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Solo Avengers #1Issue(s): Solo Avengers #1 Hawkeye Mockingbird Mark Gruenwald - Editor Review/plot: The first issue kind of cheats with the format, though, by having both halves being part of the same story by Tom DeFalco. Hawkeye fights some clowns (drawn by M.D. Bright)... ![]() ...while Mockingbird fights some more goons working for the same boss as the clowns (drawn by Jim Lee). ![]() ![]() This is in service of a story that answers the pressing question of, if Hawkeye was originally trained by the Swordsman, why was he taught archery? (Please excuse the Wonder Man hot dog scene if you're not into that sort of thing.) ![]() ![]() The answer will astonish you! ![]() ![]() Hawkeye's "A lie which has returned to haunt me!" is so over the top that all through the second half i was holding out hope that he was just joking. If you want to see the instant replay of that scene, here's Jim Lee's version. ![]() ![]() To me, the question of why the Swordsman taught Hawkeye archery is pretty uninteresting. The answer is because Hawkeye showed an aptitude for archery. Or because the Swordsman figured they didn't need two people doing the same thing. Or because so what? We didn't need to insert something further into Hawkeye's back story. He was already trained by a villain; it's a shocking secret that we already learned. "No wait, not that shocking villain but a different one!" does not make for an exciting twist, and my preference is to avoid unnecessary inserts into a character's backstory whenever possible. Note that this new villain's name is "Trick Shot" (two words), whereas i'll be using "Trickshot" to refer to Hawkeye's (currently dead) brother, who will eventually get trained by this guy. Quality Rating: C- Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP place the Hawkeye stories from Solo Avengers #1-9 all between West Coast Avengers #31-32. Next issue continues the Trick Shot story but takes place a "week" later. References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A
CommentsI'm a hawk-eye fan but I can understand why he'd have trouble headlining a book. I actually like this opening storyline, it has a few twists and turns. The Jim Lee artwork on the Mockingbird story is absolutely amazing (her catching the flaming arrow with her boots is cool). I don't mind Trickshot reconned into Hawk's origin. (Much like Stick being added to Daredevil's it makes more sense that he'd have some training) Swordsman could teach him accuracy but needed a teacher to really help him with bows. In spite of what hollywood thinks, archery is difficult and not some thing you just pick up easily. And they needed some type of "important" storyline to kick this series off. Posted by: kveto from prague | May 19, 2014 4:50 PM Mmm, epic superhero hotdog chowing! Posted by: david banes | May 19, 2014 5:03 PM The problem isn't just "why would Swordsman teach him archery", it's that the Swordsman has never shown any proficiency in archery. Revealing the Swordsman taught Clint archery would be like revealing Bruce Banner taught Jennifer Walters law. Posted by: Michael | May 19, 2014 7:59 PM I read the first few issues on this series real-time, mainly because I loved Bright's artwork back then. I thought it was amusing that Trick Shot was a fatty. You didn't see that in comics a lot, understandably. Yeah you had Kingpin but he was an anomaly due to the whole "fat or muscle" grey area. Plus Doc Ock but his mechanical arms did all of the work. Here you have a guy who's physical but he's also overweight. Posted by: Robert | May 27, 2014 4:37 PM I really liked the concept of this series better than the series itself. I was a Hawkeye fan and I love the idea of seeing the other Avengers (especially those not on the current teams). But a lot of the stories turned out to be rather pedestrian and the art was all over the place. Michael's comment is especially hilarious as I am to this point right as fnord is reviewing MCP and it's clear that fnord would rather be slamming his head against a wall. Posted by: Erik Beck | July 31, 2015 11:51 AM Comments are now closed. |
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