Clint Barton: Hawkeye Appreciation 2020

[Frontier]

I'm just kind of tired of Clint and Kate together, to be honest.

[Dermie]

I'm just kind of tired of Clint and Kate together, to be honest.

To be fair, they aren't together all that much anymore. They split again after the Lemire HAWKEYE run and Clint moved to the OCCUPY AVENGERS series, and then the weekly "No Surrender" and "No Road Home" AVENGERS miniseries while Kate went off to her own solo. Aside from a Clint guest appearance in Kate's solo book, Thompson's WCA was the first time they'd been back together again for a while.

[Matternativ]

You guys we got a new issue of Freefall at last.
Things move as "quick and brutal" as they have since the start and I thoroughly enjoyed it yet again.

The rest is spoilers:
spoilers:

I liked Caps guest appearance and the way the night nurse played into it but I'll say it made me realize that there's a little gripe I have with that series. On one hand I love how many Heroes and Villains show up. It makes the story feel larger in scale but on the same time I wish they'd get a little more time. Id rather take a longer scene with Natasha over a "throwaway scene" with Cage, I'd rather take either Cap or Daredevil having a bigger involvement instead of both having as little involvement as they have , etc. Still it probably wouldn't have even crossed my mind if I had read the thing in one go rather than months apart and it's more a matter of preference than actual criticism.

end of spoilers

[Digifiend]

Damn you, spoilers:

Bullseye.

end of spoilers

[OOTCS]

Damn you, spoilers:

Bullseye.

end of spoilers

My thoughts exactly. spoilers:

I know Rosenberg kills off characters, and even children, way more than most writers, but I still didn't expect that. Usually, I'd have hope that he's just injured, not dead, but Bullseye doesn't tend to leave survivors. Poor Bryce.

end of spoilers

[Frontier]

To be fair, they aren't together all that much anymore. They split again after the Lemire HAWKEYE run and Clint moved to the OCCUPY AVENGERS series, and then the weekly "No Surrender" and "No Road Home" AVENGERS miniseries while Kate went off to her own solo. Aside from a Clint guest appearance in Kate's solo book, Thompson's WCA was the first time they'd been back together again for a while.

I get that. I just don't see much value with them together in general at this point. Especially for Clint.

[OOTCS]

Minor question about today's Hawkeye: Freefall issue:

Am I thick or something, because I didn't understand when spoilers:

Linda said that she lied to Captain America for him. What was the lie? He is an Avenger, he is a hero, he would be there for either Cap or Spider-Man if they asked...so what was the lie? Was it telling them to trust him? And if so, if she really thinks he's in over his head and that he can't be trusted to handle it, then why on earth would she send Cap away?

end of spoilers

[Will Evans]

I get that. I just don't see much value with them together in general at this point. Especially for Clint.

Synergy whenever the show comes out.

[Matternativ]

Minor question about today's Hawkeye: Freefall issue:

Am I thick or something, because I didn't understand when spoilers:

Linda said that she lied to Captain America for him. What was the lie? He is an Avenger, he is a hero, he would be there for either Cap or Spider-Man if they asked...so what was the lie? Was it telling them to trust him? And if so, if she really thinks he's in over his head and that he can't be trusted to handle it, then why on earth would she send Cap away?

end of spoilers

Yeah that part confused me a bit as well but I'll go with "poorly worded" over looking for a deeper meaning.

[Dermie]

My thoughts exactly. spoilers:

I know Rosenberg kills off characters, and even children, way more than most writers, but I still didn't expect that. Usually, I'd have hope that he's just injured, not dead, but Bullseye doesn't tend to leave survivors. Poor Bryce.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I think Bryce IS still alive. None of those arrows are in a vital organ, and the message does say "get the details from Bryce". There is no note visible pinned to Bryce's body--so I think he left Bryce alive to give a message to Clint about the where/when, etc, for when the meeting with Hood is supposed to happen.

end of spoilers

Yeah that part confused me a bit as well but I'll go with "poorly worded" over looking for a deeper meaning.

I agree. spoilers:

Her "lie" is that she doesn't necessarily agree with what Clint is doing...but out of respect for him and her feelings for him, she backed his play one last time. I liked that it gave her something meaningful to contribute to the story. Their relationship was still really rushed along without giving the audience much time or reason to be invested in them as a couple--but at least it paid off here. As bad a track record as Clint tends to have with successful relationships, he does have a talent for getting these strong and intelligent women in his corner so that even when they are pissed off at him, they'll still have his back

end of spoilers

You guys we got a new issue of Freefall at last.
Things move as "quick and brutal" as they have since the start and I thoroughly enjoyed it yet again.

