Oliver Queen... I'm doing this whether you want me to or not... I'm telling you... this is the life I'm choosing. I want to fight by your side. Please... let me do it at your side. 
- — Speedy src
The second Speedy was Mia Dearden, a young runaway taken in by Green Arrow.
History
Origin
Mia Dearden was a young girl who, at the age of 11, ran away from home after being abused and molested by her father for years. After living on the streets for two years, she was taken in by a pimp named Richard, who offered her shelter and food in exchange for trafficking her into a prostitution ring.[2]
Green Arrow
15 year old Mia fights back
Mia was rescued from one of Richard's clients, a depraved local politician, by "Green Arrow" Oliver Queen, who had recently returned from the dead. This led Mia to stand up to Richard, defending herself against him when he attacked her later that night, and running away. Mia was allowed to stay with Oliver, who was busy trying to reconstruct his own life, on the caveat that she not tell anyone about his double-life as a vigilante.
Mia continually petitioned Green Arrow to allow her to serve as his sidekick, but Ollie continually demurred, not wanting to put another youngster at risk. As Oliver Queen got his life back in order, Mia fantasized that she would one day become Green Arrow's new crime-fighting partner and began taking up practice with a crossbow. Once the Emerald Archer learned of her desire, he nipped it in the bud, instead emphasizing that she concentrate on growing up.[3] Despite this, Mia continued to train, both alone and with Connor Hawke, Oliver's son.[4]
This training first paid off when Constantine Drakon broke into their house looking for information. Mia was able to surprise him with an arrow to the back. Unfortunately this did not stop him, and the attack left Mia with a broken right arm, and an arrow shot by Connor through her left shoulder.[5]
First Taste of the Action
When Star City was encased in an impenetrable bubble, and demons began to appear on the streets, Mia worked to keep morale up and helped out at the Rec Center-turned-refuge. She repeatedly offered to help Ollie and Connor out on the streets, but was shot down by the elder Green Arrow every time out of fear for her safety.[6]
A life taken by innocent hands
After finding the source of the dark magic encompassing the city, Albert Davis' home, Ollie decided creating an army from the remaining police force and local gangsters was the only chance they had for victory. Pointing out she's a better fighter than any of the people Oliver had recruited, Mia engaged him in a physical fight to prove herself. Oliver won, but was impressed nonetheless, and ordered Connor to get Mia a mask, allowing her to fight by their side.[7]
Ordered to stay on the sidelines, Mia aided the battle from a nearby cliff. After a close fight and with no way out, Mia ends up catapulted with Oliver into the home of Davis, where they find the man shackled to the ground by iron and stone. Davis begged them to kill him, citing it as the only way to stop the spell that'd been cast. Oliver objected, but the pressure proves too much for Mia, who loosed an arrow straight into his chest, killing him instantly. Despite freeing the city, Mia was devastated by what she'd done. [8]
Diagnosis and Becoming Speedy
Enter...Speedy!
After having bloodwork done when receiving stitches, Mia tested positive for HIV. Though the specific cause was unknown, it was either contracted from her days of being trafficked, or from drugs she shot to stay alert while living on the street, a revelation that alarmed Oliver. Mia is prescribed HAART drug therapy, and, with the support of Ollie and Connor, made a speech in front of her classmates about living with HIV.[9][10]
Now faced with an uncertain future, Mia was more determined than ever to do something important with her life. Explaining how much she wants to help people, Mia gave Ollie an ultimatum, either she fights alone, or by his side. Despite his previous objections, Oliver couldn't deny her now. He accepted her as his new sidekick, and Mia became the second to don the costumed identity of Speedy,[10] a name she chose to honor Roy Harper. [11]
Running With The Titans
After two months of combat training with Ollie, Mia was allowed to hit the streets with both Green Arrows. To complement her training, Oliver pushed her to join the Teen Titans. Though at first reluctant to join a team full of strangers, she became more open to the idea after meeting the members. Mia decided not to tell them about her HIV status, wanting to be known as a teammate, rather than just "The kid with AIDS."[12]
On her first official day on the team, Mia incapacitated Cyborg with a cryonic arrow, believing him to be malfunctioning and attacking the team. In reality she had arrived in the middle of a training exercise, luckily there was no lasting damage, and Cyborg waved off the incident. After showing Mia around the tower, including her new locker and room, Cyborg presented Mia with Roy Harper's old quiver, which he left for her as a birthday gift. The quiver contained various trick arrows, including an unusual blue arrow, marked "USE IN EMERGENCY ONLY."[13]
Soon after, a transmission from Doctor Light came through to Titans Tower, revealing the man had taken Green Arrow hostage. Mia and the rest of the Teen Titans rushed to his location, but were quickly overwhelmed by Light, though Mia managed to shoot an arrow through his shoulder. After the team is fully incapacitated, Doctor Light grabbed an unconscious Mia by the ankle and dragged her to where he'd kept Oliver. Before he could kill Mia, Light was interrupted by Hawk and Dove, followed by the rest of the Teen Titans, past and present.
