Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol 1 4

"How Do You Fight A Nightmare?"

Cover

Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol 1 #4

How Do You Fight A Nightmare?

And A Child Shall Destroy Them!

Editors

Previous Issue	Next Issue
Green Lantern/Green Arrow # 3	Green Lantern/Green Arrow # 5

I've got a lot to say, and I'm not much good at speeches, so please don't interrupt me. When I saw, a little while ago, the strength of Green Arrow's love for Dinah, I realized that I've been denying myself that sort of strength... because I was proud, because I insisted on my own terms... because I demanded you accept me, not as the dashing Green Lantern, but as plain... Hal Jordan!

— Green Lantern reveals his secret identity to Carol Ferris

Green Lantern/Green Arrow #4 is an issue of the series Green Lantern/Green Arrow (Volume 1) published in 1983.

Synopsis for "How Do You Fight A Nightmare?"

This story is reprinted from Green Lantern (Volume 2) #82.

Green Arrow visits Black Canary, offering her a box of roses, but when the box is opened, two harpies fly out and attack. The harpies soon fly away, and Oliver sends a message to Green Lantern in hopes that his experience with the supernatural would be of use. Green Arrow and Black Canary go to the flower shop from whence the roses came, while Green Lantern follows the harpies' trail. Green Lantern is led by the Harpies to their leader, the Witch Queen, who entraps him in another reality at the behest of her unseen brother.

Green Arrow and Black Canary investigate the flower shop, but they are soon attacked by three Amazons who seem intent on killing only men. Black Canary defeats them, and they explain that a male wizard had betrayed and banished the Witch Queen and themselves to the same reality that Green Lantern has been trapped in, sparking their mission to kill all men. They promise to guide an unhurt Green Arrow and Black Canary to their leader.

The Witch Queen's ally is revealed to be Sinestro, whose Yellow Lantern Ring was embedded within the Witch Queen's sceptre, allowing her to trap Green Lantern. Suddenly, Green Arrow bursts through the window, instantly firing an arrow and knocking the ring from Sinestro's hand. Together, he and Black Canary defeat the Witch Queen and Sinestro. Unfortunately, Green Arrow is unable to rescue the Lantern from the "Dimension of Furies", because he is a man; only one male may inhabit it at any one time. Black Canary volunteers to go in his stead.

Meanwhile, in the other dimension, Green Lantern is attacked by Medusa for being a man. Fortunately, Black Canary arrives with the Amazons, and explains that Medusa is being used by Sinestro as a pawn to kill his enemy. Medusa releases him, and Black Canary and Green Lantern return to their own reality to tell Green Arrow their story.

Appearing in "How Do You Fight A Nightmare?"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Black Canary

Antagonists:

Witch Queen (Single appearance)
Harpies (First appearance)
Medusa
Sinestro

Other Characters:

Amazons (Single appearance)

Locations:

Earth-One
- Star City
"Dimension of Furies"

Items:

Vehicles:

Black Canary's Motorcycle

Synopsis for "And A Child Shall Destroy Them!"

This story is reprinted from Green Lantern (Volume 2) #83.

While walking down the street, Carol Ferris bumps into a stranger, and is subsequently cursed by a young girl named Sybil, and she falls in a seizure.

A month later, Dinah Lance decides to take a job as a teacher at Meadowhill School, accompanied by her friends Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan. They are suddenly attacked by a flock of birds, requiring the men to put on their costumes to protect Dinah. When the birds are dealt with, they decide to see if her new boss knows anything about the occurrence.

They are greeted at the door by the man who Carol had bumped into earlier, who introduces himself as Grandy, the cook. He is accompanies by Sybil. The owner of the school, Jason Belmore, introduces himself, but expresses disapproval of the costumed heroes, prompting Green Arrow and Green Lantern to leave. Strangely, Mr. Belmore seems to have made them leave at Grandy's behest. Grandy directs Sybil to make the heroes sorry.

Outside, Green Arrow and Green Lantern notice Carol hanging around their car in a wheelchair. Carol has them drive her away, and explains her case. She reveals that Belmore is her fiancé, but that he seems changed. Suddenly, Green Arrow loses control of the vehicle, which crashes. If not for Green Lantern's ring they might all have died. They soon realize that they have left Dinah in danger.

After dismissing her final class early, Dinah realizes that the children are oddly quiet and inanimate. Grandy appears and chastises her, ominously promising punishment for the early dismissal. Dinah returns to her room and dons her costume as Black Canary. She easily defeats a reluctant Mr. Belmore and Grandy, but Sybil's powers cause her to collapse on the floor. She is dragged to the cellar by the children, where Grandy releases angry wasps to attack her.

Green Arrow and Green Lantern arrive to save her, but they are soon incapacitated by Sybil's powers. Green Arrow uses a trick arrow to distract her, allowing them to escape and find Dinah. Green Lantern deals with the wasps, and Dinah is alive, fortunately. Green Lantern angrily confronts Grandy, who once agains calls upon Sybil to punish him. This time, though, Sybil refuses, saying she wants to be like a normal child. When Grandy angrily slaps Sybil across the face, she uses her powers again – not to punish Green Lantern, but instead to bring the wing of the building down around them. Green Lantern and Green Arrow manage to escape with Mr. Belmore, Dinah, and the children, but Grandy and Sybil are trapped inside, and are presumed to have perished when the wing collapses.

Before leaving, Green Lantern reveals his identity to Carol, and confesses his love for her. She is unsurprised, and accepts his feelings, finally. As they walk away, Sybil appears to be seen standing over Hal's discarded domino mask. Has she somehow survived?

Appearing in "And A Child Shall Destroy Them!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Grandy the Cook (Single appearance; dies)
- Sybil (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

Jason Belmore (Single appearance)

Locations:

Meadowhill School

Items:

Vehicles:

Notes

This issue reprints Green Lantern (Volume 2) #82-83.
Contains an index of works created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams.
In the first story, Black Canary is identified as Dinah Drake Lance, but she was later retconned to be Dinah Laurel Lance – her daughter.

Trivia

The cover of #82 depicted Green Arrow and Green Lantern being attacked by beasts that were half women, half birds, but Julius Schwartz had been unable to work out the cover copy. Dick Giordano mentions in his introduction for the graphic novel Green Lantern/Green Arrow Volume Two that having seen the cover, he turned and started to walk away, chanting "The harpies are coming, the harpies are coming" (paraphrasing a popular movie of the time, The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!). Schwartz liked this, and so THE HARPIES ARE COMING! became the cover copy – which really pleased Giordano.

According to the introduction by Dick Giordano for Green Lantern/Green Arrow Volume Two, the likenesses of Sybil and Grandy were actually those of President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew respectively – neither of whom was popular with Neal Adams.

Links and References

Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol 1 4

Contents