Speedy

17 years ago - Mia Dearden is born.

7 years ago - 10-year-old Mia runs away from her abusive home & winds up in a child prostitution ring.

5 years ago - 12-year-old Mia is saved by Oliver Queen. She starts her counseling, and begins training with Connor Hawke.

3 years ago - 14-year-old Mia discovers that she is HIV positive. She asks to join Connor Hawke as the new Speedy. Realizing what she needs he agrees.

2 years ago - 15-year-old Mia & Connor Hawke fight OMAC equipped soldiers while Felicity Smoak hacks the Brother Eye AI that is taking over systems in Star City. She later joins the Teen Titans.

1 year ago - 16-year-old Mia goes to the Homeworld of the Titans of Myth with all the surviving Titans to save Donna Troy. Roy Harper gives her his old quiver.

Mia Dearden wasn't specifically created to be a superhero. She was a street kid and perpetual victim created by Kevin Smith during his extremely popular Green Arrow series that returned Oliver Queen to the book. She was meant to be something that helped return him to himself, a new ward for him to focus on. It wasn't until Judd Winick introduced the idea that she was HIV positive that she was able to convince Oliver to allow her to become a hero in her own right. She didn't get much time in the spotlight before she was wiped out of continuity by the new 52, but during that time she became a member of the Teen Titans and a promising new figure in the Green Arrow mythos.

It's also really important to point out that Mia is as close as the regular continuity gets to Artemis, a fan favorite character from the Young Justice animated series. Artemis is based on Justice Society villain Tigress. It doesn't really track to include this alternate version of Artemis in a world that already includes Mia, retired hero Arrowette, and a character already called Artemis. Still, Mia is a fantastically complex and likable character and having her on the Titans and on team Arrow is awesome.

Speedy's Comic History

Mia appeared for the first time in issue #2 of 2001's Green Arrow, a wildly popular series written by Kevin Smith in one of his earliest excursions into writing comics. The book was built to reintroduce Olliver Queen after his death in 1995. Mia, for her part, didn't quite seem to be created to be a superhero. She was obviously intended to be a great sidekick, Oliver even referred to her by the nickname speedy, but she was clearly built to ground the book in realism, to give him someone to fight for, who would call him on his nonsense. Her story was a rough one; as the book begins she was a teenage runaway and sex worker caught up in a cycle of abuse, but fron her very first appearance we got to see her quickly claim agency over her own story and fight for herself.

A few years later writer Judd Winnick, who is often responsible for bringing greater visibility to real-world issues to comics, revealed that Mia was H.I.V. positive. This was the catalyst for her to finally, definitively suit up as Speedy. She proved herself thoroughly, and quickly became a new member of the Teen Titans. She was removed from continuity fairly soon after in the New 52, but for a while there, she was a promising new figure in the Green Arrow mythos.

Our Mia Story

There is so much to love about Mia. Green Arrow has a pretty complex legacy, and the way she stepped into that family and earns her place is just so satisfying. Also, there is something truly inspiring about Mia's journey. She represents an almost unheard of bit of representation as an H.I.V. positive superhero, and it'd practically be a crime not to include her.

Our story happens to feature a grand new chapter being started with Connor Hawke stepping into his father's shoes as the new Green Arrow, and it works exceptionally well to have him be the one to induct Mia into her role as a superhero. It's important for her to be solely responsible for saving herself, but Ollie is the one who empowered her to do it, and it's Connor that makes the call that she deserves the same chance to make a difference.

Speedy was present for some major story arcs in the Teen Titans history, but was largely just in the background since she just didn't have a lot of time to establish herself. Thankfully, there's been a version of the Titans that heavily featured a variant of the role Mia would play.

Young Justice's Artemis

The beloved character Artemis that appeared in the animated Young Justice series was an amalgam of several other characters. The classic Young Justice comic included Arrowette, but the animated series filled the role with Artemis Crock, who up until that point was Tigress, the Justice Society Villain. Artemis in the cartoon would go on to use her comic moniker. The sheer popularity of this character suggests that there should be some way to translate her into our Continuity, but the characters she's based on will be used elsewhere.

The best way to use this unique character from the animated series is that it gives us a fantastic model to follow. Thanks to Artemis, We know exactly how Mia will fit into the Titans.

Speedy's Costume

Mia wasn't really in continuity as Speedy long enough for a truly definitive version of her costume to be established. The broad strokes were clear, but the exact proportions and colors never quite settled into a clear design. Personally, I think the best she ever looked was on the cover of Green Arrow #46, only her second ever appearance in-costume. (I used that image at the top of this page). The costume is simple red, with it's yellow arrowhead design, and the hood and cape all have a clean, pointed silhouette.

One cool element that isn't present in this image but that you do pick up elsewhere (particularly in her appearance in Teen Titans by Mike Mckone) is the long wisp of hair peeking out of the front of her hood, as opposed to the little fringe of bangs you see otherwise. There are, for some reason, a lot of blonde female heroes her age (Supergirl, Wondergirl, Stargirl), so I actually prefer to think of her as more of a redhead, if for no reason than to tie her to the original Speedy.

Speedy's Future

The comics didn't give us a lot of Mia's Speedy, but it's very clear that there is space on her generations Titans for exactly her type of super-heroics. She's joining the team only a year after the core membership of Tim, Connor, Cassie & Bart. She's going to be able to forge her role both among the Titans, and as a trusted partner with Connor Hawke.

As we move into the future, she's going to continue to be a part of the small family that makes up her Titans team, and will become a member of their new Young Justice team when it forms. On her own, as she becomes an adult, you get the very real sense that there is a larger heroic role for her on the horizon. I imagine that, on the day she chooses to adapt into a new identity all her own, it's going to be a very cool one.

The world we live in now is very different for people living with H.I.V. than the one this character was created in. A person like Mia who keeps herself at the absolute pinnacle of fitness and has access to the best treatments has a good chance at living a full, healthy life. It's cool that we get a superhero to show us that.

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