Avengers Spotlight #22

Review: The Hawkeye tale begins with some comedy: Clint and Bobbi bickering at the marriage counselor’s office but it quickly turns into a full scale fight scene, also peppered with comic banter by our hero. The writing atones for some mediocre art but if you can get past that splash panel, it’s mostly okay. And the hits keep coming: Brothers Grimm then Mad-Dog then Bobcat. And while none of them are particularly fearsome, the cumulative effect is worrisome and there’s more (bad guys) to come….

Some belated continuity: the origin of a character who had died fifteen years earlier in the comics and had never been restored to life except as a sentient plant and as a zombie but never in the usual “he got better” way—and that was after this issue anyway. Not sure why this was weighing on the writer’s conscience but here it is and even Hawkeye thinks it’s important for the other Avengers to know. It’s an unremarkable little story of a revolutionary betrayed by his supposed allies, a fairly cynical take on the birth of a hero, even a hero who started out as a villain. And even Hawkeye questions the wisdom of having uncovered the Swordsman’s secret in the end. Jose Marzan, Jr. contributed to the inking.

Comments: First story: Part one of four. Title is a pun on the phrase “Grin and bear it,” meaning to endure pain or misfortune stoically. Hawkeye previously defeated the Brothers Grimm in WEST COAST AVENGERS #40 (not #46 as indicated in the issue). Mad-Dog is Bob Baxter, ex-husband of Patsy “Hellcat” Walker; he was introduced as Mad-Dog in DEFENDERS #125-130 and previously appeared in SOLO AVENGERS #9 with Hellcat. Bobcat was first seen in SOLO AVENGERS #11, this four-issue arc is his second and final appearance in the comics. 

Second story: Swordsman’s origin and real name revealed. He first appeared in AVENGERS #19 and died in GIANT SIZE AVENGERS #2; his spirit had just reappeared in WEST COAST AVENGERS #39. Rebel leader Wong-Chu is the same guy present for the origin of  Iron Man in TALES OF SUSPENSE #39. 

he letters column includes one by (likely) future comics scholar Patrick Hamilton and ones by future comics creators Dean Shomshak and Danny DeAngelo.