Green Arrow and Batman Have the Same Secret Fighting Style
Warning: contains major spoilers for Green Arrow 80th Anniversary Spectacular #1 and Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #5!
Green Arrow and Batman are both highly skilled fighters with a lot in common. Green Arrow 80th Anniversary Spectacular #1 and Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #5 have revealed another similarity between the two. When in combat, both the Dark Knight and the Emerald Archer employ secret strategies that have now come to light.
Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne have generally been known to have a lot in common, although they have disagreed with each other as most heroes do on occasion. Both are billionaire playboys who don't have superpowers. They are both highly skilled in different forms of combat. Naturally, they are also both crime fighters who are part of the Justice League. However, that's not all these two have in common.
In Green Arrow 80th Anniversary Spectacular #1's story "Star City Star" by Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Trish Mulvihill, and Clem Robins, Green Arrow takes on projections of villains he has faced, as well as some heroes he has come at odds with before. One particular moment reveals that he is also known for fighting in an unexpected way - he cheats.
This doesn't necessarily come as a surprise considering how many trick arrows Green Arrow tends to have in his quiver. In their own way, these could be seen as dirty ways of fighting - and he does intend to use them that way, as he reveals here. In this particular instance, he follows up his comment about cheating by shooting off an arrow that lets off a flash of light, blinding his opponent. The ironic aspect here is that he does have numerous trick arrows, but they're so embedded in his character that no one considers them to be cheating. They're part of his skills. Batman doesn't fire trick arrows, but that doesn't make him any less likely to cheat.
Recently, in Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #5, Catwoman told the Dark Knight to cheat when up against a lot of foes. In this comic from the team of Donald Mustard, Christos Gage, Christian Duce, John Kalisz, and Andworld Design, Batman states that he prefers to call cheating "asymmetrical warfare". This isn't entirely surprising since the caped crusader tends to get into some rather uneven fights. By slanting skirmishes in his own direction using asymmetrical warfare, he evens out the field before ultimately gaining an upper hand. This is how Batman's able to regularly go up against foes with physical enhancements and super abilities, even though he doesn't.
Batman and Green Arrow both use somewhat underhanded techniques to get the best of their enemies, which is what lets them be such successful heroes in their corrupt cities. However, Green Arrow will directly admit to it and his method is far more noticeable than the Dark Knight's - despite some adversaries not taking note of it. Batman, on the other hand, is hesitant to call it what it is, but this may allow him to maintain it as an actual strategy with tactical thinking behind it - instead of simply viewing it as a dirty way to attain victory. Batman also seems to be trying to give himself more credit when he calls it by any other name than what it is. Oliver is much more straightforward with the idea, accepting that he needs to be victorious even if it means sinking to a low that many people wouldn't appreciate. Batman and Green Arrow are a couple of cheaters - and they know it - but they also get the job done.