Prisoners of Dimension Zero!

“Prisoners of Dimension Zero!” is the second part of a two-part story that starts in Adventure Comics #252 (1958) with “The Mystery of the Giant Arrows.” In the first part of the story, giant arrows—at least 50 feet long—come speeding into the city from some unknown source in the sky. It turns out that the giant arrows are being fired by giant other-dimensional children.

When our heroes investigate the giant Cable Arrow, they climb on top and straddle it as somebody on the other side starts pulling it back to its point of origin. The duo gets pulled through a wormhole into another dimension. This is where “Prisoners of Dimension Zero” starts. What happens next is classic Jack Kirby.

The residents of Dimension Zero are described as “at least a mile tall,” but are closer to 50 feet tall. Either way, GA and Speedy are Lilliputian in comparison. Soon they run across an enormous version of Green Arrow himself, Xeen Arrow.

This colossal clone is a skinny blonde humanoid with a large head and pointy ears that wears a green outfit resembling GA’s costume. And he just happens to fight crime with the use of trick arrows. This is Xeen Arrow’s only appearance, which is a bit of a shame. The whole concept of XA and Dimension Zero is fabulous. Did I mention that GA & Speedy communicate with the giant archer via telepathy?

To get the Earthlings home, XA puts them on an arrow and fires it through the closing dimensional portal. GA keeps this giant arrow as a trophy of the adventure.

Xeen Arrow fights crime using his own tricks. His arrows that appear in this story (in order of appearance):

Rope Arrow (A version of this is what brings the heroes to Dimension Zero)
Smoke Screen Arrow (Trails a smoke cloud as it flies)
Chain Arrow (Wraps a length of chain around the target)
Acetylene Arrow (This version uses a “cold, harmless heat” to weld the Chain Arrow closed)
Plastic Net Arrow (wraps target in a sticky, white “gummy substance”)