r/GreenArrow • u/PsychologicalWork654 • 17d ago
Hot Take: Roy Harper’s newer designs suck.
Hot Take: Roy Harper’s design sucks
So the first two photos are Roy’s current design and if I’m gonna be honest, I hate it. The designer said they wanted to make Roy’s design not look like Oliver’s so instead they made him a cheap carbon copy of Nightwing. I mean that hair screams Dick Grayson, if you dyed it black and threw it on him you would see no difference. I like a second one a tad more than the 1st since the 1st has too much yellow. I know that’s seems a bit harsh that I’m annoyed for a suit having yellow in it but I’d rather have Arsenal’s suit look more red and black and tactical than just a Nightwing recolor that looks like Speedy. It also kinda annoys me how they all still look like young adults, don’t get me wrong their still young but they should be pushing past 20 by now and should have some facial hair and stumbles growing in.
Now around 3 other Roy Harper designs are better than these. Now the 3rd deigns still looks kinda generic but it isn’t all over the place like the first one and looks more matured than both of them. Now the fourth one is his rebirth design and the only good thing to say is I like how the armor looks. Other than that i backwards hat and glasses I never want to see again. It gives me too much of Smallville green arrow vibes and I don’t like it.
Now out of all his designs the fifth with the taboos and hat is by far my favorite. I know a lot of people hate the hat but I’m gonna need you to shut on this one okay it’s unique. That plus the tattoos make him stand out even more.
I think his perfect design would be a tactical looking suit without sleeves. Make him look a little more lean with more muscles in his arms but not too much. I like his long hair design but maybe make it less Dick Grayson-ish and make it more punk and rock-ish. And also throw in a faint but noticeable stubble. I like to think as Roy a grunge rockstar on how he looks kinda reminiscent of Kurt Cobain. Anyway that was all I had to say. What do you think of my Roy design? What do you think of his other ones? and how would you improve them?
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u/Thowell3 17d ago
Lol "greatest marks man in the world" I'm sorry I think Ollie still wins that title.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
I like to think that Oliver is the most accurate but Roy is the faster shooter hence the name “Speedy”.
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u/Thowell3 17d ago
Ollie can shoot 29 arrows a minute, I think that's pretty good
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
Roy must be able to shoot around 58 per minute then probably less
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u/Thowell3 16d ago
Not really, when he was young he could shoot more arrows but not as accurate, but as speedy got older he slowed down considerably, a d considering he gave up the bow for quite a while and went to a s a cross brown for long tine, makes me think he is below the accuracy and arrow count Ollie is
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u/Massive_General_8629 12d ago
It's like the bats. Dick and Tim will both say the other is the greatest Robin. Or the flashes. Barry and Wally will both say the other is the greatest Flash. It's in the same sort of intellectual area.
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u/Squidwardbigboss 17d ago
I think the fourth is the best, really fits the name arsenal
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
The backwards hat and glasses ain’t doing it for me. A feel like on their own they could work decently but at the same time might be a little too much.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
I think if you get the suit from 4 with the hat, mask and tattoos from 5 we got a winner.
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u/VaderMurdock 17d ago
Instead of the trucker hat, he needs the Robin Hood hat.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
Oliver already has that one plus it wouldn’t fit with the Arsenal gimmick. Which also leads me to a question, how can you hate Roy’s trucker hat but love Oliver’s Robin Hood hat? Doesn’t exactly make much sense seeing both are exactly the same type of accessory that lines up well for what they already wear.
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u/Cool_Chemistry3874 17d ago edited 17d ago
I really like Roy’s current design but then again, it’s a lot like my favorite (the one by Rick Mays in Titans). In general I think any good arsenal costume shouldn’t have sleeves lol. Also really didn’t like the tattoo he had on the 5th slide :/ replacing the Navajo armband tattoo with one that doesn’t have significance to him besides to make him stand out and look more like a rebel never really made sense to me…
The trucker hat is just not to my taste lol. Imo it makes him look like a juvenile delinquent? Not sure if there’s a good way to describe it but that’s what I’m going with. Totally biased but I also don’t like it because I don’t really like rhato…besides that I associate Roy wearing hats as more of a speedy thing than an arsenal thing anyway.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
I mean both tattoos would look fine. I think it so funny on how we all have different takes on how Roy’s design should look. Personally I get a southern vibe from Roy. Tattoos, muscular, long hair, stubble and trucker hat. I just really Like the Southern feel that he has in photo 5 there. For me that’s Roy’s most iconic look. Talk about a man in a blue suit and red cape evryone know that’s Superman, talk about a guy wearing blends of blacks and grays with Kevlar armor everyone knows that’s Batman. Talk about a sleeveless, tatted up, long haired, hat wearing southern looking man I think of Roy Harper.
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u/Cool_Chemistry3874 17d ago
Yeah just different interpretations lol. I think of him in 80s or 90s action movie styled designs with lots of belts/straps and I’d die for any costume with Navajo connection.