The rest is spoilers:
spoilers:

I liked Caps guest appearance and the way the night nurse played into it but I'll say it made me realize that there's a little gripe I have with that series. On one hand I love how many Heroes and Villains show up. It makes the story feel larger in scale but on the same time I wish they'd get a little more time. Id rather take a longer scene with Natasha over a "throwaway scene" with Cage, I'd rather take either Cap or Daredevil having a bigger involvement instead of both having as little involvement as they have , etc. Still it probably wouldn't have even crossed my mind if I had read the thing in one go rather than months apart and it's more a matter of preference than actual criticism.

end of spoilers

I think some of it comes down to quality over quantity. spoilers:

It would be nice to see some of the guest characters get more time, but some of the characters have managed to do more with their cameos than others. For example, Captain America's brief scene here--that, to me, was a lot stronger and worked better than the Black Widow's scene a few issues ago. Cap's presence was plot relevant, and Steve was in-character offering to help Clint but also wanting to reel him in and take control of the situation. It just felt right. The appearances by Mockingbird and USAgent last issue also made the most of their brief panel time. It felt more significant than the Daredevil or Black Widow cameos...which both felt a little unnecessary.

end of spoilers

[Matternativ]

spoilers:

I think Bryce IS still alive. None of those arrows are in a vital organ, and the message does say "get the details from Bryce". There is no note visible pinned to Bryce's body--so I think he left Bryce alive to give a message to Clint about the where/when, etc, for when the meeting with Hood is supposed to happen.

end of spoilers



I agree. spoilers:

Her "lie" is that she doesn't necessarily agree with what Clint is doing...but out of respect for him and her feelings for him, she backed his play one last time. I liked that it gave her something meaningful to contribute to the story. Their relationship was still really rushed along without giving the audience much time or reason to be invested in them as a couple--but at least it paid off here. As bad a track record as Clint tends to have with successful relationships, he does have a talent for getting these strong and intelligent women in his corner so that even when they are pissed off at him, they'll still have his back

end of spoilers



I think some of it comes down to quality over quantity. spoilers:

It would be nice to see some of the guest characters get more time, but some of the characters have managed to do more with their cameos than others. For example, Captain America's brief scene here--that, to me, was a lot stronger and worked better than the Black Widow's scene a few issues ago. Cap's presence was plot relevant, and Steve was in-character offering to help Clint but also wanting to reel him in and take control of the situation. It just felt right. The appearances by Mockingbird and USAgent last issue also made the most of their brief panel time. It felt more significant than the Daredevil or Black Widow cameos...which both felt a little unnecessary.

end of spoilers

Oh for sure, those were just examples. You could have gone the other way and even given Cage a more meaningful role of you wanted.

And I suppose someone like Nat could have actually been a hindrance. If she had helped Clint he'd be in less of a mess and this story is all about his mess afterall.

[Dermie]

Oh for sure, those were just examples. You could have gone the other way and even given Cage a more meaningful role of you wanted.

And I suppose someone like Nat could have actually been a hindrance. If she had helped Clint he'd be in less of a mess and this story is all about his mess afterall.

True, if given the chance the Widow could have taken over the story. The story still could work with Clint having someone like Tasha (or Bobbi, or even Kate, for that matter) in his confidence and helping him out...it would just given the story a very different tone. Instead of it being Clint trying to keep his elaborate scheme from crashing down on him, it would be Clint and his ally (or allies) working to pull off their more coordinated scheme.

[Matternativ]

True, if given the chance the Widow could have taken over the story. The story still could work with Clint having someone like Tasha (or Bobbi, or even Kate, for that matter) in his confidence and helping him out...it would just given the story a very different tone. Instead of it being Clint trying to keep his elaborate scheme from crashing down on him, it would be Clint and his ally (or allies) working to pull off their more coordinated scheme.

The only problem is: Most of them would just straight up tell him to stop rather than joining in. That's if we are talking Bobbi, Cap or Spooderman.
And someone like Nat doesn't play games like that. She'd probably think about just killing the Hood and being done with all that.

But yes all of these thoughts are irrelevant since it's all about Clint doing Clint stuff.

Though I could see it being a thing that he pulls the same stunt as Widow did in her last mini, bringing in his friends for the finale.
That said I want him to face and beat Bullseye alone. The others can have his back against the Bounty Hunters.

And I do hope we get to see all the investments he made actually paying off. That's a big hope of mine.

[Tien Long]

Felt good to go back into this story. Excellent Hawkeye building moments here. He'll be brutal, but won't work with Kingpin or Nefaria. He's a damn good fighter (something I wish were shown more often). More importantly, we see Clint working a very good plan. In that sense, Hawkeye shows how much of a tactician he is. But sometimes his plans backfire on him. Cap's words, something to the effect that he couldn't help Clint if Clint didn't tell the truth, well, that came back to haunt him at the end of the issue. Indeed, those last few pages really ratcheted up the tension. I was REALLY scared concerning the final page. Maybe Bryce would be cut open with his guts everywhere. BUt yeah, that was pretty gruesome as well. Still up in the air whether he's dead or not.

As for Bullseye, has there been a proper fight between Hawkeye and Bullseye. Yeah, the latter take over the mantle during Dark Avengers, but I can't recall them every going head to head to see who was the better marksman. There was a one-shot Generations a couple of years ago. Clint seemed to be afraid of Bullseye there. Still anything else other than that?

All in all, a great story. Great that we got to finally see it.

[Frontier]

As for Bullseye, has there been a proper fight between Hawkeye and Bullseye. Yeah, the latter take over the mantle during Dark Avengers, but I can't recall them every going head to head to see who was the better marksman. There was a one-shot Generations a couple of years ago. Clint seemed to be afraid of Bullseye there. Still anything else other than that?

If I recall correctly, in that Generations one-shot, Clint didn't even know who Bullseye was, Kate did.