Hawkeye #1 (September 1983)

With the Christmas season here, I thought it would be nice to give the gift of another comic review. I was wondering what to look at, until I watched the Hawkeye miniseries on Disney+. Since it was basically an MCU Christmas special, I thought...why not talk about a comic focusing on the Avenging Archer for the week of Christmas? Well, that and my lack of Christmas-themed comics.

Hawkeye, like many of Marvel's most famous superheroes, has a long history. Clinton Francis Barton first appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 (September 1964). He started out as an antagonist of Iron Man's, but eventually became a full-on hero, joining the Avengers. He would have a long history with the group, even eventually becoming leader of the Avengers' West Coast offshoot. 

He's also had his fair share of solo spotlight. The comic we're looking at here is the first issue of his first miniseries from 1983. He would go on to have several more miniseries after this, and even a couple of attempts at ongoing series. With that out of the way, let's look at Hawkeye #1!

The cover is a Mark Gruenwald and Brett Breeding piece. Yes, you heard that right. Mark Gruenwald was more known as a writer, but he did do fill-in pencil work back in the early 80s on various titles. It's a good cover, if a bit basic. It depicts our man Clint on a factory tower (I think), ready to fire an arrow.

"Listen to the Mockingbird"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Mark Gruenwald
Inker: Brett Breeding
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Hawkeye having a bit of fun with a brand-new toy of his at his place of employment at the time, Cross Technological Enterprises.

Page 2, Panel 3

Introducing Hawkeye's Sky-Cycle. This little vehicle would be associated with the character, with him using these vehicles in his later time with the West Coast Avengers. The Avenging Archer spots three men skulking around the area and uses three arrows to dispatch them all at once: A bola arrow, a net arrow, and a glue arrow.

It turns out these three men were CTE men, helping Clint test out his new vehicle. One of the men is the vehicle's designer, Jorge Latham. Barton is happy with Latham's work on the Sky-Cycle. One of the men asks why Hawkeye uses a bow and arrow when a gun would easier and deadlier. Well, as it's shown, a bow is quieter, and in Clint's hand is much more versatile. One of the men tries to pull back the string on Clint's bow but finds he can't do it. A bit of foreshadowing...

It's here that a lady named Sheila Danning enters the scene.

Page 5, Panel 8

Danning is CTE's Public Relations director, and Clint's paramour. The two head back to Clint's pad, and the two share a dance. It's here we get a recap of Clint's origins and past. He and Sheila are about to start making out when Clint gets a call. There's someone skulking around the CTE campus. Clint intercepts them.

Page 12, Panel 1

It's Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird! You may remember her from my look at Astonishing Tales #17 (April 1973). She and Clint tussle, with Bobbi revealing that she's here because she believes that CTE is developing components for a mind-control device. And Clint's unaware of it. The lights go on, and a bunch of CTE security men appear, and Clint hands her off to them. As he heads back to his home, Clint finds himself wondering if the former SHIELD agent is on to something. He decides "Eh, wouldn't hurt to check it out."

(shrug)

He gets ambushed by some CTE men. They have the Avenging Archer caught twenty-to-one. But our man was a former Avenger, an elite-level superhero. As such, he shows his skill and training. Taking out the lights, the Battling Bowman uses the darkness and confusion of the CTE men to whittle down the ranks. However, one of the men has a nasty surprise for our man Clint.

Page 17, Panel 8

Yup, they somehow have Sheila hostage. Clint surrenders, refusing to risk his main squeeze's life. They dump him in a tank...that also has Mockingbird in it.

Hawkeye demands the men let Sheila talk to him. However, it turns out that she was in on it, hired to keep Hawkeye distracted. Her relationship with him was all a lie.

The men start filling the vat with industrial waste. Bobbi is all like "Uh, Clint? They're pouring waste on us, we should try to get out of here." However, our man Clint seems to have really been hurt by Sheila's betrayal, as it left him in an emotional low point. Bobbi needs a way to get Clint to help, so she taunts him by claiming that he'd let the Avengers down if he felt bad, too. This makes Clint's blood boil, He uses a rocket-arrow tip, some rope in his boot, and his sky-sled to get him and Bobbi out of there. Clint has some business to take care of. Mainly, a visit to Sheila Danning.

Page 21, Panel 6

Eat yer heart out, Kool-Aid Man! Clint only wants two things: his bow and his quiver. He's furious with Sheila, and he wants to kill her for what she did to him, but...he can't. He doesn't have it in him to kill her...and he really doesn't care. He doesn't care what CTE is up to, he just wants his stuff and to leave. As he flies off, Sheila tells Hawkeye that he knows too much, and CTE will not let him walk away. The story ends with Hawkeye flying off with Bobbi, Clint blaming her for all of this.

This is a pretty good issue. It did a fine job tearing down Hawkeye's status quo at that point, and it feels like Gruenwald wanted to give the character a bit of a "fresh start", as it were. It is amusing that this company that is up to no good would hire a superhero to work security, though. They must not have thought Hawkeye was that bright, I guess. I did feel Sheila's betrayal was a bit sudden, though.

I knew Gruenwald more as a writer than a penciler, and I have to admit, I find his pencil work rather nice to look at. I think he's underrated as an artist. He does some clever things with panel layout, like when Clint and Bobbi are trapped in the waste vat. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2012 trade paperback Avengers: Hawkeye. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!