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Roy Harper
Roy Harper

Roy Harper

421 appearances · Golden Age · 1941–2026 · 18 key issues
Who is Roy Harper?

Orphaned as a child, Roy Harper was raised on a Navajo reservation by the archer Brave Bow, who trained him into a world-class marksman. He later became Green Arrow's ward and crime-fighting sidekick Speedy, eventually forging his own heroic identity—first as Arsenal, then as Red Arrow.

Few characters can claim a Golden Age origin stretching all the way back to 1941 — but Roy Harper made his debut in More Fun Comics #73, brought to life by the legendary Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily, and he's been a fixture of the DC Universe ever since. With nearly nine decades of publishing history spanning World's Finest Comics, Titans, and Green Arrow, Roy has proven himself one of the most enduring figures in superhero comics, racking up close to 400 catalog appearances and 18 key issues that collectors actively seek out. He shares the page with an extraordinary roll call — Green Lantern, Dick Grayson, Superman, Robin — which tells you everything about the rarefied company he keeps and the corners of the DC Universe he inhabits. Whether you're a Golden Age devotee or a modern Titans fan, Roy Harper's remarkable longevity makes him a character absolutely worth following across the decades.

Identity

Real name. Roy William Harper Jr.

Powers. No superpowers; world-class archer and marksman, expert in hand-to-hand combat, acrobatics, and use of trick arrows/weapons. (Briefly gained cybernetic abilities as a Rann-Thanagar-era cyborg in some stories.)

Teams & affiliations
Daily Planet
★ First appearance
More Fun Comics #73
Nov 1941

Trivia

  • Roy Harper was a founding member of the original Teen Titans, making this legendary former sidekick a cornerstone of the team long before Raven or Beast Boy ever entered the picture.cbr.com
  • Roy's harrowing heroin addiction arc in Green Lantern #85 stands as a genuine landmark in the medium, one of the first mainstream superhero stories to confront drug use with unflinching honesty.cbr.com
  • Art Baltazar has written more of Roy Harper's comics than any other writer in our catalog — 25 issues.

Top series

Covers through the years — 1941–2020

More Fun Comics #73 1941
More Fun Comics #73
Adventure Comics #152 1950
Adventure Comics #152
Adventure Comics #210 1955
Adventure Comics #210
Adventure Comics #269 1960
Adventure Comics #269
Leave It to Binky #69 1969
Leave It to Binky #69
The Brave and the Bold #102 1972
The Brave and the Bold #102
DC Comics Presents #38 1981
DC Comics Presents #38
All-Star Squadron #59 1986
All-Star Squadron #59
Green Arrow #75 1993
Green Arrow #75
The Titans #31 2001
The Titans #31
Teen Titans #21 2005
Teen Titans #21
Wonder Girl #5 2008
Wonder Girl #5
Superman #28 2014
Superman #28
The Flash #750 2020
The Flash #750

Appearances (151–300 of 421, oldest first)

52 (2006)
Action Comics Weekly (1988)
Hawk and Dove (1989)
Zatanna (1993)
#1
Green Lantern (1990)
The Darkstars (1992)
The New Titans (1988)
Guy Gardner: Warrior (1994)
Deathstroke (1995)
#49
Green Lantern Secret Files (1998)
#1
Teen Titans Annual No. 1, 1967 Issue (1999)
JLA (1997)
#40
Flash (1987)
Millennium Edition: World's Finest No. 71 (2000)
Great American Comic Books (2001)
The Green Arrow by Jack Kirby (2001)
Spécial DC (1997)
Outsiders (2003)
Identity Crisis (2004)
#1
Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives (2005)
Teen Titans (2003)
#21
Teen Titans and Outsiders Secret Files and Origins 2005 (2005)
The World's Greatest Super-Heroes (2005)
Supergirl (2005)
#3
Solo (2004)
#7
Showcase Presents: Green Arrow (2006)
#1
Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special (2006)
#1
Teen Titans Go! (2004)
#36
Justice League of America (2006)
Justice League Wedding Special (2007)
#1
World War III (2007)
Wonder Girl (2007)
#5
Batman Collection: Neal Adams (2008)
#1
Countdown to Final Crisis (2008)
Titans (2008)
DCU Holiday Special (2009)
#1
Solomon Grundy (2009)
#5
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2009)
#16
DCU: Legacies (2010)
Showcase Presents: Green Lantern (2005)
#5
The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2011)
DC Comics Presents: The Teen Titans (2011)
#1
DC Universe: Legacies (2011)