| "Snowbirds Don't Fly" "They Say It'll Kill Me... But They Won't Say When" | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cover of Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (Aug./Sept. 1971), showing Roy "Speedy" Harper (m.) preparing to shoot heroin in front of a shocked Hal Jordan (l.) and his guardian Green Arrow (r.). Art by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Publication date | August/September – October/November 1971 |
| Genre | |
| Title(s) | Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85–86 |
| Main character(s) | Hal Jordan; Green Arrow; Speedy; Black Canary |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Dennis O'Neil |
| Penciller(s) | Neal Adams |
| Inker(s) | Neal Adams, Dick Giordano |
| Editor(s) | Julius Schwartz |
"Snowbirds Don't Fly" is a two-part anti-drug comic book story arc which appeared in Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues 85 and 86, published by DC Comics in 1971. The story was written by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams, with the latter also providing the art with Dick Giordano. It tells the story of Green Lantern and Green Arrow, who fight drug dealers, witnessing that Green Arrow's ward Roy "Speedy" Harper is a drug addict and dealing with the fallout of his revelation. Considered a watershed moment in the depiction of mature themes in DC Comics,[1] the tone of this story is set in the tagline on the cover: "DC attacks youth's greatest problem... drugs!"
- ^ McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1970s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
It was taboo to depict drugs in comics, even in ways that openly condemned their use. However, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams collaborated on an unforgettable two-part arc that brought the issue directly into Green Arrow's home, and demonstrated the power comics had to affect change and perception.