|
|
 |
He’s been an archer, a giant, a ninja, and an overall brash, hot-headed hero, but through it all, Clint Barton has remained a big part of Avengers lore since his debut in the pages of Iron Man. However, despite how interesting this normal character who became a hero was, he never had his own solo title. Until the late, great Mark Gruenwald pitched an idea for a mini-series back in 1983. Hawkeye was finally given a time to shine and shine he did. This collection brings together that defining mini-series, as well as other seminal moments in the career of Hawkeye and Mockingbird.
-Hawkeye #’s 1-4- This four-issue mini-series sees Hawkeye go through a very important character change, one that would forever change him. He starts out on his own as security for a corporation. He’s down on his luck in love but thinks he’s found the one in a girl he meets at work. Their date goes well until Mockingbird breaks into his company and Hawkeye goes to look in on it. She tells him things aren’t on the up and up there and he’s too curious to not look in further. What he finds confirms what Mockingbird said and gives him a terrible shock, the girl that he was going out with was used as a decoy to keep him away from the dastardly plans of the company. Hawkeye and Mockingbird are captured, but escape. Then they must face off against the goons that are sent after them, including a guy named Silencer, and a duo named 8-Ball and Bombshell. 8-Ball and Bombshell capture Mockingbird and Hawkeye, who are becoming closer, and bring them to Crossfire, the man behind it all. There’s a funny moment where Crossfire tells Hawk and Mock his plans and Mark kind of pokes fun at how these bad guys always divulge their secrets. His plan is really ridiculous but its just there to set up Hawkeye saving them both and the two eloping by issue’s end. Mark Gruenwald wrote and penciled this and it does a great job of showing a down on his luck Hawkeye meeting, and then falling for, Mockingbird. Even though it is over 20 years old, I’d still say this is the best Hawkeye has ever been written by a creator. Great mini-series.
The rest of the material serves two purposes for this collection. It not only adds pages to what would otherwise be a small hardcover (about 100 pages), but it fleshes out the characters. It provides the actual comics that were referenced in the mini-series, from Hawkeye’s first appearance to Mockingbird’s first appearance to a seminal Hawkeye solo fight to an important Mockingbird story we heard about in the main mini-series.
-Tales of Suspense #57- I reviewed this one back in the Iron Man Omnibus, so I’m just gonna copy & paste. This was done by the great combo of Stan Lee and Don Heck. Tony and Pepper head to a fair when Iron Man must step in to stop a Ferris wheel from falling. A marksman sees this and is jealous. He dons a suit, names himself Hawkeye and says he will get attention, too. On his first night out he stops a burglar, then he’s accused of the crime! He runs off into the car of Black Widow, who promises to help him. Black Widow sends Hawkeye out to fight Iron Man, but Iron Man gets the better of him. Black Widow is knocked out in the process so Hawkeye saves her and runs off. This would be the last full-length solo Iron Man story in these pages.
-Marvel Super-Action #1- This is a black and white comic, with a script by Mike Friedrich and art by the team of George Evans and Frank Springer. It’s Bobbi Morse (or Bobby, depending on the page her name appears) breaks up a SHIELD operation due to a lot of under-handed things going on in the company. That’s really about it. It’s the first appearance of Mockingbird so it warrants an inclusion in here.
-Avengers #189- This is written by Steven Grant and illustrated by the great John Byrne. I thought this was in here because it is a solo Hawkeye story, but really it is in this issue that he leaves the Avengers (or is put on inactive duty) and gets his job at Cross, which leads right into his mini-series. He also fights Deathbird his first night on the job as Cross’ security. I love how this one ties into the mini-series as well.
-Marvel Team-Up #95- This was basically Spider-Man &, since all the titles featured Spider-Man and someone else. In this case, that someone else is Mockingbird. Steven Grant wrote this, and the team of Jimmy Janes and Bruce Patterson drew it. Basically, Mockingbird busts up another crooked SHIELD operation, Fury finds out and is on her side but miscommunication leads to Mockingbird getting shot. This was another title referenced in the main mini-series.
-The Bottom Line- The foreword was from 1988 and penned by Gruenwald himself and he’s really detailed in his love of Hawkeye and how the mini-series came about. I thought it was a great intro. The extras included were rather sparse, just the covers from the various trade paperbacks of the mini-series, the Official Handbook entries for Hawkeye and Mockingbird, and that’s it. I have to say, one of the great things about this hardcover is that not only do you get THE Hawkeye tale, you get all the relevant comics that led up to this mini-series. I know that they needed “filler” to spruce up this collection but at least there was thought put into what they chose to put on this collection. If you love Hawkeye, you need to own this collection. Even if you don’t, it’s the definitive Hawkeye tale and the mini-series more than stands up on its own.
|
|
|
|
|
Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
|
|
|
|