Sign of the times

[stubbleupdate]

In case you didn't know already, "the Pizza Dog issue" of Hawkeye (#11) won an Eisner for Best Single Issue(as well as Aja repeating his Best Cover Artist award from 2013).

Hopefully, "the Signing issue", out this week, will be considered during award season next year.

First off, if you're going to buy the book you'll need this alphabet of American Sign Language


But, before that, you should realise that it's great


And, a note from David Aja,

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

damn... i studies (for fun) ASL for a while... but for the life of me i am a blank at some of those...

[crinos]

I actually took a class on it in college and I'm also stumped.

Language use really does degrade over time if you don't use it.

[beyondthefringe]

I'm surprised that we haven't seen any callbacks to the last time Clint was rendered hearing impaired. After the events of his first miniseries, the one in which he met and married Mockingbird, he lost most of his hearing due to improper use of a sonic arrowhead, and had to get hearing aids.

This was ultimately fixed in Heroes Reborn, when he was wished away to the alternate Earth and then returned, but it should still be canon.

Interesting that Fraction inserted a childhood incident instead or in addition to that period.

[burkeonthesly]

Gaining immunity to mind-control sounds by putting it in your mouth is arguably a proper use for a sonic arrowhead. It's not a bug, it's a feature.

[ablackraptor]

I think its supposed to be in addition to it, like this is something he's had to deal with a lot in life, and didn't just start when he deafened himself to fight Crossfire. I kinda like that idea.

[silverhammerman]

So, having not had a chance to read this yet, does anything of import actually happen in this issue? Because I really loved this series at the outset, but with the long delays and the pacing slowing way, way, way down after Grill's death I'm no longer as happy to get an issue devoted to character dynamics as I might have been 10 months ago.

It is a pity though that this series is ending with #22, I'm curious how the delays have played into that. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to learn that the series was always planned to end then, 22 issues plus a double sized annual fit comfortably in four TPBs, but at the same time, with Fraction moving towards creator owned stuff and the frequent delays it's hard not to wonder about the behind the scenes stuff.

[stubbleupdate]

So, seriously, does anything of import actually happen in this issue?
This will answer all your questions

[chrisdv]

does anything of import actually happen in this issue?

Not until the last few pages, really.

[silverhammerman]

It's weird to think how the first half of the series leaned on action packed done in one stories, given the turn that it's taken since then in terms of tone and construction. It's not necessarily a bad one, but part of me does wish things were a little less subdued at all the time.

[chrisdv]

I think it's probably going to read better as a complete story, since looking back, the entire series has basically been built about Clint & his fight with the Bros.

[silverhammerman]

Definitely. I think looking at Grill's death and knowing that it's a dramatic turning point makes it and what follows work much better. I think the series suffered as monthly though due to that sort of long term planning. One issue it was a fun adventure book and then suddenly we got three straight months of introspection, it seemed like a jarring change at the time, and for me personally, not a very welcome one.

I think one thing to consider too is that the creative team didn't know Hawkeye would take off the way it did, so those first 8 or so issues read much differently that what would follow. It read much more like them just having fun with the character than attempting to make an sort of point. Certainly at least it wasn't as focused on the Bros in those issues, I think that focus came later when the team realized that Hawkeye had become a thing and they now had room to attempt something larger.

[chrisdv]

Oh, I agree. They clearly just ran with the Bros being Clint's nemesis (Nemeses?) for the book, and tied in the larger Marvel criminal underworld.

Saying that, the only complaints I've had are stuff that make more sense in hindsight, like alternating the narrative between Clint & Katie (Damn you, Barton) or the three issues focused on Grills' death.

[bruinsfan]

That line of reasoning makes me scratch my head though. Why make such sweeping changes in tone to a series that became popular with the initial gonzo action/comedy issues?

[silverhammerman]

Beats me, I quite liked how it started out. I'd imagine though that the creative team simply found it more interesting/rewarding to change things up. As much as we might complain about corporate mandates and editorial meddling a book like Hawkeye is still defined largely by what the creators want to do.

[seisachtheia]

I am also really curious what's going on behind the scenes with this. It's kind of curious. Plus I don't think Fraction's lined up to do anything else for Marvel? He was on that one Inhumanity book and then they randomly changed after one issue.

[filthysize]

What do you constitute as "anything"? Because the plot with the tracksuits did not move at all this issue until the very last page sort of, but character-wise, it's the big climax of Clint's arc in this run.

[silverhammerman]

I would consider "anything" to be advancement of the external plot. Having a big character moment is all well and good, but if all the players are still in more or less the same situations at the end of an issue I don't consider it eventful.

And there's nothing wrong with a largely uneventful, character focused story, it's just that after months of delays there's some expectation of plot payoff. If this had come out months ago I would probably receive it more favorably. On top of that, I still haven't gotten to read it, so maybe I'll love this issue.

[mister_terrific]

I'm not proud...I went looking for someone who could translate:

http://takingthegreyhound.tumblr.com/post/93344810472/hawkeye-19-link-and-asl-translation

[minervasolo]

I hadn't realised how different the SAL alphabet is to BSL. I knew they were - apparently the guy who founded BSL didn't want to share, so the Americans asked the French for sign language help instead - but there's maybe only 5 overlapping letters and numbers 6 and up are different too. I wonder if international editions will still use ASL, or if it'll change depending on territory?

[stubbleupdate]

Clint uses ASL. That's how it is. And translating for a non-American audience isn't as easy as just relettering - Aja drew all the signs.

[falkner]

You know, I'm honestly surprised to see American people apparently not be able to read this issue. Here in my country literally everybody knows "basic" sign language (the letter by letter kind, I have no idea what its proper name is, sorry) because it's the sort of thing you naturally learn as soon as you start school to talk to your classmates during lessons without having to be caught sending notes or speaking out loud from one corner of the room to the other.

Too bad the American version is drastically different and in the end I can't read it either.

Tangentially related: this issue reminded me of those Criminal Intent episodes in which Bobby uses sign language. I can never understand shit of what he's saying, but it's so hot; people speaking other languages are always incredibly charming.

[morwen]

Fingerspelling is probablyt the term you are after. Very curious as to what country that is, but understand if you don't want to say.

[falkner]

No problems, I'm from Italy.
This is what it looks like for us, but after some Googling I found out nowadays the American version is being used as well, because of the ability to do all letters with a single hand and without using other body parts. If I were a little younger maybe I would have learnt that one as well, now I'm sad I missed the chance.

[dustbunny105]

Speaking just for myself, I can read the fingerspelling well enough since I learned the ASL alphabet (ASLphabet? *ducks tomatoes*) when I was a Girl Scout. It's when they sign actual words that I have to stop and think, since I've only ever learned a handful of those signs.

[leoboiko]

As a linguist who's constantly disappointed with Marvel's lack of treats for language nerds (no conlangs, dumb or nonexistent foreign-language proper names, gibberish alphabets etc.), I'm of course thrilled. But, as someone who tried to learn drawing and failed miserably, what really fills me with admiration is the sheer amount of hands drawn in this issue.