Previously: Our long-form look at Hawkeye the Marksman goes on unabated. When we left off, Hawkeye had just returned to the team after one of his lengthier absences, and big changes in his life were just around the corner… In September of 1983, after almost two decades of publication, ol’ Hawkeye finally got his own […]
Staying on Target, Part V
For Those Who Came In Late: We’re hipdeep in our extended coverage of Hawkeye the Marksman, Marvel Comics’ resident archer and lovable loudmouth. When we left off last week, a frustrated Hawkeye had just quit the Avengers, and was jetting off to the West Coast in pursuit of a lost love, the Black Widow, who […]
Staying on Target, Part IV
Last time: When last we convened we were in the midst of our discussion of Marvel’s Avenging Archer, Hawkeye the Marksman. When we left off, Hawkeye, in the grip of a long-building inferiority complex, had given up his bow and quiver in exchange of steady doses of Hank Pym’s growth serum, transforming him into the […]
Staying on Target, Part III
Previously: We’ve been talking of late about Hawkeye the marksman, the Marvel Universe’s resident archer extraordinaire, longtime Avenger and seemingly full-time member of the lonely hearts club. Brother has no luck with the ladies. When we left off last time, Hawkeye was finding his way on an Avengers team increasingly populated with much more powerful […]
Staying on Target, Part II
For Those Who Came In Late: Last time, we began our coverage of Marvel Comics’ resident archer and malcontent, Hawkeye the Marksman. As we saw then, Hawkeye got his start as a misunderstood supervillain, repeatedly finding himself in conflict with Iron Man thanks to Hawkeye’s romantic fixation on the Soviet femme fatale the Black Widow. […]
Staying on Target
I have a tendency, it must be admitted, to root for the little guy when it comes to comic-book characters. Sure, your Supermans and Wolverines and Incredible Hulks are cool, but I always tend to identify more with the “regular joes” of the superhero community, the ones who get by on their wits and nerve, […]
Marvel’s Most Overlooked Giant: Black Goliath
Editor’s Note: Remember Laurence Fishburne in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP? Who’s he playing, you ask? Bill Foster, a.k.a. Black Goliath. Seeing Fishburne on the screen made me think about poor doomed Black Goliath, blasted through the torso by a Thor clone back in 2007 and then buried by helicopters at full height for a bit […]
Just Say No
What’s the most dangerous gig in the DC Universe? The Doom Patrol, right? Must be. Got the word “Doom” right there in the title. Nope. Guess again. The Justice League, maybe? After all, they handle the biggest threats – surely that’s got to be some serious hazard duty. Uh-uh. No, by my estimation, the most […]
The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Rings
Although much is made of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s strength lying in its interconnectedness, many of my favorite Marvel films are the ones that stand alone, alike Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther or Ant-Man. Even with that, I walked into Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings yesterday a little less than confident, not having […]
Airboy Goes to China
Way, way back in the day, in these pages, we discussed Hillman Periodicals’ stable of slightly jingoistic characters published during World War II, military aviation heroes like Airboy, SkyWolf, the Flying Fool, the Iron Ace, Black Angel and the Heap. But what we didn’t discuss is how the character matured once the war was […]
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE: Crisis on Infinite Earths
For those who came in late: If you missed last week’s Comics 101, it’s probably a good idea to go back and catch up before diving into this week’s concluding installment. For those of you who can’t be talked into it, here’s the Cliff Notes version: In an effort to explain why some of their […]
Too Many Earths
With both the DC and Marvel cinematic universes delving into multiverse-based storylines, I’ve been getting a lot of multiverse-related questions lately. Which makes it the perfect time for a refresher course… “What’s the difference between the Justice League and the Justice Society? Who came first?” “If Superman and Batman were around in the 1940s, how […]
Sometimes, the New Order Stinketh
As has been discussed many times in these pages, a large part of the strength of THE AVENGERS as a concept is its ever-rotating roster of teammates. However, that doesn’t mean that every now and then, a real lemon doesn’t somehow find his or her way on to the team. Let’s take a look at […]