Superboy-Prime sent to the Phantom Zone
While Doctor Light fought the Titans, Mia worked to help Ollie, dragging him away from where he had been held. After Light was defeated, Mia travelled with the Team back to the tower. With secrets coming to light about the League, Mia made the decision to be honest with the group, sharing that she's HIV positive. The other members accept her, sharing their own secrets to make her feel more comfortable, and reassured her that she's still a Titan.[14]
After fighting a Lex Luthor-controlled Superboy, and the new Brother Blood, Mia is faced with an enemy worthy of the mysterious blue arrow, which she'd recently learnt Roy had stolen from the Fortress of Solitude. An Arrow with the power to send it's target to the Phantom Zone, Superboy-Prime is shot and imprisoned by Mia, though he quickly escaped. After this fight Mia left the Titans, and returned to Star City.
Back in Star
Back home, Mia continued to fight alongside Oliver and Connor in Star City, proving herself useful. When Roy got kidnapped by Drakon and The Riddler and their family home was blown up by Doctor Light, Oliver's paranoia about Mia's safety returned tenfold. This led to him setting the team up in a new highly secure bunker, and enlisting Zatanna to shadow Mia at school.[15]
Black Lightning attempts resuscitation
Ollie's fears were realized when Doctor Light returned and attacked the team a short time later, tracking Mia to her school. His attack killed dozens of students, though Mia managed to escape, unintentionally leading him to their new home. After an intense fight between him, Mia, and Connor, Oliver and Black Lightning appeared and attempted to thwart Light's attack. After a struggle, Doctor Light escaped with Oliver as his hostage, soldering shut every exit to the bunker as he left.
The state of the bunker proved fatal when Mia succumbed to her injuries from the earlier fight, leading her to bleed out on the floor with no possible escape. When she stopped breathing, Black Lightning attempted to resuscitate her using his powers as a makeshift defibrillator, but the attempt was in vain when the entire block of apartments above the bunker were blown up by Merlyn, burying the three under a mountain of rubble.[16] This left Mia's fate unknown, despite desperate attempts by fire fighters and Lightning to dig her out.
Recovery and Return
After being pulled from the wreckage by Connor and stabilized by on sight medics, Mia was taken with Ollie by Connor to the Marshall Islands to recover. Mia stayed on the island, eventually waking from her short coma, and healing from her multiple injuries. During the Lost Year she trained in various forms of martial arts, weaponry, and survival skills alongside Ollie and Connor under the tutelage of many of the world's greatest teachers.[17] When Ollie left to run for mayor, he insisted Mia remain on the island, as he feared the focus that would be put on her by the media.
