We're going to follow Hawkeye, Mr. Stern, and Bob Hall over to the west coast for a few issues, interspersed with the adventures of the New York team. One of the criticisms of the Marvel U, more in previous decades than now, is that pretty much all of their superheroes were based in New York. They must have just been hanging out on street corners and in coffee shops, given the number that routinely had cataclysmic adventures in the city. Today's comic is an early attempt to not only spread out the characters and include more of the United States in the Marvel U, but also an early attempt at expanding the Avengers publishing franchise. Of course, in 1984, Marvel didn't have a string of extremely profitable films to use as a backbone for this kind of expansion, so the limited series format fits nicely. A short run, but long enough to give some good feedback as to whether or not the series merits an ongoing. About a year after this issue, the WCA gets its ongoing.
Hawkeye has always been a favourite of Avengers writers, and, I'll admit, I'm not entirely certain why. He's cocky and headstrong, he unpowered, and, at least in the last little bit of Avengers that I've read, he's more than a little chauvinistic. But I think what he really epitomizes in Marvel lore is the redemption arc. Hence his leading of the Thunderbolts for a long while in the early 2000s. But Hawkeye starts off as a villain, and then basically bullies his way onto a team of super powered heroes. He shows determination and a genuine belief in changing to the side of the angels. And, as far as I know, he's never slipped back into villainy. Redemption is a powerful idea, one that, even for the smallest infractions, many of us seek.
Back to the east tomorrow, but we'll his sunny California again soon. To be continued.
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