The Definitives: Hawkeye

Tom Brevoort once told me that Hawkeye was “the Wolverine of his day” (he was actually talking more about The Thing and using Hawkeye as a supplementary, but as said supplementary example better serves this post, that’s what I’ll be going with). Basically what he meant is that when the Avengers weren’t far from their founding and Marvel hadn’t gone too long into the Silver Age, Hawkeye was the rebellious voice questioning Captain America’s more conservative values in the same way Wolverine would later chafe against Cyclops and so on as this is a dynamic you’ll find in just about every super hero team past the Justice League from the 60’s.

Like Wolverine, Hawkeye was the loose cannon who did what he wanted despite the rules and did so with a brash tone, loud mouth and often disregard for the safety of himself and the property around him (he’s always been pretty good about shielding teammates and civilians though). Also like Wolverine, Hawkeye became pretty popular as a result of this; not three or four ongoing solo series at once popular (he’s had his books here and there, but I’d say general consensus is the character works better with others to play off of in a team setting), but he did ok.

Unlike Wolverine and his more modern ilk, Hawkeye was the bad boy of a more traditional time, so he talked a big game, but he still adhered to a relatively traditional moral code that excluded killing and extreme violence; in the recent past, some writers have had him walk the line of violating that, and an argument could be made that his experiences have led him that way, but I believe deep down Clint Barton still finds murder to be anathema, regardless of the reason why.

I think the combination of Hawkeye’s similarities to the loose cannon characters he’s something of the godfather to with the contrast against those that came later is why I like him so much. I’ve always been partial to the wisecracking smartass super hero, but I also like the swashbuckling romantic vibe of years gone by; Clint Barton combines the best of both worlds on that score. He will always speak his mind, he falls in love too easily and he’s far from fully matured emotionally, but he’ll also do the right thing when the chips are down, and even though he’ll drive Captain America nuts, he’ll also be the first to come to his defense when anybody else does it.

Gotta love the guy.

I should offer the disclaimer that I was not an avid Solo Avengers or West Coast Avengers reader growing up and have never really caught up on either, so I’ve got a pretty sizable Hawkeye blind spot (though I have read Hawkeye: Blind Spot), but here are my favorite stories featuring the Avenging Archer that I’d recommend to anybody looking to learn more about that dude with the bow and arrow who Jeremy Renner is playing.

HONORABLE MENTION: AVENGERS #223
A classic to be sure, as Hawkeye heads back to his old carnival stomping grounds and clashes with Taskmaster, who’s holding the show hostage, leading to the seminal shrunken Ant-Man on an arrow routine. It’s a fun story, and I’m a fan, but I think it’s actually a better Ant-Man and even Taskmaster yarn, not quite capturing the essential Hawkeye.

AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES
I love this series on the whole, and every character gets their time in the sun, but really Hawkeye’s story is my favorite part. Joe Casey really nails how the bulk of the early Avengers were good guys (and one girl), but thrown together by circumstance as a team and in many cases only acting as heroes because an accident led them to their situation (Iron Man and his shrapnel, Thor and his exile, Hulk and his…being The Hulk); even Captain America became an Avenger mostly because they found him and he needed guidance in a strange world. Hawkeye’s the one guy who actively seeks to become an Avenger, because even though he started as a villain, it’s never what he wanted. Casey’s story captures the driven desire of Clint Barton to do the right thing even when conventional wisdom stacks the odds against him, plus there’s an excellent relationship between him and Jarvis, and Scott Kolins draws one of my favorite Hawkeyes.

AVENGERS #189
Hawkeye gets tossed off the Avengers by Henry Peter Gyrich in order to fill a government quota (also, Gyrich doesn’t really like Hawkeye since the first time they met Clint tied him up, thinking he was an intruder in Avengers Mansion), but rather than mope for too long, he decides to show them it’s their loss. He swoops into Cross Technological Enterprises and auditions for their Head of Security gig by foiling their current system. Clint kicks back and looks forward to a relatively easy new occupation, only for Shi’ar super villain Deathbird to show up looking for trouble. Hawkeye is totally outclassed against a cosmic-level threat like Deathbird, but that’s when he’s at his best, using his wits to get through the situation, smiling as he does it and then stealing a kiss from the alien cutie when he’s done. This issue is basically a capsule bio for everything cool about Hawkeye (plus great John Byrne art).

HAWKEYE (1983)
The first true solo Hawkeye adventure, both written and drawn by the late, great Mark Gruenwald, who it turns out was a heck of an artist! Uncovering corruption at CTE, Clint investigates alongside former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Mockingbird and runs afoul of the dude who would become his archenemy, Crossfire. It’s a fun caper that packs tons of action into only four issues and allows Gruenwald to widen Hawkeye’s range a bit, playing him as devil-may-care adventurer and hothead, but also delving into his deeper emotions and giving him a deep romantic subplot. Speaking of which, the chemistry between Hawkeye and Mockingbird is dynamite right from the start; you’re rooting for them from the get-go, and the end result doesn’t disappoint.

