Who are the creators of Arrow?

If you love the TV series, you may well wonder where it came from! Well, the story of Arrow dates back much further than you may think - way back into comic book culture some decades ago in fact.

The two 'parents' who first brought Arrow into being are none other than Mort Weisinger and George Papp, who died in 1978 and 1989 respectively. How are they continuing to enthrall the hearts and minds of a generation of TV viewers? let's delve into their biographies to find out.

Papp was a comic book artist, whilst Weisinger was a comic book editor perhaps best known for editing the world famous Superman series from DC Comics. (You all knew that Arrow was based on a comic book, right? Right. Well, if not, you do now!). A match made in heaven perhaps? You bet it was!

Weisinger was born in the Bronx, and he showed a love of editing from an early age. You see, he was the editor of his school's newspaper (his school was, if you would like to know, New York University). A period of army service interrupted his first 'real' job outside college. This job was at nothing other than DC Comics (which at the time was known as National Periodicals).

Weisinger became most famous for his work editing Superman. But, fellow workers were not without their criticisms of him, chief among them being the complaint that he liked to dictate to writers and artists what the storylines would be...

Want a fun fact about Weisinger? He was known to be totally obsessed with beauty pageants - you know, Miss World and the like. Can you see any traces of this love in the Arrow TV series?

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen in Arrow

What about Papp? Well, he and Weisinger worked together at DC Comics. Papp was known for titles like Superboy and Congorilla. He also worked on the Superman series that we have already heard so much about in relation to Weisinger. Green Arrow (on whom Arrow is based) was created by Papp and Weisinger together.

Given Weisinger's propensity to dictate storylines and manage small details of a comic book's plot and characterization, you might be forgiven for wondering just how well Papp and Weisinger got along. However, surely we can all agree that the Green Arrow character is one of the most intriguing and enduring figures to emerge from DC Comics!

Want a fun fact about Papp? Well, actually, here's a fact that wasn't so fun for him at the time. Papp was actually fired from DC Comics in 1968. His crime? Campaigning with some other employees for health and retirement benefits.

If you want to see something really cool, why not check out one of Papp's most famous comics: 'Superboy Meets the Young Green Arrow'? See Green Arrow when he was green in another sense - immature - meeting up with another cool creation by Papp.

And, in general, we definitely recommend that all die hard Green Arrow fans take a look at the comics that this TV series is based on. You will notice all kinds of hidden references, in jokes, and character twists if you do so....