August 26, 2013

Green Arrowhead in Indian Braves #1

Green ArrowHead "Trader in Death"He's barechested, shoots green arrows, and had a comic book series...

..but he's not the guy currently on the CW!

This is Green ArrowHead, and this is his first, never-reprinted adventure from Ace's Indian Braves #1 (1951)!
Comment:  You can read the whole story at the link.

This is a typical work of fiction about Indians from 1951. Half-naked savages...Plains stereotypes...misidentified tribes (the Choctaw)...phony names ("Gallant Hawk" and "Green Arrowhead")...unspecified Western location...etc.

Also typical is the changing nature of the Indians, now noble savages...the evil white men who caused the conflict...and the failure to mention the government's genocidal policies. Nothing sets this apart from a thousand other comic books, movies, and TV shows about Indians.

P.S. Since DC Comics created Green Arrow in 1941, how much of this story is meant to exploit Green Arrow fans? A lot, I'd say.

For more on Native-themed comic books, see Superman the Inca Emperor and Hopi in Human Fly #18-19.

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