Issue(s): Avengers #65
Cover Date: Jun 69
Title: "Mightier than the sword?"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Sam Grainger - Inker

Review/plot:
Egghead hires the Swordsman to kidnap Goliath (Egghead speaks in Shakespeare quotes this whole issue, which is really annoying.).

Part of his payment is info that Clint Barton is Hawkeye. Neither knows that Clint is now Goliath; Egghead thinks that he is ordering Swordsman to capture Henry Pym.

The Swordsman defeats the Avengers way too easily...

...in part because Hawkeye is fighting his teammates as much as the Swordsman...

...since he wants to fight alone and go after Egghead alone because Egghead killed his brother. Swordsman brings Hawkeye to Egghead and then Swordsman and Egghead fight because Swordsman brought the wrong Goliath.

Then Clint wakes up and defeats both of them.

And so the Evil Alliance crossover ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. It was a cool idea, and you can tell from the footnote in Captain Marvel #14 that the idea was to get readers to buy all of the titles involved, so you can see the germination of the official crossover idea, but it didn't really seem well coordinated. Still, i'm surprised that Marvel didn't do more with the idea sooner.

The issue opens with a cool two page sequence showing the Swordsman leaping into action. It's derivative of Steranko, and it might be a bit of a space waster, but i still think it looks nice.

This issue also retells Hawkeye's origin where he was a student of the Swordsman in his carnival days. This telling adds Hawkeye's brother Barney to the flashback.

Egghead has to tell Swordsman that Hawkeye is the guy that he used to know. The Swordsman suspected but never confirmed it (even though we've known it since Avengers #19).

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - Hawkeye/Swordsman origin.

Chronological Placement Considerations: As AF notes in the comments, the corpse of Barney Barton is seen in this issue, so this shouldn't occur too long after last issue.

References: N/A

Crossover: Evil Alliance

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Marvel Super Action #26

Well, I guess if Egghead has to tell Swordy that Clint is Hawkeye, that explains how Swordy somehow doesn't recognize that this blond giant should seem real familiar to him. I guess Jacques just really didn't remember the kid's face, the way Clint remembered him. (At least Clint got to see the Swordsman without his mask, way back when; for the entirety of his upcoming year-plus Avenger stint, Jacques never takes it off. Even when kissing Mantis.)

Still, it's waaaaay too precious that Hank Pym's old enemy sends Clint's old enemy to kidnap Hank, just after Hank and Clint have switched identities. There's really no reason that Swordy has to be in the book (instead of the Grim Reaper or whomever) besides the fact that Roy wants to retell Hawkeye's origin with the Barney part now inserted. Oh, well, tying Egghead into Clint as well as Hank will pay off in the 80s when Stern and Englehart are cleaning up the mess that was Shooter's attempted "heel turn" for Hank.

Rather daringly, the story shows Hawk-Goliath taking out Egghead with his giant middle finger, with the sound effect "FLICK." (Comics fans will recall why that word was avoided in the all-caps style of lettering.)

To add to Omar's comment: the name "Clint" (CLINT) was also on that forbidden list. A name that had just been revealed at the end of the previous issue #64 as Hawkeye's real name. ;)

Barney Barton's corpse appears on page 8.

(which might also affect placement, since it suggests basically not much time has past between issues)

Thanks AF. I've added Barney and pushed this back in publication time.