Before you dive in: The background story on this blog is inspired by the TV Show “Arrow”. Hence your reading experience would be greatly enhanced if you have actually watched at least some of it. In case you haven’t, here’s a brief synopsis of things relevant for “getting” this blog. Read Arrow Synopsis

After surviving a ship wreck on an isolated island for five years, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen returns to his home city with a mission to right the wrongs of his father and save the city from the crime that has grown in his absence.

Hence every single Arrow episode1 starts with the words:

I am Oliver Queen, and for the last five years I’ve been stranded on an island, with only one goal: Survive!

Upon return, Oliver is welcomed home to Starling City by his mother Moira, younger sister Thea, and best friend Tommy.

While reconnecting with those closest to him, by night Oliver secretly masquerades as a hooded vigilante archer, attempting to fulfill his dying father’s entreaty: to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory. Oliver’s first task is to take down corrupt millionaire Adam Hunt, who has scammed millions from various people in Starling City.

It becomes apparent to the viewer early on, that the rich playboy with no sense of responsibility that Oliver was before the ship wreck didn’t survive the island. What has returned instead is a determined, sinister, and vengeful character with marvelous skills for both armed and unarmed combat. He disguises his physical appearence on his nightly vigilante trips, but it is his day-time face that is his real mask.

Oliver continues taking down corrupt millionaires and other villains approximately once per episode for a while, until the arch evolves into a more complex one in the 2nd half of the season.

Whenever Oliver confronts one of his targets, he always recites the words:

You have failed this city!

He regularly uses a voice modulator to mask his voice, making it sound particularly creepy.

A few episodes down the season, Oliver makes friends with John Diggle, his appointed bodyguard and an ex-military, who eventually becomes Oliver’s “partner in crime”.

In S01E06, Oliver uses Felicity Smoak, an IT technician at Queen Industries and a highly skilled computer hacker (with the looks of a hot blonde bookworm-type playmate!), to solve a case. Further down the line, Felicity joins Oliver’s vigilante team.

In S01E13, “Betrayal”, Oliver confronts his mother about a list of names related to his vigilante mission, but she denies any knowledge. Diggle does not trust Moira and decides to look into her daily activities. Diggle presents evidence to Oliver that his mother is connected to the group he is hunting, and that she also knew that his father’s yacht was sabotaged and kept it to herself. In response, Oliver decides to interrogate his mother again, but this time as the vigilante.

In S01E14, “The Odyssey”, Oliver breaks through the window into his mother’s office (literally), knocks everybody down except her, and confronts her. But he lets his guard down and Moira manages to grab a gun and shoot him.

Seeking out Felicity for help, Oliver exposes his secret and asks Felicity to take him to his hideout. With Diggle’s help, the bullet is removed and Oliver is stabilized.

Oliver recovers, and continues to pursue villains, eventually waking into existence a super-villain: A black archer with combat skills that surpass his own.

Hi there!

My name is Oliver Clean, and this is my blog. Here are some things you should know:

  • This is a fictional blog. I am a fictional person. I live in a fictional world and write about fictional things. I do not exist beyond the realm of my imagination, and yours.2
  • Consequently, any similarities to events or persons, living, dead, or made up, are purely… fictional. And entirely coincidental.3

But just because all of this is fictional, doesn’t mean it can’t be a fun reading.4 And perhaps you’ll find that the boundaries between reality and fiction are not as firm as they are meant to be. Of course, that, too, would be entirely coincidental.

For best reading experience, start with A Grim Welcome, and follow the yellow brick road article links from there.5

My name is Oliver Clean, and you will soon know me as The Grim Arrow.

Click Here To Start The Reading Fun!

  1. At least this is the case in season 1. ↩

  2. I don’t have the slightest idea how my stories pass through into your physical realm. But they somehow do. I guess my computer has super-powers. 😉 ↩

  3. I swear! With my fictional hand on my fictional bible. ↩

  4. Before I became a fictional person, I amused my real family, friends, and an increasing number of colleagues and business partners with my verbal and written outpourings. Chances are my fictional persona, too, can provide some level of entertainment. ↩

  5. Links to newer articles can be found at the bottom right of each post. ↩