Hawkeye #1

[arbre_rieur]

Comments

[wake_the_dragon]

I love this comic so much.

[umbo]

Awww, Hawkguy. ♥

[seisachtheia]

why am I not reading this yet?

[not_overjoyed]

Why is everyone not reading this yet?

[janegray]

Because we can't have nice things.

No, really. The reason I'm not reading this, and the reason I didn't read the original Blue Beetle series, and the reason I've stopped reading pretty much any Marvel and DC book except Batwoman (and I still read Batwoman mostly because of the gorgeous art, so even if the story goes downwards I can at least still enjoy the books as artbooks) is that I've utterly and completely lost faith in the industry. They make you love something, then they destroy it in the most painful way, and when you express upset they mock you.

I'm not going to buy it, only to end up heartbroken when they rape Kate (again, so they'll probably make it a on-panel gangrape this time) and turn her into a psychopathic villain, butcher the dog and feed him to Clint, and blow up Clint's building with all the tenants (right after Clint makes friends with an adorable toddler so he can feel extra horrible when he finds the tiny corpse, of course).

[flash_fan]

Let me just give you some possible insight into a bad cycle of comics you may or may not be contributing to. Bitter reader doesn't buy good book = Low Sales on quality book = Marvel/DC Editors force writers to use shitty selling gimicks in there stories = Reader becomes bitter about their comics. Rinse. Cycle. Repeat.

People like to blame the industry but I see a simple solution. Buy the books you like and stop buying them when they get bad. The proof will be in the numbers, and more quality books will come out.

[janegray]

Nope.

Batgirl was selling pretty well, but for some reason editorial hated Cassandra, and so she got first character-assassinated into a crappy villain, then put her on a bus, then erased her from continuity.

The next Batgirl book was also selling well, but that didn't save Steph from being erased from continuity.

Spider-Man was selling well and most fans loved the Spidey-marriage, but again editorial hated it and had Peter make a deal with the devil to take it all away. The deal with Mephisto caused a drop in readership, but still editorial refused to budge because they value doing things their way over making a product that fans will buy.

Batman is the single best selling comic there is, but still some writer decided it would be a good idea to have the children Poison Ivy cared for brutally murdered. Those kids and their relationship with Ivy was the one of the best things to come out of No Man's Land (again, a very well-selling event), but we can't have nice things.

And so on, and on, and on, and on.

Simply put, despite what any logical person would think, sales aren't the deciding factor in ruining books. A book can have perfectly good sales and still Marvel/DC will piss all over it, then gleefully mock you. I blame the industry because it is their fault.

Besides... you know what? Even IF shitty writing were actually a result of poor sales (and I really, truly believe it's not), I would actually see that as an even better reason to quit.

It basically becomes blackmail. "Keep buying this book every single month for the rest of your life, or else we'll do nightmarish things to the characters!"

I'm so done with that bullshit.

I still love comics, I just stay away from Marvel and DC (with the sole exception of Batwoman, mostly for the gorgeous art). Dungeons & dragons has truly excellent comics, and so does UDON. And of course, manga are awesome.

[nefrekeptah]

That is - horrifically pessimistic.

Batgirl was selling pretty well, but for some reason editorial hated Cassandra, and so she got first character-assassinated into a crappy villain, then put her on a bus, then erased her from continuity.

They brought her back. They redeemed her and gave her a new identity as the Black Bat. Hell, they jumped through hoops to explain away the "turning into a villain" crap (it wasn't a very good story, but they still did). They never put her on a bus, and the fact that she hasn't appeared yet does not mean she's been written out - Grant Morrison has said that she is slated to return at one point.

Spider-Man was selling well and most fans loved the Spidey-marriage, but again editorial hated it and had Peter make a deal with the devil to take it all away. The deal with Mephisto caused a drop in readership, but still editorial refused to budge because they value doing things their way over making a product that fans will buy.

They changed the marriage because they thought a single Spider-Man was more relateable to fans, especially the fans who weren't already buying the comic on a regular basis, who are, let's face it, a minority of the population. They did it because they thought it would make a product that more fans would buy , NOT because "they value doing things their way."

It can be argued that they were right, seeing as how it's still one of the most popular books being put out by Marvel.

I can easily name comics put out by the big two that aren't, never did, and have not been "pissed on" by the big two - Daredevil has been consistently good for decades, with the exception of Shadowland, which was stupid and forgettable, but not by any means horrible. And the idea that the companies are deliberately sabotaging their own products is ridiculous - no matter how bad it turned out later, or how in hindsight it was trash, everything that's been published by any company was published because they thought that it would be a good idea at the time.

