Speedy (Mia Dearden)

Speedy
Mia Dearden as depicted in Justice League: Cry of Justice #7 (March 2010). Art by Ibraim Roberson.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	as Mia Dearden: Green Arrow (vol. 3) #2 (May 2001) as Speedy: Green Arrow (vol. 3) #44 (January 2005)
Created by	Kevin Smith Phil Hester
In-story information
Alter ego	Mia Dearden
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Teen Titans Team Arrow Justice League
Abilities	Expert archer and markswoman Utilizes various compound bows and trick arrows Skilled martial artist, acrobat, and swordswoman

Mia Dearden is a

Mia Dearden appeared in Smallville, portrayed by Elise Gatien. A loose adaptation, Thea Queen, appeared on the Arrowverse television series Arrow, portrayed by Willa Holland.

Fictional character biography

Mia Dearden is a teenage runaway who was abused by her father. Unable to survive on her own, she fell in love with a man who offered her shelter and food in exchange for exploiting her in his child prostitution ring. Mia was rescued from one of her clients, a depraved local politician, by the costumed hero

in martial arts and forges a close friendship with him. Mia continually petitioned Green Arrow to allow her to serve as his sidekick, but Oliver demurred, not wanting to put another teenager at risk.

Mia appeared in Green Arrow as a supporting character until 2004, when writer

. While Robin beat Speedy, Mia proved herself to be a very skilled fighter and worthy Titan. Shortly after her first official mission with the Titans, she revealed to the team that she was HIV-positive. They accepted her without question or fear.

The first Speedy,

; however, he was able to escape almost immediately, apparently through his super-strength.

After the events of Infinite Crisis, Mia recuperated from injuries on an island with Green Arrow and Connor, returning approximately a year later.^[4] In her time on the island, Mia trained in new styles of fighting and healing, and on working as a team with Green Arrow.

Jason Todd, the former partner of Batman, kidnaps Dearden. Jason believed he and Speedy shared similarities, though he kidnapped her to retaliate against Batman's interference in his gun smuggling operation. By involving Green Arrow, he was trying to show Batman the price of enlisting others into their conflict. Jason took Speedy to Smith O'Neil High School, where the former Robin untied her so that they could fight. Jason commented on how alike they were, living on the streets and having to do bad things in order to survive. He was also aware of her past and situations with her family, as a prostitute, and her HIV status. Jason defeated Speedy, but allowed her to escape after telling her that neither Batman nor the Green Arrow would ever understand him, but that she would. Afterward, he blew up the school and left. Despite her vehement denial, Jason's words have apparently affected Mia on some level.

In the months since this event, things for Mia and the rest of her family have been in a constant state of upheaval. It all began when Green Arrow proposed to the Black Canary. After a ceremony in

.

After Connor's rescue, Mia moves to London to pursue a romance with Dodger, although she eventually returns from London, having broken up with Dodger since she found him 'snogging' the actress Emma Watson. She returns just in time to save Black Canary during a battle and to witness Ollie leaving. She returns in a costume of black with black arrows, differentiating her from the green costume that Ollie wears and the red that Roy sports as Red Arrow.

During the

They return to Star City following the end of Blackest Night.

During the events of Justice League: Cry for Justice, Mia is babysitting Roy Harper's daughter Lian, but is called away when the Electrocutioner is sighted planting bombs created by Prometheus in Star City, which are intended to move Star City to an alternate universe. The bombs, however, do not teleport the city but instead begin destroying it. To Mia's horror, the bombs destroy their home and kill Lian.^[6] This leads directly to the storyline of Rise and Fall.

In the Rise and Fall storyline, Mia helps out Green Arrow after the Justice League attempts to capture him for killing Prometheus. While Green Arrow distracts the League, Mia kidnaps the Electrocutioner and brings him to their hideout beneath Star City.^[7] Though Mia begs Green Arrow for the chance to kill Electrocutioner, he convinces her that killing is not the answer, and takes Electrocutioner into custody.^[8] Following Electrocutioner's arrest, Mia attends Lian's funeral alongside a number of prominent heroes, including her former teammates from the Teen Titans. During the service, Mia is attacked by Roy, who angrily blames her for getting Lian killed. Though Ravager intervenes and eventually causes Roy to leave, Mia is left visibly shaken by his accusations.^[9]

Alongside Damian Wayne and a group of other ex-Titans, Mia aids the then-current team of Teen Titans during their battle against Superboy-Prime and the Legion of Doom.^[10] During the battle, she and Ravager work together to successfully take down Persuader.^[11]

The New 52

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the character is first mentioned in the Green Arrow storyline "Kingdom" when a mysterious individual tortures a man for information on the whereabouts of Mia Dearden, whom he somehow considers to be more of a threat to him than the Green Arrow. She is only shown in a picture.^[12] She says that her father, John King, is after her.^[13]

Powers and abilities

Mia possesses no

Connor Hawke, who relies on simple wooden shafts, like Oliver, Mia employs trick arrows. In addition to a bow, Mia is also proficient in the use of a crossbow, much to Oliver's dismay. Although Mia is a skilled street fighter, Connor Hawke and Black Canary also taught her many forms of martial arts such as Krav Maga, Kenjustu and self-defense prior to taking up the mantle of "Speedy". One year after Infinite Crisis

, she expanded her training on an island with Connor and, like her mentor, is now an expert in sword combat.

Mia is HIV-positive and, as such, she takes antiretroviral drugs with all the attendant side effects. Due to her condition, she also has to be very careful when injured in combat.

In other media

Television

• Mia Dearden appears in
  Oliver Queen finds Dearden and attempts to take her under his wing, but she betrays him to a criminal she owes money to. With Lois Lane's help, Queen rescues Dearden. In the episode "Disciple", Dearden is kidnapped by Vordigan before she is rescued by Queen and Clark Kent
  , during which she discovers the former's secret identity and becomes his protégée.
• Characters inspired by Mia Dearden appear in Arrow:
  • A loose interpretation named
    Malcolm Merlyn and half-sister of Oliver Queen
    . Throughout the series, she used "Mia" as an alias and eventually goes on to join Team Arrow as Speedy.
  • A separate character named
    Mia Smoak (portrayed by Katherine McNamara) appears as Queen's future daughter from 2040 who takes on the mantle of the Green Arrow while helping him avert a "Crisis
    ".

Miscellaneous

The Smallville incarnation of Mia Dearden appears in

Smallville Season 11

.

References

1. ^
   OCLC 213309017
2. ^ Green Arrow (vol. 5) #35 (October 2014).
3. ^ Green Arrow (vol. 3) #45
4. ^ Green Arrow (vol. 3) #64
5. ^ Black Lantern Green Arrow
6. ^ Justice League: Cry for Justice #7 (March 2010)
7. ^ Green Arrow #31 (March 2010)
8. ^ Green Arrow #32 (April 2010)
9. ^ Justice League: Rise of Arsenal #2
10. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #99
11. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #100
12. ^ Green Arrow Vol. 5 #35 (October 2014)
13. ^ Green Arrow Vol. 5 #37 (December 2014)

Sources

• Speedy (DC)(Post Crisis)(02 - Mia Dearden) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Mia Dearden (DC)(Post Flashpoint) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)