Post by Power NeXus on May 26, 2012 21:48:20 GMT -5
I've never really done comic reviews before, but I thought I'd try my hand at it.
Story (spoilers)
Due to sustaining a blow to the back of the head in a recent mission, the Avengers discover that Hawkeye's accuracy is diminishing significantly, and he is beginning to go blind. Before Hawkeye can fully come to terms with this news, his old archery mentor, Trickshot, appears at the door of Avengers Mansion, quickly dying. Trickshot tries to warn Hawkeye of a "benefactor" whom Trickshot was forced to train, and who really wants to kill Hawkeye. Trickshot dies before he can say who this mysterious baddie is.
Hawkeye, wanting to know who this mystery person is, notices that local arms dealers have been on the rise lately, and have all had a mysterious "benefactor" adding to the number of guns and goons. He hits the streets and busts up some gangs looking for answers. Before he can start the interrogation, he is intercepted by Steve Rogers, who forcefully insists that Hawkeye should not be in the field with his ever-deteriorating eyesight. The two men have a brief scuffle, ending with Hawkeye briefly incapacitating Rogers with a taser arrow, and then leaving the scene.
Patrolling the city, searching for more clues, Hawkeye's sky-cycle is unexpectedly shot out of the sky by an explosive arrow. Hawkeye takes a hard fall on to a train passing underneath, only to find himself face-to-face with his brother, Barney, who was thought to be dead. Barney attacks Hawkeye and defeats him rather quickly, mainly due to Hawkeye's shock at seeing his dead brother alive again.
Hawkeye wakes up in Coney Island, where he begins running into a series of traps that Barney has apparently set up around the place. Clint and Barney have a conversation while Clint tries to survive the series of booby-traps. Clint keeps trying to reason with Barney and end the confrontation, but Barney claims to have gotten a raw deal from life and wants nothing more than to take it out on his perfect hero of a brother. Hawkeye blacks out again after brief use of Pym Particles to stop a rolling ferris wheel aggravates the swelling in his head.
When Hawkeye wakes up, he finds himself in an abandoned shack with Barney and Baron Zemo, the "benefactor" responsible for Barney's resurrection, and the one who forced Trickshot to train Barney the same way he trained Clint. Zemo explains that he wants to kill Hawkeye because Hawkeye was the one who killed Moonstone, the only woman Zemo ever loved. It is then that Hawkeye's vision finally leaves him completely. Clint and Barney begin another battle, with Zemo standing on the sidelines to watch. Hawkeye, now completely blind, manages to keep Barney at bay with a variety of trick arrows and raw skill, before finally overpowering him in hand-to-hand combat and then pinning him to the wall with an arrow (which he had just caught out of mid-air. Pretty cool.). Clint then goes to attack Zemo, but Zemo teleports away, claiming that they shall meet again very soon.
The story ends with Hawkeye's vision being treated by Dr Donald Blake. The Pym Particles he activated in his system earlier in the story apparently helped the swelling in his head to be reduced, allowing surgery to be possible. A stem cell transplant was also taken from Barney Barton, who was now in Avengers custody. Hawkeye wakes up from the operation with his eyes as good as new. Hawkeye goes back to his brother to thank him for aiding in the operation and try one last time to make amends. Barney is still adamant in the idea that he will not rest until one of the brothers kills the other.
The Good
Intriguing storyline, with several glimpses into Hawkeye's past and origin story, all explaining his relationship with his brother. Excellent artwork by Paco Diaz. Several good fight scenes with some respect-thread-worthy feats for Hawkeye (overpowering Cap, catching an arrow out of mid-air while blind, etc). Promise for more future stories involving Baron Zemo and Barney Barton wanting to kill Hawkeye.
The Bad
While the artwork itself is good, the battle scenes aren't always drawn to my liking. There are some panels where it's just tough to understand exactly what's going on.
Barney, despite being Clint's brother, still seems to be a bit of a lame villian. He only beat Hawkeye in their first bout because Hawkeye was too shocked to really fight back. In the final fight, Hawkeye was completely blind and still managed to beat him.
