"Of course, all the people who hated this book and hoped it'd be cancelled also tended to be among the fans who were upset when Hawkeye was killed off a few months later."

That's kind of a "our way or the highway" approach, though, which strikes me as something that's been repeated often, with books such as the Fight Club Thunderbolts, the reality TV New Warriors, the Chuck Austen Avengers, and more. The pattern seems to be to put out something that clearly isn't clicking with the fans, and then retroactively decide that the characters just aren't (or never were) popular enough to support a series and therefore it's necessary to cancel, kill them off, or radically revamp them.

Posted by CylverSaber on 2007-08-07 18:27:01
Gotta agree with CylverSaber here. That's some kinda twisted logic to jump from "People who disliked this take on Hawkeye, which bore little resemblance to the character they used to like, should have had no trouble with the character being killed off."

Seems to me the argument is that the failed Hawkeye series, which didn't really seem to "get" the character in the opinion of many of his fans (including this one) is what made it seem OK for Bendis to go ahead and kill him off. After all, the character couldn't sustain a series, and it couldn't be that he was popular, but the creative team got it wrong, it had to be that nobody cared about Hawkeye.

Posted by Randy Lander on 2007-08-07 22:40:25
Hawkeye
I thought launching a book like this with a six issue story was a bad idea and contributed greatly to the quick demise. It just seemed like there was no righting the ship after a weak launch when you're stuck with having to use the first half dozen issues to tell one story. One that the "average man on the street" would have no intention of picking up if he missed the first issue. I'm glad Marvel has loosened up on the 6-issue deal now. Things seem to be a little looser on the story-length side of things.

Posted by dum dum dugan on 2007-08-08 01:09:43
it's good if Clint Barton is the new Ronin now, ( tough almost everybody thinked it would be Matt Murdock ); despite I didn't read this 6-parts issues, I think it could have work, I regret that it didn't make it with the readers as an ongoing, "...nobody cared about Hawkeye " is wrong, it could have interested me at last and I hope (I'm sure ) there will be anothers tries like this one, with other characters out of their usual context.

Posted by notapotatoe on 2007-08-08 05:32:36
I think the fact that the series was under-supported speaks more to how the character was presented than to who the character is. Hawkeye was able to support a "Solo" Avengers book for upwards of 40 issues, the character was a linchpin in the launching of a second Avengers series with second tier avengers including a replacement Iron Man, and he was used to shore up a sinking ship when brought into Thunderbolts (my opinion). Hawkeye's got some gas but launching a new series with a six issue arch that did not come even close to the heart of the character is what turned me off. I bought issue one, went where's Hawkeye? and dropped it, even though he's one of my top five favorite characters. Also, I think I was more upset about how Hawkeye was killed in Disassembled than the fact that he was. The rushed pace of the whole arc and the loose logic made for a bad after taste.

Posted by topkat74 on 2007-08-08 10:38:03
I for one loved this book, bought every issue, and still mourn its premature (in my opinion) cancellation.

Posted by Ben Morse on 2007-08-08 10:39:53
.
i remember not picking this issue up as the whole not-in-costume reports bugged me. i wanted a mini like the gruenwald one in the 80s. of course looking back now, i probably would have enjoyed this as i've since read and enjoyed nieceza's nomad run and it sounds a little similar.

Posted by bomaya on 2007-08-08 10:41:53
I, for two, loved this book, bought every issue, and still mourn its premature cancellation.

Posted by MattDiCarlo on 2007-08-08 12:50:04
i think the death of hawkeye was a great thing to happen to the character, and i really like the way he has been handled since his "re-birth." the only thing i would change would to make clint the new captain america, but still fight for the resistance.

Posted by frog_legs on 2007-08-09 04:20:26
I'm a huge Hawkeye fan (or at least I used to be; the current use of him just absolutely baffles me as completely illogical and incompatible with the character) and probably about as big a Nicieza fan as there is, but the series just didn't click. I think the idea of having him out of costume was a big problem. But I also don't really know having him deal with Southeast Asian mysticism was really the best fit for the character either. I think Hawkeye has a ton of fans, but they want to see him in costume, interacting with other heroes. I know the book put him into costume and did an arc with Black Widow, but by then the decision to cancel it had already been made (IIRC).

Posted by motteditor on 2007-08-09 18:02:36
See, here is where I defend the treatment of the Marvel characters. People constantly complain that characters no longer are "the ones I loved as a kid" or "act out of character", but in all reality, even comic book reality, people change. Especially people faced with violence, death, rebirth, and bizarre acts of horror on a daily basis. Would any one of us act exactly the same after witnessing a tragedy? Ask any soldier from Vietnam or Iraq if they are the same before they left...the answer is no. Characterization is an organic, liquid concept that must adapt and change as the situation allows. To wish for the same, rehashed silver age characters that guffawed in the face of death and every issue had the same snappy banter like nothing happened is juvenile and the antithesis of progressive.

It seems as though comic fans are hypocritical in the sense that they wish the medium to be taken seriously as literature, art and pop culture, yet wish all the "cardboard" characterizations, as static as the 60's and 70's, to remain. It is exactly these type of characters that drain the credibility out of the medium. Civil War is a perfect example of progressive storytelling, yet many comic fans lambasted the treatment of Stark and Cap. Stark acted in his best interests, being a billionare and all, and spoke for the people. Captain America realized he no longer spoke for the majority of the American people, and gave himself up NOT to SHEILD, but to the AMERICAN PEOPLE, whom he really answers to.

I mean really, do we wish to return comics to the following:

BADGUY: "Alas! The heroes will never discover my fiendish plot for revenge...BWAAAHAHAHAH!"
GOODGUY: "Not so fast, evildoer! I fight for truth, justice, and kickin your butt!"

Come on. Why regress when comics are garnering the attention of more and more intelligentsia and the most talented writers/artists in the world? You want cheesy camp? Read the Adventures line or the Superman comics. You want progressive, respectable, compelling storytelling? Read Marvel.

Posted by LazGreen on 2007-08-09 19:53:27
One more note
Tom,

If you are reading this, well, you're the pro and I'm not, but I always felt that starting a new series with a six issue storyline is a very, very bad idea.

There's a chance someone might like the character and the writer but not some other aspect of the storyline. With a shorter storyline, they might ride it out a few months to see what the next one would be like. That half a year gap before the next storyline can be a real killer in pulling people in.

That's just my opinion.

Posted by MattDiCarlo on 2007-08-10 14:02:53
hawkeye
I really loved this series (I actually just reread it yesterday), and I was very disappointed when it was cancelled.
Sure, I'd have liked to have seen more of Hawkeye in costume, but the character was the same regardless of what he was wearing, and Fabian has always done well with that character.
I also really liked the "past prologue" sequences, showing untold tales of Clint's background that paralled the main plot.

I think the made-for-trade pacing of the first arc was part of the problem for the series; although the story was interesting, the pace was a little too slow, imo, for an opening arc. If it had been a few issues shorter, or saved that arc to be the 2nd arc or something, it might have done better.

In any case, I hope Fabian Nicieza gets another shot with the character at some point--I'm sure he's got plenty of interesting stories left to tell with Clint Barton!

Posted by Dermie on 2007-08-12 11:50:11