Winick discusses HIV storyline: Comic Book Resources talks with Green Arrow writer Judd Winick about news that supporting character Mia Deardon is revealed as HIV-positive in a new storyline:

"On my watch, and hopefully on the watch of everybody who'll work with DC, there's no intention of having Mia take ill as a result of HIV. She will never die of AIDS related causes on my watch and hopefully on anyone else's watch. The point of this character is she's living with HIV, as many people do. There are people who have been living for 20 years through combination drug therapy and live relatively unencumbered lives. Some people are on the combination drug therapy and it's an enormous hassle and there are tons of side effects and terribly uncomfortable. It runs the gamut. This character is not about Mia dying of AIDS, it's about how she'll be living with HIV as many, many people do.

"We have every intention of Mia living a long and healthy life. Keep in mind that we have DC characters that have been around for 60 years and haven't aged a day. We sort of have to keep them in amber and we just kind of fudge and mess around with things like how did Nightwing grow up? Well, he did and Batman's only about 34 years old!"

"... Let's not forget, she's a superhero. She's HIV positive, but she's not Captain HIV with a big logo across her chest. She's Speedy! She's going to be Green Arrow's sidekick and she's a 17-year-old girl. These are the things that lead as far as I'm concerned. One aspect of her character is she is HIV positive. She takes medication every day, she lives her life and does her thing. Yeah, negative things happen to her, but also, in my opinion, as we point out in the book, it made possible some positive things. Green Arrow would not have allowed her to do this unless she had tested positive. That's what we're coming to. She's able to plead her case better and convince him to allow her to do this because she's HIV positive. It shows just how serious she is."