Golden Archer
| Golden Archer | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | (Earth-712) Avengers #85 (Feb. 1971) |
| Created by | Roy Thomas and John Buscema |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Wyatt McDonald |
| Team affiliations |
Squadron Supreme America Redeemers |
| Notable aliases | Hawkeye, Black Archer |
| Abilities |
Skilled archer, Wields various trick arrows |
| Marvel Comics Alternate Universes | |
|---|---|
| Marvel stories take place primarily in a mainstream continuity called the Marvel Universe. Some stories are set in various parallel, or alternate, realities, called the Marvel Multiverse. | |
| The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Worlds 2005 designates the mainstream continuity as "Earth-616", and assigns other Earth numbers to each specific alternate reality. | |
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| In this article the following characters, or teams, and realities are referred to: | |
| Character/Team | Universe |
| Golden Archer | Earth-712 |
Golden Archer (Wyatt McDonald) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A member of the Squadron Supreme, the character exists in the universe of that team, an alternate universe to Marvel's main shared universe, the Marvel Universe.
Although he was a Marvel Comics character, he was an analogue of the DC Comics hero Green Arrow. He has also gone by the codenames Hawkeye and Black Archer.
The Avenger Hawkeye of the Marvel Universe also briefly used the costumed identity of the Golden Archer.[1]
Publication history
The Golden Archer first appeared in Avengers #85 (Feb. 1971), and was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema
The name "Golden Archer", in conjunction with the character's last name, is a pun on the restaurant chain McDonald's' well-known logo, the "Golden Arches".
Squadron Supreme
Early life
Wyatt McDonald, an Australian cab driver in his civilian guise, was a master archer with a large selection of specialized trick arrows. He originally began his career as a masked superhero under the identity of Hawkeye. He developed a relationship with Linda Lewis (a.k.a. Lady Lark), a former vocalist whose vocal cords had been altered by the criminal mastermind Dr. Decibel. Together they fought crime in the city of New Babylon, eventually gaining enough fame to draw the attention of the Squadron Supreme, who invited them to the team early on in that team's history.
Alongside the Squadron Supreme, he encountered the Avengers the Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Goliath II. The two superhero teams fought together against Brain-Child.[2] Wyatt later settled in on his more well known persona as the Golden Archer. Alongside the Squadron, he fell under the influence of the Serpent Cartel and battled the Avengers. He was freed from the Serpent Cartel's control and turned against them.[3] Alongside the Squadron, he was mind-controlled by the Overmind. The Squadron was freed by the Defenders, and then the two superhero teams battled the Overmind and Null, the Living Darkness.[4]
Utopia Project
The Golden Archer joined in the Squadron's decision to take control of the United States to implement the "Utopia Program," and with the rest of the team publicly revealed his secret identity.[5] Wyatt was captured, and nearly executed by vigilantes.[6]
During the Utopia Project, McDonald's relationship with Lewis became strained as she developed romantic feelings for fellow Squadron member Blue Eagle. Wyatt proposed to Linda, but she rejected him. In order to save his relationship with her, McDonald used a cerebral inhibitor to instill a near-irrational obsession in Lewis' mind for McDonald.[7] However, he couldn't stand being around her so he took a walk and ended up being captured by the Squadron's enemies, the Institute of Evil.
The Institute tortured the Archer into revealing the location of the Squadron's new base of operations. The Institute kidnapped the Squadron's family members and attacked the Squadron's lair. They subdued Tom Thumb and began ambushing and behavior modifying (B-Moding) the Squadron as they returned from their missions. The Whizzer escaped and retrieved an automatic pistol seized by the police. (the Utopia Project eliminated conventional firearms and the weapons of the police and military were replaced with stunning "Pacifier Pistols").The B-Moded Squadroners protected the Institute of Evil members when the Whizzer returned to attack. The Squadron then subdued and B-Moded the Whizzer.
The Institute then took the B-Moded Squadron to their lair where the Golden Archer and their captive family members were. There the Squadron then surprised the Institute with a counterattack, defeating the Institute completely. When Squadron leader Hyperion asked Tom Thumb why the B-Mod machine didn't work on them, Tom Thumb said that he programmed the B-Mod machine with the Squadron's brain patterns (after the Archer used the machine on Lady Lark) so it couldn't be used against them. (Tom Thumb kept the Golden Archer's abuse of the machine a secret.)[8]
During the investigation of how the Institute of Evil learned the Squadron's secrets, the Golden Archer admitted what he had done. The Squadron took a vote on what to do with the Archer. Four of the Squadron were in favor of performing no disciplinary treatment (feeling his shame and regret were enough), one voted for B-Moding him, and four members were in favor of expelling the Archer. Leaving Hyperion with deciding vote, Hyperion ruled that the Golden Archer was to be expelled.[9] The Institute of Evil members were B-Moded and inducted in into the Squadron.
After the Golden Archer's injuries healed, the Golden Archer changed his name to the Black Archer, became a freedom fighter, and joined the Redeemers, a team founded by Nighthawk to oppose the Squadron's near dominance of the entire globe.[10] In an all out battle between the two teams, the Black Archer shattered Doctor Spectrum's Power Prism, but Blue Eagle fatally fractured the Archer's skull with his mace. The Archer was cryogenically frozen in the hopes of one day being restored to life.[11]
Powers and abilities
The Golden Archer has no superhuman powers, but was a superb archer with nearly perfect accuracy. He used a customized double-recurve bow, with conventional arrows and a wide variety of "trick-arrows," including sonic, explosive-tipped, magnesium flare, smoke, tear-gas, suction-tip, cable, bola, electrified, net, parachute, and many others. He was a good hand-to-hand combatant, trained by Nighthawk.
He also wore a protective force field belt, as a Squadron member, designed by Tom Thumb.
Supreme Power
A new version of Golden Archer has yet to appear in the Supreme Power series, itself an updated version of Squadron Supreme. However, according to the Supreme Power: Hyperion miniseries, the world will someday include an African-American superhero called Black Archer.
References
External links
- Marvel Heroes Classic Roleplaying Game page on Golden Archer
- http://marvel.com/universe/Black_Archer_%28Earth-712%29
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