference to the 2000 Summer Olympics
, due to DC not being an "official partner" of the Games). With her battle-honed abilities, Cissie ends up taking home the gold, and becomes something of a celebrity, guest-starring on Superboy's favorite TV show, "Wendy the Werewolf Stalker" (a parody of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). She helps the Red Tornado
's daughter, Traya, adjust to life at Elias and later, when Secret was returned to humanity, Cissie helps to organize placement for her at the same school.
Now retired from superheroics, Cissie never expresses any desire to return to her life as a superhero, despite the best efforts of several of her former teammates. They even involve her in a baseball game on an alien planet, with the fate of many innocents riding on the outcome. Cissie is enraged because they chose her instead of many other superhumans, but she participates as best as she can. Her team barely wins. Cissie still remains committed to justice and compassion. During the Imperiex
war, she served as medical aid volunteer, again working with Young Justice, although the team is again divided due to uncertainty about Robin's loyalty to them after the discovery of Batman's files on the Justice League
.
Cissie made a brief appearance in Teen Titans (vol. 3) #7 when Helen Sandsmark attempts to enroll Wonder Girl into the Elias School (which seems to have expanded its student body to boys as well as girls). With Greta Hayes (formerly Secret
), the girls threaten to leave the school and take Cissie's celebrity status as a gold-winning archer with her if Wonder Girl is not allowed to enroll. The school gives in to her demands. Cissie makes a second appearance in Teen Titans and Outsiders Secret Files 2005, joining Wonder Girl on a trip to San Francisco, California
. Cissie wishes to give her best friend moral support as Cassie battles with the decision to tell her friends that her father was the Greek God, Zeus
. At the funeral for her former YJ teammate, Bart Allen
, she is mentioned in passing during a video made by Bart prior to his death. Cissie also makes a flashback cameo in Teen Titans #50.
Cissie was last seen hanging out with Cassie and Anita
in Wonder Girl #2, now sporting short hair. She is seen again in Wonder Girl #3 with Anita, as the they help Cassie realize that she has truly gotten over Superboy's death. For the first time since 'retiring' from super-hero work in the pages of Young Justice, Cissie wears a new Arrowette costume that resembles the second one to aid Wonder Girl rescue her mother in Wonder Girl #4.
universe, Arrowette joined with the Amazons' Furies
.
announced that she had been cast as the voice of Arrowette for an upcoming animated adaptation of Young Justice
. When the show was officially announced by Warner Brothers in April, the press release referred to the character as Artemis, indicating a change in character. When the show premiered, the newest addition to Young Justice team was Artemis Crock, a completely different character, but the costume she wears on the show looks almost identical to Arrowette's, except for its color, which has a green scheme instead of red. However, Arrowette has been confirmed to appear in the show.
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe. The first character is the mother of the second.
Bonnie King
The first Arrowette (properly known as Miss Arrowette) is Bonnie King, a would-be sidekickSidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
and general nuisance to Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
. She first appears in World's Finest Comics #113 (November 1960).
When Bonnie was a child, her mother Millie put her through archery training and was very controlling of her progress. She does well and ends up competing in the Olympic Games, where she wins a bronze medal. However, her mother is not pleased as she had expected Bonnie to win a gold, and harasses her daughter over Bonnie's alleged failure. This ends up driving Bonnie to abandon both her home and archery and she never speaks to her mother again.
Alone in Star City
Star City (comics)
Star City is a fictional city that appears in stories published by DC Comics, best known as the traditional home of the superheroes known by, or affiliated with, the shared alias of the Green Arrow...
, she eventually becomes inspired by Green Arrow and Speedy
Roy Harper (comics)
Roy Harper is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe. He was known for over fifty years as Green Arrow's teenage sidekick Speedy. He first appeared alongside his mentor in More Fun Comics #73...
and decides to use her archery skills in a way that counted. She makes a costume for herself and names herself "Miss" Arrowette. Like Green Arrow, she carries trick arrows but with a feminine slant (such as the "Powder Puff" Arrow). She attempts to aid both archers a few times, but they repeatedly rebuff her attempts. Despite her good intentions, Arrowette turns out to be too clumsy to become a hero and too vain to even wear a mask. Arrowette briefly dates the Green Arrow in his civilian identity of Oliver Queen, as shown in Justice League of America #7 (October–November 1961).
