Hawkeye #14: Review

Nov 2013

Matt Fraction, Annie Wu

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Story Name:

LA woman

Review & Comments

Rating:

Hawkeye #14 Review by Rob Johnson (August 6, 2022)

The mysterious helpful supermarket stranger (who looks and is described as like Det Columbo) will turn out to be Harold H Harold from the original Tomb Of Dracula series. The reason he doesn't show up on CCTV is that since then he's become a vampire himself.

Kate Bishop and her support cast will be back in #16. Madame Masque will cameo then, and Flynt Ward will return in #18.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Hawkeye #14 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

In the Annual Kate Bishop left her New York Hawkeye partnership (with Clint Barton) and moved to Los Angeles with Lucky the dog. Unfortunately her enemy Madame Masque caused her to lose all her stuff and cut off her credit card. She blagged a job house-sitting a beach trailer (and a cat) and also managed to get a cheap bow and arrows.

But she's still broke (but she still somehow has a laptop) so she designs an ad claiming to be a super hero/private eye for hire. She goes to a nearby trailer and persuades the occupants to let her print some flyers off. They are an African-American gay couple Marcus and Finch planning to get married. But Marcus is angry because someone's stolen the orchids from a flower shop he ordered them from. She persuades them to let her get the orchids back, and if they're satisfied maybe they'll pay her.

She cycles to Shoreside Floral and finds it burned down with the owner sitting outside nursing a black eye. He claims the villain Flynt Ward wanted to buy all the orchids. When the florist Gary refused he did all this and took them anyway. Gary daren't go to the cops because Ward is a major bad guy. Next stop is the cops where Kate talks to Detective Caudle. He tells her they know it was arson but unless the florist is willing to testify there's nothing the police can do. Then he throws her out of the station. She reports back to the wedding couple and says she's going to confront Ward. But 1st she has get some tinned food for the cat, who will only eat 1 specific type which she can't find. A helpful stranger locates 1 can hidden among some others.

Bishop tries Plan A - the direct approach. She knocks on Ward's door and claims to be rich and looking to buy some orchids. She's been told he's the man to see. But he turns her away because she doesn't dress rich and he saw her arrive on a bicycle. So that night it's Plan B the stealth approach, complete with bow and arrows. She breaks in to a greenhouse and sees a single orchid in a pot. But then she sees goons attired in bellhop uniforms (like those working for Madame Masque in the Annual). They pull guns. She hits 1 in the shoulder with an arrow. They shoot at her and she runs away ... straight into the chest of a burly goon accompanied by Ward. This time she's *really* thrown out.

Next scene she's back at the supermarket relating her story to the friendly stranger. He advises her that breaking and entering makes her a villain like her foes. She needs to be better than them. So she follows Ward around town on her bike taking photos of him selling drugs. However he spots her 1 time and runs her down with his car. Injured she still gets photos of him leaving the scene. And Caudle has him arrested for hit and run. He has a license to sell the drugs, but his gun will get him extra time in jail. But the detective warns this is *not* the start of a working relationship with her like they do on TV.

Injured Kate returns to her neighbours with the single orchid. (I don't know how she got it or whether they pay her.) She meets the supermarket guy again who congratulates her and buys her some files and index cards - vital for a real PI. Then he disappears. The checkout girl claims CCTV shows there was no-one else in the store. Ward uses his phone call to contact Madame Masque from jail. She has all the other orchids strewn as petals in her bath water. They talk about Kate.

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