AVENGERS & JLA/AVENGERS BY KURT BUSIEK & GEORGE PEREZ
When Kurt Busiek and George Perez brought Avengers back from Heroes Reborn, establishing Hawkeye as a key member of the team was clearly a top priority. When everybody gets mind wiped and sent to Morgan le Fay’s crazy Camelot world, Clint is the first guy Captain America “wakes up” because he recognizes that Hawkeye is the heart of the Avengers. During the roster-building issue, you get the great thread of Hawkeye taking Firestar and Justice under his wing, and then doing the double take when Cap messes with him by offering them his spot on the team. And from there, the Avenging Archer departs in pretty rapid fashion, shuttled over to Thunderbolts by Busiek, where he did more great stuff with him and stayed true to another core element of the character: he goes where he is needed, not necessarily where he wants to be. Busiek and Perez reunited years later on JLA/Avengers and made this fan smile by having Hawkeye and Flash (not Wally West, but still) be the guys to pull the classic against all odds save when all seems lost.

HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD
I don’t feel it’s favoritism at all to put my buddy Jim McCann’s series on here, because his passion for the character of Hawkeye (and of Mockingbird) in my mind created a fun arc that will hold up nicely in an evergreen sense, and the best thing is it was born out of love. You won’t meet a bigger Hawkeye fan than Jim, and his desire to do right by the character, not only telling the kinds of stories he loved but that can spread the appeal to a new generation, went a long way in my book. It’s a nice bookend to Mark Gruenwald’s series, with lots of callbacks, plus several love letters to the Marvel Universe along the way. It also doesn’t hurt that artist David Lopez is a gem and that Mockingbird’s brother’s name is Ben Morse; a great easy-to-acquire gateway to Hawkeye.

CAPTAIN AMERICA & THE AVENGERS
Hawkeye’s video game debut! Super fun, tons of characters, rad graphics, and the suspension of disbelief that Hawkeye’s bow when held horizontal is an equally powerful protector to Captain America’s shield, Iron Man’s armor and the Vision’s intangibility. Also: sky sleds!

My Five Favorite Flash Artists

The Flash is not an easy character to draw. I say this not from experience (as pretty much every comic character ever is not an easy character to draw if you're me), but from as empirical-as-I-can-get data gathered from years of reading interviews like the ones in Keith Dallas' wonderful Flash Companion from TwoMorrows (to which I was an enthusiastic contributor). While the costume and general aesthetics may not be incredibly difficult, most artists I've seen or heard accounts from state that super speed is just flat out tough to render visually on a static page.

However, despite this handicap out the gate, the Flash character in its various forms from Jay Garrick to John Fox and all points in between has been the fortunate recipient of many incredible draftsmen who have created truly dynamic and imaginative art featuring the Scarlet Speedsters.

Here are my biased favorites.

Honorable Mention: George Perez
I feel like it would be a cheat to sneak my favorite artist of all-time on here by virtue of his drawing the Flash as well as he draws every other character in comics, but he did contribute greatly to giving Wally West a unique physical personality in New Teen Titans and gave Barry Allen perhaps the best sendoff in comics history during Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Honorable Mention: Brian Bolland
To the best of my knowledge has never drawn the Flash on any interior pages, but sweet sassy molassy were his covers gorgeous.

5. Karl Kerschl
I'm still waiting for an extended stay on a Flash title for Mr. Kerschl, but for now, I'll take what I can get with his beautiful work on Wednesday Comics. Karl's linework is so soft and smooth but with just enough edge to know he means business, and it works perfectly with this character. His Flash, be it Barry Allen or Wally West, is exploding with emotions, good and bad, and seems to really enjoy his work, but also take his job quite seriously--perhaps a commentary on the artist himself? Regardless, when I read a Karl Kerschl-drawn Flash story, I feel like I'm racing alongside the characters, and there's not a lot more you can ask for.

4. Alan Davis
You may hear the name "Alan Davis" and not immediately think of the Flash as one of his signature characters, and you'd have a pretty strong case, but remember that he was the cover artist of Wally West's ongoing series back in the 90's--granted only for eight months, but it left an impression on me as I was just seeing the book on the stands. Really it was Davis' labor of love project Justice League of America: The Nail and its sequel, where he shined as a Flash artist, bringing Barry Allen straight out of the Silver Age and into the 21st century. Alan's art is flat-out gorgeous no matter what he's drawing, but his style has a certain fluidity that's really perfect for a character like the Flash; in his afterword for the collected Nail, Davis talks a bit about how he really put thought into making Barry Allen look like a runner, and not just a generic muscleman, and you can see that every time he draws him.

3. Mike Wieringo
If I have any major regrets as a Flash fan, it's that I didn't get to truly enjoy Mike Wieringo's time with the character because I wasn't reading the book at the time and have never been able to track as many issues down as I would like. I became a fan of Ringo through his later work, most notable his time on Fantastic Four, but I've seen enough Flash commissions and covers by him over the years to fall in love with his rendition of the character and consider him one of my favorites by virtue of his work on a title I didn't even read. By all accounts, Flash is where Mike really grew and came into his own as an artist, and it's fitting given how much the adventurous and go-lucky persona of Wally West matches up with everything I've ever heard about him. His Flash had both an energy and sense of fun that I think has stuck with the character and influenced on some level just about every artist who has come since.