She has to permanently give up archery because due to carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is an entrapment idiopathic median neuropathy, causing paresthesia, pain, and other symptoms in the distribution of the median nerve due to its compression at the wrist in the carpal tunnel. The pathophysiology is not completely understood but can be considered compression...
in her wrists, and also due to her job as a secretary. She talks Bowstring into marrying her and, one year later, she has a daughter they name Cissie King-Jones. When Bowstring dies five years later from fish poisoning, Hal Jordan
Hal Jordan
Harold "Hal" Jordan is a DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern, the first human shown to join the Green Lantern Corps and a founding member of the Justice League of America. Jordan is the second DC Comics character to adopt the Green Lantern moniker...
(working as an agent for the company that holds Bowstring's life insurance policy) gives Bonnie and Cissie the policy's beneficiary check; the money enables Bonnie to train Cissie into a superhero. Cissie hardly has time to breathe between lessons of archery, judo, kick-boxing, gymnastics, ballet, and many other fields, and eventually comes to resent her mother deeply.
Bonnie's name is a parody or play on Green Arrow's civilian name, Oliver Queen.
Cissie King-Jones
Forced by her mother to adopt a version of her old costume, Cissie King-Jones becomes the second Arrowette. Arrowette first appears in the pages of ImpulseBart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
wearing a frilly costume and a bejeweled mask that apes her mother's old costume. Despite Arrowette's success as a heroine, Impulse
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
's mentor, Max Mercury
Max Mercury
Max Mercury is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero based on Quality Comics' Quicksilver.- Publication history :He first appeared in Quality's National Comics #5, cover dated November 1940, as Quicksilver...
, is concerned by what he sees as Bonnie's exploitation of her daughter. Child Welfare Services gets involved, and Bonnie loses custody of her daughter, who is sent to the Elias School for Girls, a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
.
Arrowette next appears in Young Justice
Young Justice
Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team first appeared in Young Justice: The Secret , before graduating to their ongoing monthly series...
#4 wearing a more practical costume. Acting alone, she battles the villainous Harm
Harm (comics)
Harm is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Young Justice #4 .-Fictional character biography:...
and is injured by him with one of her own arrows. However, she manages to escape and contact Young Justice, later joining the team, along with the second Wonder Girl
Wonder Girl
Wonder Girl is the name of three fictional characters featured as superheroes in comic books and other media produced by DC Comics. The original was a younger version of Wonder Woman...
(Cassie Sandsmark) and Secret
Secret (comics)
Secret is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Comics universe.-Fictional character biography:Secret first appeared in a one-shot comic, part of the Girlfrenzy fifth week event, by Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck called Young Justice: The Secret, in which Robin, Impulse, and Superboy helped...
(Greta). The three quickly become close friends, although Cissie admits during a game of 'Truth or Dare' that, if put in a position where she had a choice to quit being a hero, she would ask her mother's advice and then do the opposite to establish herself as an independent person.
After her school therapist—one of the few adults whom Cissie trusted—is brutally murdered, Cissie tracks down the killers in a violent rage. She nearly kills one of them herself, but is stopped by Superboy
Superboy
Superboy is the name of several fictional characters that have been published by DC Comics, most of them youthful incarnations of Superman. These characters have also been the main characters of four ongoing Superboy comic book series published by DC....
. Cissie is so shaken by the incident that she vows never to be Arrowette again.
Despite leaving the team, Cissie remains close friends with her teammates and eventually reconciles with her mother, who convinces her daughter to try out for the "Summer Games" in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
(a thinly-veiled reference to the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, due to DC not being an "official partner" of the Games). With her battle-honed abilities, Cissie ends up taking home the gold, and becomes something of a celebrity, guest-starring on Superboy's favorite TV show, "Wendy the Werewolf Stalker" (a parody of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). She helps the Red Tornado
Red Tornado
Red Tornado is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Justice League of America #64 , and was created by Gardner Fox and Dick Dillin.-Publication history:...
