The purple-hued bowman of the Avengers is back in another Avengers spin-off series, Avengers Solo. The five part series will see Hawkeye act as the main attraction with his fellow Avengers serving as back-up stars.
For a character who started off as an Iron Man villain, Hawkeye has come a long way, joining up with and even leading two teams of Avengers in his time (though one of those teams was the goofy Great Lakes Avengers). A fan favorite hero, Hawkeye became the center of attention when Brian Michael Bendis took over the Avengers and killed several of its members including the former circus performer and archer. Ever since he has returned from the dead in the pages of House of M, Hawkeye has been a big hit with readers, starring with his one-time wife Mockingbird in the critically acclaimed and canceled too soon monthly book and several other projects.
The Avengers Solo book may sound familiar because it was tried once before back in 1987 and ran for 40 successful issues with Hawkeye serving as the main attraction each month. With the Avengers reaching new heights of popularity (there are four monthly Avengers books on the stands and at least one more planned for New Dark Avengers shortly), it should come as no surprise that another is on its way. The popularity of Hawkeye has also risen significantly due to the character’s cameo in the Thor feature film as played by hot film star Jeremy Renner.
Jen Van Meter talked to Newsarama about her Hawkeye scripts earlier in the month where some preview art was also shown:
“I don’t really want to surround him with people he already knows,” Van Meter said in a phone interview with Newsarama. “I’d kind of like to drop him into a situation where he really is isolated in a community of people he’s got to deal with fresh for the first time.”
Avengers Solo preview art
In the story, Clint Barton is tasked with unraveling a murder mystery and a resulting conspiracy, which thrusts him into the unfamiliar role of sleuth as he tackles a problem he can’t just shoots arrows at.
“I’ve never seen him cast as the detective, and that’s never seemed really his strong suit, but I have always enjoyed watching him respond on the fly to stuff that he doesn’t expect,” Van Meter said. “It’s a little bit like seeing someone you’re very fond of excel at something they didn’t know they could do.”__________
“I am very drawn to his role as one of the people who are on the Avengers with no powers, because I think it takes a particular kind of confidence, and a particular kind of drive to be willing to be there when it would be so easy to say ‘You’ve got Thor, you don’t need me,'” Van Meter said. “I’m sort of fascinated by that interesting combination of courage and ego and ambition and confidence that have to be in place.”
Via Newsarama
I dearly miss the Hawkeye and Mockingbird series and recommend anyone who enjoys the Avengers or slick superhero books to pick it up in collected edition, along with the following:
The Daily P.O.P. 
Hello Mr Dailypop, I know that Bobbi Morse/Barton returned in that Secret Invasion/Battlestar Galactica Redux thing, and then co-starred in the Hawkeye and Mockingbird series you refer to above, but has she been killed off AGAIN? I read something that seemed to imply she had, if so what a waste. That character had an awful time ever since ol’ Clint failed to support her after she let the man who abused her fall to his (deserved) death, it really couldn’t get much worse for her than apparently dying and going to one of Marvel’s Hells! If she DID “really” die this time, why bring her back in the first place? Jeez, modern Marvel and DC seem pretty unconsciously misogynistic. But then again mayhap I’ve misunderstood, tho’ I did read that Hawkeye and Spider-Woman are to have a relationship (ugh, boring) so where’s Bobbie?
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“Secret Invasion/Battlestar Galactica Redux thing”- Hahahaha!!
No, she is alive. She was shot and very near death then given an experimental infusion of the Infinity Serum in a New Avengers storyline. It’s actually a very good story that weaves together the ‘1959 Avengers’ team and the modern one. She’s now alive and has some new super soldier-ish abilities and has a prolonged lifespan.
She can be seen tearing up Nazi mecha in Fear Itself.
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Woo-hoo, thank you for that! I’m rather sick of modern comics treatment of women. After the fates meted out to Scarlet Witch, Wasp (both regular and New Coke/Ultimate, and the Spoiler/Stephanie Brown before they brought her back, it would not have been surprising if they’d killed Mockie off, thankfully you’ve ameloriated my ire…
I see that an Avengers 1959 limited series by Mr Howard Victor Chaykin is coming soon, that should be good, no? Nick Fury! (“Ultimate” Nick Fury is too often a dastard for my taste, tho regular Fury is hardly simon-pure, is he). Thanks for the information.
Be Seeing You.
Hal.
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Oh, and I forgot – I’m glad you enjoyed the Secret Invasion jibe. I’m nothing if not obvious. As soon as the “strangely familiar” Skrull religous maniac plot point turned up I did curse Bendis and All His Works (well at least some of them!), it ended up not working too well in Galactica II in the end but it STANK in S.I. it was Millarian in its irritation factor. Well, prolix rant over.
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