Issue(s): Hawkeye #1, Hawkeye #2, Hawkeye #3, Hawkeye #4
Cover Date: Sep-Dec 83
Title: "Listen to the Mockingbird" / "Point blank!" / "Beating the odds" / "Till death do us part..."
Credits:
Mark Gruenwald - Writer
Mark Gruenwald - Penciler
Brett Breeding / Eliot R. Brown & Dan Bulanadi / Ian Akin, Eliot R. Brown, Dan Bulanadi, & Brian Garvey - Inker
Denny O'Neil - Editor

Review/plot:

Hawkeye gets played by the PR Director at Cross Technological Enterprises, where he works as the chief of security. She pretends to be interested in him in order to distract him from some criminal on-goings.

But he winds up stumbling into the scheme thanks to the appearance of Mockingbird, who was conducting an independent investigation.

They both get captured, and while they manage to escape, CTE goons are still after them.

While on the run, Hawkeye and Mockingbird spend a lot of time together and start to bond.

Meanwhile, they are chased by super-assassins that range from the very cheesy Bombshell and Oddball...

...to the pretty cool Silencer, who doesn't talk at all and seems to absorb sounds; pretty neat power for an assassin.

While on the run, Hawkeye and Mockingbird run into an out-of-costume Captain America hanging out on the subway with Bernie.

Hawkeye declines help, and then there's a neat bit of dialogue:

Mockingbird: God, is he gorgeous. He's one of us, right?
Hawkeye: Yep.
Mockingbird: How come you didn't introduce him to me?
Hawkeye: I forgot.
Hawkeye (thinking to himself): She meets Cap in his civvies and is bowled over. No wonder I always looked like a piker around him. You know, I never realized how second rate Cap makes me feel. I've just got to solve this whole mess on my own. If I don't, I may never be able to stand on my own two feet.

It turns out the whole scheme is masterminded by a guy named Crossfire...

...who has the pretty good idea of killing a relatively weak super-hero (e.g., Hawkeye), and then using the opportunity of the inevitable super-hero filled funeral to unleash his sound waves that cause people to fight each other. He calls it Project Undertaker.

Click to see the big scheme.

To kill Hawkeye, he puts Mockingbird and Hawkeye in a room together and turns on the sound waves, forcing them to fight. There's a cute scene where Hawkeye, fighting on instinct, grabs an imaginary bow and tries to target Mockingbird.

Hawkeye gets out of the trap by using an ultrasonic arrowhead to damage his hearing so that he's immune to the waves.

He's still forced to beat the crap out of Mockingbird, which i guess i'll admit makes me a little uncomfortable.

Later, after the villains are wrapped up (there's a neat scene showing Crossfire trying to use Hawkeye's bow but not being strong enough to pull the string, which actually ties back to an earlier scene in the first issue when a friendly Cross employee tries the same thing)...

Mockingbird approaches Hawkeye and starts hitting on him. But Hawkeye is still completely deaf, so he just nods serenely and wanders off.

An epilogue reveals that Mockingbird actually chased after him and found out that he's deaf. Moreover, the two have eloped and are enjoying a honeymoon in the Poconos. (If you're a super-hero, eloping may possibly be the only way to avoid super-villain attacks at your wedding.)

I'd describe this mini-series as "serviceable". Definitely some fun moments, mostly just middle of the road action stuff.

Slightly modified costume for Hawkeye:

Generally nice art on the series; always a surprise to see Gruenwald on pencils. I like it best with Brett Breeding on inks.

By issue #4 it seems a lot of help had to be brought in.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - Hawkeye & Mockingbird are married; long lasting damage to Hawkeye's hearing

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place between Avengers #234 & 239.

References:

• Hawkeye nearly quit Cross when he discovered one of their Vice Presidents using the facilities to manufacture a bomb in Marvel Fanfare #3, but he was convinced to remain when the VP was fired.
  
• There's a recap of Hawkeye's carnival days. No footnotes, but we learned about that time from Avengers #19 (first appearance of Hawkeye's mentor the Swordsman) and Avengers #64 (the issue that introduces and kills Hawkeye's brother Barney).
  
• Later, a quick recap of Mockingbird's history, from her appearances as a SHIELD agent in the Ka-Zar stories beginning in Astonishing Tales #6, to her brief use of the Huntress identity in Marvel Super Action #1, and her first appearance in Marvel Team-Up #95 as Mockingbird and subsequent injuries that kept her in the hospital for "six months".
  

• Crossfire appeared previously in Marvel Two-In-One #52, fighting the Thing and Moon Knight.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

good stuff from grunwald. i loved this series

Eliot R. Brown later got quite a few fans for his technical drawings of Marvel machinery & equipment, and weapons in the Punisher's armory. He generally didn't work on actual super-hero stories that much.

This mini was first announced with Gruenwald as writer in March 1981.

Which should get the higher historical rating by lasting longer - the marriage or the constant number of times Hawkeye is able to get out of jams by the fact that his hearing is so badly damaged?

And I have no idea why, since they're so similar, but I have always greatly preferred the new costume.

It's the arm guard. It makes a lot more sense than those dumb bicep rings Heck designed him with. An archer who shoots while running should definitely have an arm guard to keep the bow string from tearing up his arm. Yondu has one. And I've always liked the costume Neil Adams gave Green Arrow, which has one on each arm, which I guess means he's ambidextrous.

Great series! Had it when it came out as a kid and made me fall in love with the character.

There is a controversial scene in #2 where Hawk kills The Silencer by dragging him down from a "200 foot perch" as it's called, on top of a smokestack.

You would think Clint and Bobbi could've invited their respective former love interests Black Widow and Ka-Zar to act as witnesses as well as maid of honor and best man. They could have held the ceremony/honeymoon in the Savage Land ( which of course would have led to some sort of disruption and a decent story). Oh well, hindsight 20/20 and all that.

Art looks very similar to that of Bob Layton, at least #1, and there's nothing wrong with that.

You can thank master embellisher Brett Breeding for that look.