2. Carmine Infantino
Without Carmine Infantino, there would be no Flash as we know him, simple as that. He designed the costume, he designed the Rogues, and he innovated the best methods as far as portraying the character's powers and feats. Infantino first made his mark on the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, but really came to prominence working on Barry Allen, avatar of DC's Silver Age, as well as his friends and enemies. It was Infantino who if he wasn't the first to do it really perfected the idea that you could show a speedster using his powers not just by creating a trail of smoke behind him or drawing blurry lines all over him, but actually depicting the character at various stages during his run and connecting them to create the illusion of a man who could be in several places at once. It was this work ethic that really distinguishes Carmine Infantino as a guy who not only refused to take shortcuts, but who achieved impressive tenure by drawing the Flash's adventures for over a dozen years in two stints that were separated by nearly a decade and a half.

1. Scott Kolins
I don't think it's a stretch at all to call Scott Kolins the modern day heir to Carmine Infantino's throne in a 100% complimentary way. During his two-plus year stint on the main Flash title and in his speedster-related follow-up projects since, Kolins has thrown himself into the detailed portrayal of super-fast motion with a vigor I don't believe any save Infantino ever have. Kolins doesn't simply draw speed lines or a few blurred images, he takes the old Infantino trick of placing a fully-realized figure at each point of the Flash or Zoom's arc of motion and then filling in the spaces between with effects. The reasons Kolins tops my list are partly sentimental--he illustrated the period which saw me truly embrace the Flash as my favorite DC character--but also practical, as he took what came before him and refined it with modern techniques and technology. Kolins' characters, and in particular his Flash, have a buoyancy you just don't see anywhere else, a vibrancy and energy that is unmatched, and with the Fastest Man Alive, that's the guy you want providing the pencils.

It's so hard to say goodbye...but you get cool stuff!

I'm rapidly approaching my two-year anniversary of leaving Wizard for Marvel. Actually, it was at Wizard World Chicago 2007 that Ryan first made me the offer I could not refuse, so I'm past two years on that and likely coming up on the anniversary of my entrance interviews. Perhaps when I hit the actual two-year mark official-like I'll blog at length about some of the details surrounding the move, but on this lazy Sunday night, I figured I'd just post the cool shit my buddies at Wizard got me for going away presents.

First up, the day I left, I was presented with this mocked-up cover which still holds an un-hung place of honor in my apartment and has remained the desktop wallpaper on my home computer since I first scanned it. Former Wizard Editor-in-Chief Pat McCallum started the tradition of doing these faux old school covers featuring outgoing staffers on toy bodies as going away gifts (I'll try and track some down to post this week; I know Ryan has a wicked M.O.D.O.K. one that I helped plan in function or another). Though Pat was unfortunately no longer at the magazine by the time I left, he had taught the rest of the staff well, and they made sure I got a custom Marvel Team-Up of my very own.

The gist of these was always to both give the departing staffer something cool but also to poke some fun at them as well; in my case, the gag was that I do own a black t-shirt with a red Superman symbol ala Superboy, and though I always tried to remember to wear it only with khakis, I would sometimes accidentally wear it with jeans and get made fun of (I don't feel so bad since Geoff Johns has told me he does the same thing all the time). The retro corner headshots of dudes who weren't leaving was also a Pat staple and the Dave Paggi thing is funny because he doesn't drink. I also thought it was cool that they Photoshopped in a Nova figure that to this day has never actually been made available to the public as a widespread release. I posted a pic of this cover on my Facebook the day I got it and got razzed for it plenty my first day at Marvel, mostly by Nova editor Bill Rosemann.

My second going away present took a bit longer to arrive, but was clearly well worth the wait. Rickey dropped it off at my apartment after months of alternate hype and apologies (neither were necessary) and I'll leave it to him to tell the full behind-the-scenes story of how it got done if he so chooses (I know Geoff was involved somehow, hence why the message on the sketch says he is one of the people it's from), but obviously it's one of the coolest things I've ever gotten. Scott Kolins is one of my favorite artists ever and also a guy I've never ever seen at a convention, so I've never been able to get a Nova sketch from him, something my buddies knew well. But they went one better, getting me Kolins' rendition not only of Nova, but of my other favorite character, the Flash, who Scott made his mark on for years alongside Geoff. The story behind them playing frisbee is that we all used to do that at lunch when it was nice out, hence the Wizard logo on the disc. It's the greatest super hero team-up of all-time and it's exclusive to the wall of my living room. I've never actually met Scott, but I e-mailed him a big thanks for this amazing piece.

So people often ask me: What was the coolest part about working for Wizard? I think after this post you can likely guess my answer: The friends I made there.

Awwwwww...