"My name is Oliver Queen. After one week of voting, the Comic Vine community has selected me as their Character of the Month and now I have one goal: to live up to the title. But to do so, I can't simply stand by and accept their praise. To honor the title, I must fight. I must be... in the battle of the week."
Green Arrow's first challenger: Black Widow! The community has been debating and voting on this fight since Monday and one character took a confident lead. Will Natasha's skills as a spy and her onslaught of projectiles put Oliver in his place? Will Ollie's accuracy with arrows defeat the Marvel character? Well, it turns out a decent majority of voters think Green Arrow would be the winner if these two got into a fight!
The Emerald Archer took a comfortable lead, taking in 58% of the votes. Marvel's talented Avenger wasn't totally obliterated, though. She earned 36% and 6% think this fight can honestly go either way. A fight like this is interesting because one good hit from either weapon truly can turn the tide. If Oliver properly uses a trick arrow, it's either going to leave Natalia vulnerable for a moment or two or downright make her struggle to get back up (e.g. explosive). Meanwhile, Black Widow has a few tricks up her sleeve as well and, thanks to her weapons, she could potentially break Oliver's bow or even disable one of his arms with an accurate shot. Then when it comes to physicals and hand-to-hand combat, they are relatively close and good cases were presented which explained that neither really walks all over the other in these qualities. One could dispute that Widow's more tactical and has better stealth capabilities, but it's a matter of thinking how frequently that could benefit her in a scenario where the bullets and arrows are already flying through the air. However, in the end it was Oliver's uncanny accuracy and plethora of trick arrows which earned him the win. He has what it takes to hold his own if the fight gets close, but the huge amount of options he has at his disposal can definitely make a difference if used correctly. There's plenty of trick arrows he can grab with his hand and use in close proximity, too. Now, let's see some of the posts Viners made about this match!
LokiOfAsgard1
"Green Arrow would take it. The new 52 version has improved a lot, especially in h2h. I feel like even if Black Widow's h2h is a little better, Ollie would still win due to better gear."
Dedpool
"GA is good but I have to give it to Widow. On top of her training from the Red Room, she's had all that experience working for SHIELD and Avengers. And people in the Marvel U tend to rub off on each other or at least do more training together. Like Cap trained Stark in hand to hand combat, Spidey learned Kng-Fu from Shang Chi, etc. So I don't think it'd be a stretch to say she's sparred with and traded moves with some of the best combatants in the MU like Cap, Wolverine, Shang Chi and Iron Fist, and most likely Hawkeye. And therein lies my point. She has experience against a very accomplished bowman! So I think in the end Widow would pull out the win."
Owie
"I'm going with Green Arrow here, and I am normally a supporter of Black Widow even when others see her as the underdog. (The popular belief that she has no feats or is a C-lister is not true.)
However, this basically comes down to trick arrows. New 52 Green Arrow is pretty solid in H2H himself, and could give Widow a run for her money even there (although he would eventually lose). However, from 30', he has the advantage. She's got her Widow's bite electrical blast, which could put him down if she connects, but he's a pretty solid dodger and they're not super-great from a distance. She often carries pistols, but again he has a decent chance of dodging and/or only being wounded. Her wristlets also have gas and a grappling line, but she doesn't use them as often and again from a distance they're not as useful.
Meanwhile he has numerous trick arrows, and can get several off in time before closing, or before she goes into stealth. He often shoots multiple arrows at once. So I think the trick arrows will do her in.
Granted that she's a better dodger (by a decent amount) so it's kind of his superior accuracy and good dodging vs her superior dodging and good accuracy. But his weapons have the edge--even given that she's very familiar with the idea of trick arrows from knowing Hawkeye.
If they go to stealth, she's got it then. She's a superior tactician for sure, and better at stealth. But, I don't think it will get to that."
DrThanos91
"Although I am excited for Ollie getting his shot at being in the much deserved and earned spotlight, I say this match is 60 % leaning towards Natty..I'm not ruling out his skills and feats, trust me we all know what the Emerald archers capable of, but I would like to point on in terms of this city being on limits for all usage. Black Widow has the advantage, being a spy she has dealt with situations such as this, her intellect and strategical skills allow her to quickly assess the fight and formulate a way of combating Ollie's arrows and fighting style.
Once again I'm not bashing or saying Ollie has no chance,I am merely saying I consider these a fact to be in her favor."
That's it for this week! Check back Monday for a new fight with Oliver Queen. If you want to suggest a match for an upcoming Battle of the Week for Green Arrow, tell us below or share it via twitter.