Three months later, Mia went home to Star City, ready to return to her life as Speedy. Soon after, Red Hood appeared in the city, causing chaos within The Glades. Mia proved herself useful to both Green Arrow and Batman when her network of street contacts provided them with leads. When she attempted to help what she thought were trapped civilians, Mia was kidnapped and taken to her school gym by Red Hood's associates. There, Red Hood untied Mia, returned her weapons, and challenged her to a fight. He attempted to compare the two of them, as they were both children who lived on the street taken in by rich mentors, though Mia disagreed, seeing him as just another bad guy. After their fight, Red Hood blew up the school they were in just as Mia got out of the building, though it's unknown whether she escaped or was let go on purpose.[18]
Mia continued to fight alongside Oliver and Connor, both on the streets as Speedy and behind the scenes gathering intel when needed. During Oliver and Dinah's engagement, Mia helped Oliver fake Sin's death to hide her from the League of Assassins.[19] She was one of Dinah's bridesmaids at the wedding, before it was interrupted by dozens of villains.[20]
Green Arrow and Black Canary
After the marriage of Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, she accompanied Team Arrow throughout the rescue of Oliver from Themyscira and the subsequent pursuit of the League of Assassins. During this time she met, and developed a crush on, British ally Dodger, whom she began a relationship with. She has since relocated to London to be with him. Mia later left Dodger after she found him kissing the actress Emma Watson. She returned home in a black and yellow costume with black arrows, just in time to watch Ollie leave after a fight with Dinah.
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Cry for Justice
Mia was babysitting Roy Harper's daughter Lian, but was called away when the Electrocutioner was sighted planting bombs created by Prometheus in Star City, which were intended to move Star City to an alternate universe. The bombs, however, did not teleport the city, but instead began destroying it. To Mia's horror, the bombs destroy their home and killed Lian.[21] In "Rise and Fall", Mia attacks Electrocutioner in her rage, holding him hostage with the intent to kill him.[22] Green Arrow arrives and convinces Mia that killing is not the answer, and takes Electrocutioner into custody.[23] Later at Lian's funeral, Roy sees and attacks Mia, blaming her for what happened to his daughter.[24]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Acrobatics[25]
- Archery: Green Arrow has taken Mia under his wing, training her with a bow and arrow. Mia has been ardently practicing her skills, and honing her bowmanship techniques. She is a proficient archer and uses a recurve bow well.[26]
- Martial Arts: Mia is a vastly above-average fighter, having trained underneath many of the world's top martial artists.[17]
- Swordsmanship: Mia is a skilled swordswoman, again trained by some of the world's greatest warriors.[17]
- Computer Hacking: Mia has hacked databases to find the criminal records, and current whereabouts, of various people of interest.[27]
Other Characteristics
- AIDS: Having contracted HIV,[9] Mia Dearden must take the AIDS cocktail and keep herself in excellent physical condition.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Trick Arrows
- Phantom Zone Arrow: Given to Mia by Arsenal, who stole it from Superman's Fortress of Solitude when he was a kid.[28][29]
Weapons
Notes
- DC Editorial intended for Mia to die alongside Lian Harper in "Cry For Justice", but writer James Robinson fought the choice, and kept her alive.[30]
Trivia
- Mia enjoys reading books.[28]
- Mia listens to Taylor Swift.[31]
- Mia can rollerblade.[32]
- Mia is a fan of The Powerpuff Girls.[33]
- Mia was briefly under consideration to join the Birds of Prey[34]
Related
- 130 Appearances of Mia Dearden (New Earth)
- 49 Images featuring Mia Dearden (New Earth)
- 12 Quotations by or about Mia Dearden (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Mia Dearden (New Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ DC Comics Encyclopedia
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #2
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #11
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #46
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #31
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #37
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #38
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #39
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Green Arrow (Volume 3) #44
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Green Arrow (Volume 3) #45
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #47
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #46
- ↑ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #21
- ↑ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #23
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #52
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #57
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Green Arrow (Volume 3) #66
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #72
- ↑ Black Canary (Volume 3) #4
- ↑ Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special #1
- ↑ Justice League: Cry for Justice #7
- ↑ Green Arrow and Black Canary #31
- ↑ Green Arrow and Black Canary #32
- ↑ Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal #2
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #6
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #46
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #73
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Teen Titans (Volume 3) #21
- ↑ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #32
- ↑ Justice League: Cry for Justice, James Robinson's Foreword
- ↑ Green Arrow and Black Canary #24
- ↑ Titans (Volume 2) #19
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 3) #4
- ↑ Birds of Prey #100
  This character is or was a member of the Green Arrow family of vigilante super-heroes, who fight crime using archery and martial arts. They are a loose connection brought together through family bonds and shared experiences. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Team Arrow members." |
 This character is or was primarily a member of the younger superhero team known as the Teen Titans, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Teen Titans members" category. |