I'm sorry, but refusing to read a comic that you know is good because "it might get worse later" seems like you're just denying yourself of a perfectly good comic.

[janegray]

We can agree we disagree.

[nefrekeptah]

Awwww, and here I was looking forward to a lively debate that would go on for the most of the day, not this "acknowledgement and respect of another person's differing opinion."

*pout*

[halloweenjack]

I'm sorry, but that's an oversimplification, if not an outright rationalization of bad practices in the industry. Quite a few things are done for the sake of quick sales boosts to make the numbers look better, or at the behest of alleged creative geniuses who have in reality been promoted well beyond their level of artistic competence. I still love the comment from John Rogers, co-creator of the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle, on its original cancellation: "Wow. It's almost as if basing your entire business model around a series of must-buy big event crossovers in a market with limited purchasing resources hurts your midlist."

[janegray]

Maybe it's an oversimplification, maybe not. Whatever the reason, the end result is the same, isn't it?

[not_overjoyed]

Fair enough. It may just be that I haven't been following mainstream comics for very long, but I've never really been burned that way with a story before. I'll follow this as long as it's good. If Marvel manages to butcher this comic, my view might change, but I'm just going to enjoy the good stuff as long as it lasts.

[janegray]

Eh, I've become embittered over the years of getting burned again and again, but to be honest, even if I'm not going to buy them myself, there is a part of me that is happy to see other people buy currently good comics like this one.

[salinea]

even if I'm not going to buy them myself, there is a part of me that is happy to see other people buy currently good comics like this one.
Really?

Cuz commenting on your hatred for the current state of the industry (legitimately thought that may be) on a post about a good and fun series doesn't, err, convey that very well.

[janegray]

I tend to see good comics as victims of the industry (especially because almost always the writer who fucks over the characters is NOT the same writer who lovingly wrote about them for years. For example, I can't imagine that the original writers of JLI are happy about Max Lord going evil psychopath and murdering Ted).

Thus, while I hate the industry, I'm happy to see that people appreciate the good comics.

[akodo_rokku]

Fraction and Aja really do make magic. Immortal Iron Fist (which also had Brubaker making it even more amazing, and the "Are you like, Iron Fist? Line has to be a nod to that book) and now this.

[silverhammerman]

This series is so good, it's like everything I want from a comic. I might be tempted to buy the first trade in addition to the singles, so long as Marvel prices it reasonably, and I never do that.

[eternaleponine]

I basically started reading comics again for this book. I love it so much. Both Hawkeyes are the greatest ever. Especially when they sass at each other.

[lieut_kettch]

Hawkguy, bro. Pure awesome, bro.

[rzerox21xx]

I just tracked down all the first prints of these issues, cost me a pretty penny too. man those first prints are pricey. hahahahaa. I could have gotten the 2nd prints or the 4th but the collector in me demand the first prints. these comics are selling so well.

[stereosymbiosis]

i started reading comics because of this issue

[acerbictomes]

Hawkeye is one of three comics I'm subscribing to right now. Kate <3!

[mrstatham]

The only thing I can remotely dislike is the fact that Clint is basically getting so much love - and this book, frankly - off the back of the Avengers movie, but.. Well, y'know, where's Natasha's book? I know they tried before, but that was on the back of Iron Man 2, where she wasn't as remotely well-received as she was in Avengers.

[silverhammerman]

Yeah, I think she got a mini after the Avengers (or maybe I'm thinking of the post Iron Man 2 book you mentioned), but that's been it. Marvel's doing a real push with female led books right now so it's definitely odd to see one the breakout characters from the film not getting an ongoing.

[mrstatham]

She did get a little two-part story published while Avengers was coming out, but her ongoing - that folded along with Hawkeye/Mockingbird - was published just as Iron Man 2 came out and the Heroic Age started, I think. It was the one with Liu writing and Acuna on visuals, at first.

[domino_blue]

I think the problem is and this is just my opinion, she's a fantastic supporting character but can really only do mini series or just be a major person in the story and not the lead. One of the appeals of the Black Window is not always knowing what she thinks and the surprise is what's fun. Just my opinion I'm sure she can support her own book but as long as she's get a good central premise, but her best stuff is usually stories where you do not know what she's thinking.

[sessile]

This series makes me so damn happy. The art and the writing are just - FJHLFLFHFDFGSA. All the graphic design touches! All the references! It's funny as hell! ^_______^