I find the comparisons between ARROW and the Dark Knight interesting, as Green Arrow was originally just another Batman knock off when he originally appeared.
He was a millionaire playboy. He had the Arrow Car. The Arrow Plane. The Arrow Cave. He had a teenage ward and sidekick.
He was a happy fun loving trick arrow shooting superhero.
Then in the early 1970s he was reinvented. He lost his fortune. Grew a goatee. Got a way cooler costume. Switched from the Right to the Left. Started dating Black Canary. Went on the road with Green Lantern. Bickered constantly with Hawkman, often calling him a fascist. His sidekick Speedy turned into a heroin junkie. This is to me the classic, definitive Green Arrow.
In the 1980s, Mike Grell took Green Arrow into new, darker, grim and gritty directions. Giving him a new costume which is very similar to the current show. The trick arrows were gone. Ollie was more of a hunter and often used lethal force against his enemies. He was also more fallible. He cheated on Black Canary. Shado became a significant character. Most interesting, in a medium where characters are eternally 29 years old, Ollie was written as an older character, clearly in his 40s.
After Grell departed, Green Arrow sort of went through a turmoil period where DC was not sure what to do with him. Eventually they killed him and replaced him with his son Conner Hawke. Then in 2001 Kevin Smith resurrected Ollie in the excellent Quiver storyline.
I also find it interesting how the tv series is using Wilson Slade aka DEATHSTROKE. As Deathstroke was primarily the antagonist for the New Teen Titans through the 80s and 90s. It was in the recent mini IDENTITY CRISIS that Green Arrow and Deathstroke first faced off against each other (at least as far as I know of....?) and the confrontation was incredible, with Ollie shoving an arrow into Slade's eye! A Classic Comic Book Moment!
So I am very curious what elements the producers of the Arrow show will cherry pick for their new mythology. So far, I am really digging everything they are doing.