Arrow – Comics & Television

Fascinating bit of news today from DC Comics via Comic Book Resources:

Just as they did with Season 11 of Smallville (though the series is a continuation of the concluded television series – not a deepening –  and I have my own opinions on a certain matter), The CW and DC Comics will produce a digital-only series for their upcoming series adaptation, Arrow, based on the character Green Arrow (created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp in 1941).

According to CBR’s interview with series co-showrunner and executive producer (and comics writer) Marc Guggenheim:

“We’ve been working like mad,” … “It was a little while after the free comic we co-wrote with Geoff Johns for San Diego Comic-Con [when DC approached us]. We loved the idea because (a) we love comics and (b) we sensed the opportunity to do something that struck us both as unprecedented. We come up with a lot of stories in the writers room, but only have 42 minutes each week to tell them. That leaves a lot of story and backstory left over that we like having the opportunity to tell. To our knowledge, nothing’s ever been attempted on a scale like this before.”

While USA’s Burn Notice  tie-in digital comic makes brilliant use of comics to tell stories not possible in the confines of the television series between seasons, it appears that the Arrow digital series will be an ongoing affair released during the season (with the first issue hitting October 10, the same date as the show’s premiere), with collected editions available in print for $3.99. Quite a cool experiment, and I look forward to watching it play out.

I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg – remember, comics and television are both serialized media. Whereas television has a massive reach, comics has a much more niche one, making comics a potentially irresistible way for hardcore fans to dig deeper into the Arrow mythos.