Arrow Star, Producers Dismiss Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Comparisons

Earlier this season, we ran an article crowning The CW’s Arrow as “the best comic book series on the air,” drawing comparisons to both Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and AMC’s The Walking Dead.While The Walking Dead has a totally different audience and doesn’t often invite easy comparisons to the superhero drama, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which most agree has been a bit disappointing so far this year, has been haunted by comparisons to Arrow all season long.Arrow, fans and critics point out, is leaps and bounds better than it was last year and objectively better than anyone could have expected it to be this year, while expectations for S.H.I.E.L.D. ran so high it was almost impossible to imagine them meeting the bar. The result has been a parade of unfavorable comparisons to Arrow which, while a year older and more established, is also a show on The CW, so operating with significantly less of a budget and less PR support than S.H.I.E.L.D.