4.5/5
Story (spoilers)
Due to sustaining a blow to the back of the head in a recent mission, the Avengers discover that Hawkeye's accuracy is diminishing significantly, and he is beginning to go blind. Before Hawkeye can fully come to terms with this news, his old archery mentor, Trickshot, appears at the door of Avengers Mansion, quickly dying. Trickshot tries to warn Hawkeye of a "benefactor" whom Trickshot was forced to train, and who really wants to kill Hawkeye. Trickshot dies before he can say who this mysterious baddie is.
Hawkeye, wanting to know who this mystery person is, notices that local arms dealers have been on the rise lately, and have all had a mysterious "benefactor" adding to the number of guns and goons. He hits the streets and busts up some gangs looking for answers. Before he can start the interrogation, he is intercepted by Steve Rogers, who forcefully insists that Hawkeye should not be in the field with his ever-deteriorating eyesight. The two men have a brief scuffle, ending with Hawkeye briefly incapacitating Rogers with a taser arrow, and then leaving the scene.
Patrolling the city, searching for more clues, Hawkeye's sky-cycle is unexpectedly shot out of the sky by an explosive arrow. Hawkeye takes a hard fall on to a train passing underneath, only to find himself face-to-face with his brother, Barney, who was thought to be dead. Barney attacks Hawkeye and defeats him rather quickly, mainly due to Hawkeye's shock at seeing his dead brother alive again.
Hawkeye wakes up in Coney Island, where he begins running into a series of traps that Barney has apparently set up around the place. Clint and Barney have a conversation while Clint tries to survive the series of booby-traps. Clint keeps trying to reason with Barney and end the confrontation, but Barney claims to have gotten a raw deal from life and wants nothing more than to take it out on his perfect hero of a brother. Hawkeye blacks out again after brief use of Pym Particles to stop a rolling ferris wheel aggravates the swelling in his head.
When Hawkeye wakes up, he finds himself in an abandoned shack with Barney and Baron Zemo, the "benefactor" responsible for Barney's resurrection, and the one who forced Trickshot to train Barney the same way he trained Clint. Zemo explains that he wants to kill Hawkeye because Hawkeye was the one who killed Moonstone, the only woman Zemo ever loved. It is then that Hawkeye's vision finally leaves him completely. Clint and Barney begin another battle, with Zemo standing on the sidelines to watch. Hawkeye, now completely blind, manages to keep Barney at bay with a variety of trick arrows and raw skill, before finally overpowering him in hand-to-hand combat and then pinning him to the wall with an arrow (which he had just caught out of mid-air. Pretty cool.). Clint then goes to attack Zemo, but Zemo teleports away, claiming that they shall meet again very soon.
The story ends with Hawkeye's vision being treated by Dr Donald Blake. The Pym Particles he activated in his system earlier in the story apparently helped the swelling in his head to be reduced, allowing surgery to be possible. A stem cell transplant was also taken from Barney Barton, who was now in Avengers custody. Hawkeye wakes up from the operation with his eyes as good as new. Hawkeye goes back to his brother to thank him for aiding in the operation and try one last time to make amends. Barney is still adamant in the idea that he will not rest until one of the brothers kills the other.
The Good
Intriguing storyline, with several glimpses into Hawkeye's past and origin story, all explaining his relationship with his brother. Excellent artwork by Paco Diaz. Several good fight scenes with some respect-thread-worthy feats for Hawkeye (overpowering Cap, catching an arrow out of mid-air while blind, etc). Promise for more future stories involving Baron Zemo and Barney Barton wanting to kill Hawkeye.
The Bad
While the artwork itself is good, the battle scenes aren't always drawn to my liking. There are some panels where it's just tough to understand exactly what's going on.
Barney, despite being Clint's brother, still seems to be a bit of a lame villian. He only beat Hawkeye in their first bout because Hawkeye was too shocked to really fight back. In the final fight, Hawkeye was completely blind and still managed to beat him.
4.5/5
