Mia Dearden is a DC Comics superheroine, the second character to take the mantle of Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy. Created by writer Kevin Smith and artist Phil Hester, she first appeared in Green Arrow (vol. 3) #2 (May 2001). She is one of the few HIV-positive characters in comic books. In The New 52, a mysterious man is currently searching for Mia. Mia Dearden appeared in Smallville, portrayed by Elise Gatien. A loose adaptation, Thea Queen, appeared on the Arrowverse television series Arrow, portrayed by Willa Holland. Fictional character biography 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. Mia was rescued from one of her clients, a depraved local politician, by the costumed hero Green Arrow, who had just returned from the dead and to Star City. Sent by the Green Arrow to see Oliver Queen (his real identity) for help, Mia saw through Queen's disguise and became his new ward; in time, he sees her as a daughter. Mia continued to work with Oliver, who was busy trying to reconstruct his own life, and after coming upon her crossbow, Ollie began to train her as an archer. In addition, she trains with Oliver's son Connor Hawke in martial arts and forges a close friendship with him. Mia continually petitioned Green Arrow to allow her to serve as his sidekick, but Oliver demurred, not wanting to put another teenager at risk. Mia appeared in Green Arrow as a supporting character until 2004, when writer Judd Winick revealed that she was HIV-positive, a legacy of her exploitation. With this knowledge, Mia redoubled her efforts to convince Green Arrow to let her become the new Speedy, and the Green Arrow finally relented. Mia takes up the mantle of Speedy, and subsequently Oliver decided that she would do well to join the Teen Titans. In order to earn her spot on the team, Cyborg had the new Speedy face off against Robin. While Robin beat Speedy, Mia proved herself to be a very skilled fighter and worthy Titan. Shortly after her first official mission with the Titans, she revealed to the team that she was HIV-positive. They accepted her without question or fear. The first Speedy, Arsenal (Roy Harper), gave