This is the second attempt to make Hawkeye a headliner. Third, if you consider that most the Solo Avengers issues starred Hawkeye, with his name on the title.
Marvel tried hard. A 2/3 page piece in Marvel Age. A Punisher writer. A solid artist.
Inner dialogue and page layouts that mimic the classic Miller/Claremont Wolverine miniseries. And a werewolf sidekick.
But it doesn’t work.
Hitting the stands in January 1994 with the issue #1 title, “Shafted,” the story picks up right after the death of Mockingbird, with Hawkeye on his own in the wilderness, mourning. Moping in the woods is Wolverine’s thing. But here we see an unshaven Hawkeye self-narrating in a Logan-like tone, and even breathing frost in a way that looks like smoke. He’s giving up being a superhero so he can be sad full-time.
The series brings back the ’80s Captain America conspirators Secret Empire. It also brings back Viper from Hydra, who now has an eight pack…
He takes on his old mentor Trickshot, and some Hydra-manufactured werewolves, befriending one named “Rover” (see the cover to #2, above), then teams up with War Machine, and by the end decides to stop being sad and go back to being a hero.
And a new one: Javelynn.
They should have spent more on editors though.
He’s got not shirt and no quiver. Then he has a quiver. Then he has a shirt.
There’s not much of a reason for this miniseries to exist, but if you love Clint Barton, maybe you’ll dig it.
I do love Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and I thought this miniseries was okay. Didn’t need the “genetic werewolves”, though. The Marvel U’s got more than enough of the “real” kind. The Viper looks good, although I will point out that ladies with eight-packs generally don’t have such huge melons.