Yes, we are all still abuzz with the knowledge of who the Dark Archer is on the CW’s Arrow, a.k.a. Malcolm Merlyn a.k.a. The Well Dressed Man a.k.a. John Barrowman. I know!!! Yet, seeing Ollie hobbling on a cane in the hospital admitting his failure to Diggle (who once again shows why everyone needs a friend like him) and expressing his concern that the Dark Archer knew of the list and vowing to take down the mastermind just makes for great TV, doesn’t it?

John Barrowman stated what he would like to see in the remainder of the season for the freshman season of Arrow:

“I would love to go back to see where this all started, why it all happened and go into flashbacks,” he says. “That’s one thing I know works in this genre and in this type of program — when you do go back to find out why you are where you are at a given moment in time, where you have come from, and what has caused it. Back-story is beautiful. I love a beautiful back-story.”

Happily, the season picks up again on January 16th…

So, over the weekend I attended the New York City Comic-Con and it is clear that it has evolved in leaps and bounds over the year and it is evident that it is a serious contender to becoming the East Coast’s major entertainment convention.

Over the last three years, the entertainers that attend the events and the events themselves have improved exponentially. Do you remember when Lou Ferrigno and Peter Mayhew were the biggest draw and the only reason you went was to see your favorite author? Well, now we see the likes of Julianne Moore (Carrie remake), Chloë Grace Moretz (Carrie remake), Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring), Lily Taylor (The Conjuring), Barry Levinson (The Bay) and notable tv panels for shows such as The Walking Dead, Lost Girl, Haven, Arrow and also high-profile authors such as Anne Rice in attendance.

I’ll try to recap everything, but I want to state that one of the most fun panels of the weekend was for the CW’s newest show, Arrow.

In attendance: Stephen Amell, Willa Holland, Katie Cassidy, Marc Guggenheim and the Geoff Johns was the moderator.

One of the funny moments during the panel was a fan question the revolved around Queen’s time on the island. The fan asked if the island in Arrow was like the island in Lost and even though Stephen Amell wished it was, it was not. But, the show does use one of Lost’s favorite tools to give fans an idea on the back story of the characters and that is flashbacks. Unfortunatelt for Amell, the island bits force him to be in make-up for 90 minutes, but the change in look and clothing allows him to transform into that character (he mentioned the playing Oliver Queen was actually playing four distinct characters).

“When [‘Arrow’] went to series, I was hoping that Oliver — when he got to the island — would be really beaten down to nothing before he rises back up again,” said Amell. “As Oliver Queen in the present day, he’s unflinching. And he does some things that are pretty difficult to wrap your head around. The island helps explain why he does it, why he has to do it. And it helps you relate to the character more.”

One of the consistent topics in the discussion revolved around the character named Speedy. Speedy is the name of Green Arrow’s sidekick, Roy Harper. Yet, Willa Holland wants her character to be Speedy and when asked about it she replied “because I am ready to kick some butt! I am ready to pick up a bow and arrow whenever you guys are ready to write it in for me.”  Guggenheim mentioned that there is a scene, that may pop-up in the DVD, which was cut that show’s Oliver’s sister pick up an archery award to smash some pills.

There were four characters mentioned that perked everyone’s ears up:

1. 1. John Barrowman’s Well Dressed Man – the character will make his debut in the fifth episode titled “Damaged,” He’s described as being as mysterious as he is wealthy and recur as an acquaintance of the Queen family and prominent figure in Starling City.
2. 2. Collin Donnell’s Tommy Merlyn: In the comic book’s, Oliver Queen was inspired to take up archery by the amazing archer, “Merlyn the Magician”. Once Green Arrow began to become famous, the two met again, as Merlyn challenged the hero to a public archery contest and defeated him. With that victory under his belt, Merlyn vanished for years, only to resurface as a member of the League of Assassins. Look to episode 7 to see Tommy make a shift in it’s character development, but before we see Tommy turn to the dark side, Arrow will face a long list of bad guys.
3. 3. Jessica DeGouw’s Helena Bertinelli aka The Huntress will appear in the the seventh episode of the season.In Arrow Bertinelli will be kept close to Oliver Queen’s, when he needs her the most.
4. 4. Katie Cassidy’s Black Canary was not really discussed but, Mark Guggenheim mentioned that we will see what Laurel is capable of in the third episode.

Towards the end of the panel Geoff Johns mentioned that the digital comic book that premiered at San Diego Comic-Con which will mirror the show but also gives us some insight to the story and the characters that cannot be expressed during the season.

Overall, it was a great panel. I mean I learned about trapping, the salmon ladder and legolasing.Yea, you just had to be there to appreciate how much fun the panel was.

Please click on the following to see the sneak peek reel that was shown at the panel where we see Death Stroke, The Royal Flush Gang and China White:

Arrow: Since we don’t actually know who the artist formerly known as Captain Jack Harkness will be playing, we hope some irresponsible speculation will suffice. Speculation that involves a recent casting notice that found its way into our inbox for ARROW’s fifth episode of the season that has the production searching for a thirty to forty year old male named Edward who is described as the clean-shaven soldier and leader of a unit that captures Oliver. Think Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds.

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