's daughter, Traya, adjust to life at Elias and later, when Secret was returned to humanity, Cissie helps to organize placement for her at the same school.
Imperiex
Imperiex is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Superman #153 , and was created by Jeph Loeb and Ian Churchill...
war, she served as medical aid volunteer, again working with Young Justice, although the team is again divided due to uncertainty about Robin's loyalty to them after the discovery of Batman's files on the Justice League
JLA: Tower of Babel
"Tower of Babel" is a 2000 comic book storyline that ran in the DC Comics monthly series JLA #43-46. It was written by Mark Waid.-Summary:...
.
Cissie made a brief appearance in Teen Titans (vol. 3) #7 when Helen Sandsmark attempts to enroll Wonder Girl into the Elias School (which seems to have expanded its student body to boys as well as girls). With Greta Hayes (formerly Secret
Secret (comics)
Secret is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Comics universe.-Fictional character biography:Secret first appeared in a one-shot comic, part of the Girlfrenzy fifth week event, by Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck called Young Justice: The Secret, in which Robin, Impulse, and Superboy helped...
), the girls threaten to leave the school and take Cissie's celebrity status as a gold-winning archer with her if Wonder Girl is not allowed to enroll. The school gives in to her demands. Cissie makes a second appearance in Teen Titans and Outsiders Secret Files 2005, joining Wonder Girl on a trip to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Cissie wishes to give her best friend moral support as Cassie battles with the decision to tell her friends that her father was the Greek God, Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
. At the funeral for her former YJ teammate, Bart Allen
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
, she is mentioned in passing during a video made by Bart prior to his death. Cissie also makes a flashback cameo in Teen Titans #50.
Cissie was last seen hanging out with Cassie and Anita
Empress (comics)
Empress is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Comics universe. She first appeared in Young Justice #16 .-Fictional character biography:...
in Wonder Girl #2, now sporting short hair. She is seen again in Wonder Girl #3 with Anita, as the they help Cassie realize that she has truly gotten over Superboy's death. For the first time since 'retiring' from super-hero work in the pages of Young Justice, Cissie wears a new Arrowette costume that resembles the second one to aid Wonder Girl rescue her mother in Wonder Girl #4.
Skills and abilities
Cissie is a normal human with above average strength, stamina and agility for a girl of her age. She has exceptional hand to hand combatant ability with skills as an Olympic gold-medalist longbow marksman and possesses above average intelligence.Flashpoint
In the FlashpointFlashpoint (comics)
Flashpoint is an American comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics. Consisting of an eponymous core limited series and a number of tie-in titles, the storyline premiered in May 2011...
universe, Arrowette joined with the Amazons' Furies
Female Furies
The Female Furies are a group of fictional women warriors appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Mister Miracle #6 , and were created by Jack Kirby.-Team history:...
.
Television
In February 2010, actress Stephanie LemelinStephanie Lemelin
Stephanie Lemelin is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the American TV series Cavemen. Other past credits include The 40-Year-Old Virgin, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Me, Myself and Irene, the last in which she appears with her mother, Rona. Her father is former NHL goalie Reggie Lemelin...
announced that she had been cast as the voice of Arrowette for an upcoming animated adaptation of Young Justice
Young Justice (TV series)
Young Justice is an American animated television series created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti for Cartoon Network. Despite its title, it is not an adaptation of Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck's Young Justice comic series, but rather an adaptation of the entire DC Universe with a focus on young...
. When the show was officially announced by Warner Brothers in April, the press release referred to the character as Artemis, indicating a change in character. When the show premiered, the newest addition to Young Justice team was Artemis Crock, a completely different character, but the costume she wears on the show looks almost identical to Arrowette's, except for its color, which has a green scheme instead of red. However, Arrowette has been confirmed to appear in the show.