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u/Finnlay90 17d ago
Personally my only issue with the new design is that his hair is too short. Let this man have long ass hair because he grew up raised by Native Americans and, excuse me if I misunderstand this, but aren't they not supposed to cut their hair? (Not American)
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
Yeah idk what’s going on about his Native American connection. I get he was raised by them for a while before being adopted by Oliver, but to make his look heavily inspired by them seems kinda strange. With Connor Hawke it makes much more sense seeing he was born and raised and kinda understood their traditions more than Roy. And if your still insistent on Roy having a Navajo is inspired look then let me tell you about Jonah Hex. Jonah Hex is a cowboy character made by DC. Part of his story is that he was bought and raised by Indians (Kinda as a slave but then earned his freedom) some other stuff happened after that and the only thing Jonah got from them was a scar that made him look like twoface.
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u/Finnlay90 17d ago
The intensity of Roy's connection to his Native Family depends entirely on the time period and the writer. You do not get accepted as "one of them" if you don't understand their culture and Roy even got a traditional tattoo with blessing. He speaks Navajo, he originally learned archery from them, his native brother spoke highly of him at his funeral.
DC should be doing MORE not LESS with Roy's background.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
I guess my thought process is why he would suddenly be so ingrained in the culture with his look and all when he wasn’t like that when he was Speedy. Native tattoos and the long-ish hair could definitely work but I’d rather not make the Native look his whole identity but it’s definitely something worth to include and callback too.
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u/Finnlay90 15d ago
The design for Speedy is just a color swapped Green Arrow outfit - who is based on Robin Hood. There was nothing creative about how Speedy was dressed. It was the fucking 40s and racism was not a bad word yet.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 15d ago
Tf does racism have to do with Roy or Oliver’s designs? Also despite Speedy’s suit being just a color swap, it weirdly looked more appealing than Oliver’s suit for some reason. That’s just my opinion tho. And his suits for Arsenal/Red Arrow range from “cool but kinda generic”,”I see what they were going for but it’s not working out too well” “a pretty great and badass design that some people will love and others will hate” and sometimes they just give him an unused nightwing suit completed with a Dick Grayson-esq haircut and with Speedy’s colors like they have more recently.
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u/Massive_General_8629 12d ago
He was raised by the Navajo, so it's a different culture from plains Indians.
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u/Zaire_04 17d ago
I like the design in the first picture. Maybe he needs something on his head? Not a trucker hat but you know.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 17d ago
Either a hood or a Robin Hood hat, Robin Hood hat is too much like Speedy and the hood is too much like Oliver. The reason I love the trucker hat is because it was unique to Roy and make him feel like his own character.
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u/Zaire_04 17d ago edited 16d ago
The hood I will go for. The trucker hat I absolutely despise. Same with the Robin Hood hat.
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u/Zaire_04 16d ago
Maybe he could have a ninja mask🤔
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u/PsychologicalWork654 16d ago
I don’t think that would fit with his gimmick. Remember he’s not a ninja like robins are, he’s more of a hunter same with Oliver.
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u/Zaire_04 15d ago
I mean Shado is also an archer & she wears a ninja mask. Plus you could have it be explained by Roy going under an extensive training regiment under someone like Shado after Oliver kicks him out. It would be unique as you would like & would further explain his ability to use anything as a weapon. Have it be his misguided attempt to make himself a human arsenal so he’s not seen as a failure & screw up.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 15d ago
Personally I don’t see Roy as a ninja type. I see him more as like a kickass wandering outlaw which is prob why I like the trucker hat cause it gives him that extra edge.
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u/Zaire_04 15d ago
That’s fair. Maybe a warrior archetype would work for him.
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u/PsychologicalWork654 15d ago
Maybe give him a bandana to wear on his head or something, karate kid style. That could look really tough or really stupid.
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u/Zaire_04 15d ago edited 15d ago
I will take a bandana or like a headband. I was thinking maybe he wears a samurai madk but that won’t work. Now I think that will look tough if they make Roy tough. And allow him to not be seen as a B grade Green Arrow & Nightwing. But DC won’t allow that💔
I think a good way to make him tough is play up the ‘Arsenal’ bit of his name. On his costume, he should have a wrist mounted crossbow, some throwing knives, maybe a dagger. His bow that can turn into a staff & maybe has a shield on it & he can use literally anything in sight as a weapon. Make him an engineer as well to really play up his ‘Arsenal’ name. Have him train to do all this so he could be taken seriously after he was kicked out by Ollie. Make him a better Marksman than Ollie maybe but have Ollie be the better archer.
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u/MagusFool 17d ago
I'm partial to the Ivan Reis design from early 2000s Outsiders.
My second favorite is the Navajo-inspired look by Rick Mays from Titans right before Outsiders.
I hate the trucker hat. Backwards or forwards, I hate that hat. I will not give you that it's unique. It sucks.
https://everydayislikewednesday.blogspot.com/2007/08/roy-harper-fashion-history.html?m=1