Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1 Writer: Jim McCann. Pencils: David Lopez.
Review: This issue opens up with Hawkeye and Mockingbird chasing some gun runners through the streets of Manhattan. Clint and Bobbi manage to halt the goons near a museum, and before Clint can question the driver of the gun runner's van, the criminal is shot by a sniper. Bobbi goes to work trying to save the criminal, while Clint looks around for the shooter, and spots Crossfire off in the distance. Clint tries to pick Crossfire off, but Crossfire manages to escape. The medics arrive to take the shot criminal away, and Bobbi and Clint run into Jaime Slade, a descendant of the Phantom Rider(!!). Jamie is at the museum putting together an exhibit to honor her family, and needless to say, once Bobbi realizes who Jaime is, she freaks out a bit. Bobbi and Clint return to the WCA(World Counterterrorism Agency)headquarters, and demands to know why her underlings didn't know about Crossfire's involvement with the gun runners. After ripping her team, Bobbi storms off, leaving Clint feeling worried about her. Clint asks the WCA's resident computer whiz to see if he can find any living members of Bobbi's family, and when he does, to get back in touch with Clint. From there Clint heads to Avengers Tower and spars with Capt. Rogers and Bucky, thus making this comic nearly perfect. Bobbi has a reoccurring nightmare about the Phantom Rider, while Jaime Slade winds up getting possessed by the ghost of her ancestor. Clint gets word about the whereabouts of Bobbi's mother and brother, and heads out to see them. Upon arriving, he meets Bobbi's mother, who informs Clint that her daughter had been dead since just after graduate school. This issue concludes with Jaime Slade(in full Phantom Rider regalia)meeting up with Crossfire to discuss their mutual enemies, Hawkeye and Mockingbird.
What I Thought: Well hot damn, this comic was awesome!!! I absolutely love both characters here, and I couldn't have been happier to see Crossfire and the Phantom Rider show up as the villains. Crossfire has a long history with Clint, once paying an army of c-list villain a small fortune to cut off Clint's arm, while the Phantom Rider once kidnapped, drugged and raped Mockingbird back in the hugely under appreciated West Coast Avengers series. I can't really think of anything here that I didn't like... I've got to say, I am LOVING the Heroic Age so far!
Score: You know what? I wasn't going to do it, but I'm going to give this comic a 10 out of 10. Sure it wasn't technically perfect, but getting to read some old school West Coast Avengers style action made me VERY happy, so screw it, this comic gets a perfect score. So I'm biased... Sue me!
God is it good to see Clint Barton as Hawkeye again!
Um gee, thanks I guess...
ReplyDeleteIsn't there something to do with deleting idiotic posts here? I've never had to do it myself, but there should be an option somewhere...
ReplyDeleteAnywho, on to the comic itself - I too enjoyed this, though I didn't know who Crossfire, Phantom Rider, or anyone else really was. And WAC is a dumb name. But still an enjoyable comic, and at least Hawkeye's costume is better than last time. Glad there was that summary in the back, was helpful - though I still hate Marvel price their comics at $3.99 instead of $2.99 like DC...
Before I put up the word verification thing I used to get and delete like 5-6 spam posts every day, but I decided I'd leave this one up because it was SO weird... Plus I liked my retort! :P
ReplyDeleteYeah, the old school West Coast Avengers fan in me LOVED this one because I did know who all of the major players here were. As for the WCA, since it's a play off of West Coast Avengers, I'm cool with that. The pricing? Hopefully Marvel will drop the price to $2.99 for issue #2... Although I'm not gonna hold my breath on that one!