We break down all the links between this week's episode and the comics!

While we provided a pretty comprehensive recap of Arrow’s pilot episode last night, but there were plenty of easter eggs and references to the comic book that we didn’t touch upon. Luckily Arrow Annotations is here to help, providing some additional notes and background info from last night’s episode. While there's not nearly as much to cover this week, the Arrow writers still threw plenty of little easter eggs for readers. Arrow spoilers follow!

Deadshot - Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot, is an iconic villain in the DCU, and is the main antagonist this episode. Deadshot got his start as a Batman villain before getting imprisoned and being conscripted into the US government's Suicide Squad. Deadshot, as shown in this episode, is an expert marksman and typically uses two wrist-mounted guns as his weapons.

In the comics, Deadshot has a deathwish, which leads him to taking on suicidal assassination contracts. However, Deadshot's not totally without morals; when he discovers that he has a young daughter living in Star City, he engages in a one-man extermination project to rid the neighborhood she lives in of crime and supervillains. Deadshot can currently be seen leading a new iteration of the Suicide Squad in the New 52.

This isn't Deadshot's first appearance outside of comics. He appeared in Smallville (oddly wearing cowboy gear), the Justice League cartoon, a Batman: Gotham Knights short, and was the subject of a mission in Batman: Arkham City.

Felicity Smoak - Also making her first appearance is Felicity Smoak, an IT employee working for Queen Industries. In the comics, Smoak is a supporting character of Firestorm, a fiery elemental hero and occasional Justice League member. Smoak is at first antagonistic towards the hero, suing the hero after he inadvertently destroyed a number of discs owned by her software firm. However, the character eventually develops a relationship with Ed Raymond, the father of Firestorm's alter-ego, Ronnie, and eventually forgives and supports the fiery hero.

Yao Fei - Yao Fei, the "Asian Arrow" found on Purgatory Island, is a Chinese superhero and a member of Chinese superteam, the Great Ten. Fei's better known as the Accomplished Perfect Physician and has the ability to control his voice to give him great powers. No clue if the Arrow writers plan on bringing up Fei's history in the show, or if the characters simply share a name.

Alexi Leonov - Alexi Leonov, Oliver's Russian mob contact, shares a name with a famous Russian cosmonaut who conducted the first moonwalk. Needless to say, that's probably an alias.

Andrew Diggle - Diggle's name is prominently displayed on Deadshot's chest. We've already discussed how Andy Diggle is a comic book writer responsible for many of the Green Arrow origin aspects used in the show. As an interesting sidenote, it was mentioned that John Diggle's brother was killed in the line of duty. Could Deadshot be the killer?

Wes Anselm - Wes Anselm is one of the many names appearing on Deadshot's chest. In the 1988 Deadshot miniseries written by John Ostrander, Deadshot learns that his son has been killed by a pedophile named Wes Anselm. The series focuses on Deadshot hunting down those responsible for his son's death.

Andy Haskell - Another name on Deadshot's chest. Haskell was a lawyer who, in the 1988 Deadshot miniseries, helped kidnap Deadshot's son and helped cover up his disappearance. Needless to say, he doesn't survive.

Glen Winter - Another name on Deadshot's chest. Winter is a television director who directed several episodes of Smallville.

Room 52 - The hotel room Deadshot is hiding out in is numbered 52, a rather important number in the DC Universe. The number was first used in the weekly series 52, which gained popular acclaim and ran uninterrupted for a year. For whatever reason, DC fixated on the number and has featured the series prominently in marketing linked to its reboot. Currently, DC publishes 52 ongoing series set in the main DC universe and aggregately calls its comics "The New 52". There are also 52 different alternate universes in the Multiverse.

Big Belly Burger - The Big Belly Burger, the restaraunt where Diggle takes Oliver and Tommy to lick their wounds, is a popular fast food chain in the DC Universe and is a subsidiary of LexCorp, the company of Superman villain Lex Luthor.

Yasemin Soze - Yasemin Soze's name appears in Oliver's book and has a couple of ties with some of the characters in Arrow. Yasemin first appeared in the Birds of Prey series, where she fought Black Canary and the Huntress. Later, she joined the Suicide Squad and fought Deadshot's new team, the Secret Six. Deadshot won in a shootout against Yasemin and killed her.

Marc Piler - Another name appearing in Oliver's book. Piler briefly impersonated Deadshot after stealing the villain's outfit at an airport. After Piler went on a killing spree, Deadshot hunted him down and killed him. However, the image of Deadshot killing himself affects the villain greatly.

Black Canary punching stuff - Laurel's takedown of Max Fuller might come as a surprise to new fans, but in the comics, Lance is an accomplished martial artist and fighter. She's trained many younger heroes how to fight.

Joanna de la Vega - Annie Ilonzeh, the actress playing Laurel's co-worker Joanna, revealed that her character's name is de la Vega. That could be a reference to Gregorio de la Vega, AKA Extrano, the first openly gay superhero in DC Comics. Extrano was a magician and member of the Global Guardians.

Curare - The poison that Deadshot laces his bullets with shares the name of a Batman Beyond villain and the top assassin of the future. It's also used by tribal South Americans to poison their arrows.

And here's two that I missed from last week:

CNRI - CNRI is the name of Laurel's legal aid firm. It's also a hint at Laurel's alter-ego, Black Canary.

Lucas Hilton - Detective Lucas Hilton, Quentin Lance's partner, made a few appearances in Green Arrow and Black Canary, a recent series focused on the married adventures of the two heroes.

So that’s all the comic book references for this week, or at least the ones I caught. Join us next week as we break down Arrow’s ties to the comics!

