Starfish Island (DC Comics)
| Starfish Island | |
|---|---|
| Notable characters | Green Arrow, China White |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics #256 (January, 1959) |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
Starfish Island is a fictional Island in the DC Comics universe. The island first appeared in "Adventure Comics - Issue 256" (January, 1959). It is the central location of Green Arrow origin stories.
History
Starfish Island is the island that billionaire playboy Oliver Queen washed up on after a cruise ship he was on sank. Stranded on the island, Oliver learned to survive by any means necessary using a bow and arrows, and thus became an archer(bowman, toxophilite). He developed primitive trick arrows as advanced methods of hunting and foraging for food, then assembled a green suit to camouflage himself.
Pre-Crisis
Eventually, a commercial freighter stopped by the island, and Oliver swam out, thinking that he might get rescued. The ships crew were in the middle of a mutiny and he had to liberate the crew from dangerous pirates. Making a small mask to hide his face from sight, he took them all down using the skills he had developed. Now calling himself the Green Arrow, he realized that he could use the abilities he gained on Starfish Island to serve society for the greater good by fighting crime.[1]
Post-Crisis
The Crisis on Infinite Earths ended the DC Multiverse by streamlining it into one DC Universe. Oliver Queen was still a wealthy playboy, but he was also the hard-working corporate executive of Queen Industries. After drunkenly falling off of his boat and washing up on Starfish Island, he became an archer to survive. He was finally able to escape when he caught a group of drug dealers using the location for an illegal marijuana farm and turned them in to the authorities.[2]
Green Arrow: Year One
The revisionary story "Green Arrow: Year One" changes some of this and expands on his island adventures. Prior to the incident, he is shown to be a rich playboy and an adventurous, thrill-seeking alcoholic with no real sense of direction or responsibility, struggling to find meaning in a hollow existence of luxury. His best friend, Hackett, betrayed him to embezzle money and shot him off of a boat in the middle of the ocean. Oliver landed on an island located among the Fiji Islands. The island was controlled by China White(the ruthless leader of a massive drug cartel), who Hackett worked for, and was used by her for a heroin operation, but Oliver used his archery skills to shut down her heroin operation before coming home. This experience inspired him to fight crime regularly.[3]
Other media
- The island is featured "The Batman" episode "Vertigo". In this episode, it is explained that Oliver Queen was on his yacht when he ran into some fog on his way, and he started to feel dizzy. He saw another ship, and it had on it Count Vertigo. He is stuck on a deserted island for two years, and uses his time to train and hunt becoming Green Arrow when he is rescued.
- In the television series "Smallville", when Oliver Queen's yacht sailed into rocks, Oliver washed up on a nearby deserted island and explored it for two years. After discovering a group of drug runners, he pricked his hand on a toxic flower and collapsed, waking up hours later in a tent surrounded by armed men, with Tess Mercer(Lutessa Lena Luthor) examining him. She told him the flower was deadly and that he had only 12 hours left to live after the poison entered his system. She used leeches to suck the poison out of his body and admitted that she and her friend Megan had been kidnapped. One of the kidnappers told Oliver that he knew his identity, and announced a plan to ransom Oliver. He then shot Megan dead and was going to do the same to Tess, but Oliver jumped in front of her and Marcos decided that she would live. Oliver tried to console Tess over the death of her friend. Later, Oliver staged an escape off of the island when the drug runners were leaving by knocking out one of them and by poisoning Marcos with the toxin. Oliver and Tess then left the island by using the drug runner's boat and returned to his home city, Star City.
- Lian Yu (煉獄 Liànyù, translated as "purgatory") is the name of the island in the television series "Arrow". Lian Yu is featured in flashback scenes. The island is located in the North China Sea and Oliver Queen was stranded there for five years, before he was found by Chinese fishermen. His time on the island is expanded as the series continues.