Mia Dearden is a teenage runaway who was abused by her father. Unable to survive on her own, she fell in love with a man who offered her shelter and food in exchange for exploiting her in his child prostitution ring. Dearden was rescued from one of her clients, a depraved local politician, by the hero
Green Arrow. During her time on the island, Mia trained in new styles of fighting and healing, and developed her teamwork with Green Arrow. While searching the world alongside Black Canary and Green Arrow for Connor Hawke, who was kidnapped by the League of Assassins after an attack on Green Arrow, Dearden met and became attracted to a young British vigilante known as Dodger. Throughout the mission, Speedy and Dodger worked together, this partnership culminating in Dodger asking Dearden out on a
date. After Connor's rescue, Dearden moved to London to pursue a romance with Dodger; however, the two eventually broke up and Dearden returned to the United States. She returned in a black costume, visually differentiating her from Green Arrow and Red Arrow (the new alias of Roy Harper). During the
Blackest Night storyline, Speedy briefly traveled to
Coast City with Connor in order to fight off the
Black Lantern invasion. She and Connor rescued Black Canary from Green Arrow, who had been transformed into a Black Lantern by
Nekron. They returned to Star City following the end of
Blackest Night. During the events of
Justice League: Cry for Justice, Dearden is babysitting Roy Harper's daughter Lian, but is called away when the
Electrocutioner is sighted planting bombs, created by
Prometheus, in Star City, which are intended to move Star City to an alternate universe. The bombs, however, do not teleport the city but instead begin destroying it. To Dearden's horror, the bombs destroy their home and kill Lian. This leads directly to the storyline of
Rise and Fall. In
Rise and Fall, Speedy helps out Green Arrow after the Justice League attempts to capture him for killing Prometheus. While Green Arrow distracts the League, Speedy kidnaps the Electrocutioner and brings him to their hideout beneath Star City. Though Speedy begs Green Arrow for the chance to kill Electrocutioner, he convinces her that murder is not the answer, and takes Electrocutioner into custody. Following Electrocutioner's arrest, Dearden attends Lian's funeral alongside a number of prominent heroes, including her former teammates from the Teen Titans. During the service, Mia is attacked by Harper, who angrily blames her for Lian's death. Though
Ravager intervenes and eventually causes Harper to leave, Dearden is left visibly shaken by his accusations. Alongside
Damian Wayne and a group of other ex-Titans, Speedy aids the then-current team of Teen Titans during their battle against Superboy-Prime and the
Legion of Doom. During the battle, she and Ravager work together to successfully take down
Persuader.
The New 52 In September 2011,
The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the character is first mentioned in the
Green Arrow storyline
"Kingdom" when a mysterious individual tortures a man for information on the whereabouts of Mia Dearden, whom he somehow considers to be more of a threat to him than the Green Arrow. She is only shown in a picture. She says that her father, John King, is after her. ==Powers and abilities==