Marvel Comic: Hawkeye - Blindspot.

[Tawmis]

Jim McCann, who brought back ALPHA FLIGHT is now tackling Hawkeye from the AVENGERS in a solo series.

USA TODAY has an article and preview:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/201 ... spot_N.htm

(Click the linky above for images/previews... the rest of the article I will copy and paste here!)

He's lost his wife, he's lost his brother, he's even lost his own life, and now Hawkeye's losing his eyesight. How much can one man lose, and what can somebody gain from all that loss?

Those are the questions at the heart of Marvel Comics' Hawkeye: Blindspot, a new four-issue miniseries, written by Jim McCann and making its debut next week. It follows up the Avengers marksman's latest book, Widowmaker, and acts as an introduction to those who will see him on a movie screen soon enough.

The fourth and final issue of Widowmaker, in comic shops today, features an epic battle with Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Black Widow, in which Hawkeye receives a brutal blow to the head fighting bad guys. That seemingly everyday injury — at least for a superhero — has a huge impact in Blindspot, as the trauma has caused swelling in Clint Barton's brain that's put pressure on the occipital lobe.

In other words, he's going blind.

Fellow Avengers Steve Rogers, Tony Stark and Hank Pym do what they can in the meantime — with Stark outfitting him with a nifty helmet to offset his worsening vision problems. Still, for an expert archer who's been waylaid in the past with a broken arm and temporary hearing loss only to bounce back better, blindness is a serious problem.

"I really wanted to push the character pretty much as far as I could," says McCann, who's been a huge fan since Mark Gruenwald's 1983 Hawkeye miniseries. "That doesn't necessarily mean pushing somebody to want to kill. You can emotionally push them to their limits by taking away what they value most.

"I really, really wanted to put Hawkeye through something and see how he can compensate for it or how he can rise up above it. He doesn't have superpowers. He doesn't have magic powers or a shield or super-soldier serum or irradiated blood. He has to go to practice and become the best he can be — he represents such great potential and, at the same time, is at risk of failing the most, especially in his own eyes."

McCann's tough love is just the latest in Hawkeye's rough life — "They didn't let me kill him in the first issue," the writer jokes, referring to the recent death of the Human Torch.

Since the character was first introduced in 1964, we've learned of his hardscrabble upbringing in an orphanage with his brother Barney and then a traveling carnival. He's watched mentors die and betray him. He was a misunderstood criminal until Rogers took a chance on him and gave him an Avengers card. He watched his brother turn to a life of crime and die. He actually did die himself, only to be resurrected later. And he watched his marriage to Mockingbird crumble and then lost his lover, only to find out much later she's still alive and attempt to rekindle that romance.

McCann lives and breathes Hawkeye, according to Blindspot editor Thomas Brennan. "We were on the phone discussing his most recent script, and I teased him for having a page full of Hawkeye's history: 'Think of what you could have been doing when you were busy looking all of this up!' He responded, 'Actually, the sad part is I knew all of that from memory.' But it's not sad. Jim's knowledge of Hawkeye is part of what makes the difference in a comic creator and their storytelling. Not just passion for the story, but passion for the story of this character."

Blindspot will go into this history of his and more, McCann says, and show what he's been through to counterpoint where he is now. "I wanted people to see the world through Hawkeye's eyes and then take them away and see how he deals without them.

"He has gained faith in himself, lost faith in himself, been at the top of the world and been six feet under. Is this just one more thing to add on to it? Is this the final straw? Or has he been through so much that he can find it in himself to say, 'You know what, throw anything at me and I will take it on'? This is kind of what could make or break a hero."

There are a pair of baddies to be had, too, and both have their own motivations for coming after Hawkeye at this moment, including a mysterious new villain who McCann says definitely knows Clint.

Baron Zemo, who's had a beef with Hawkeye since the Thunderbolts days and before, is back as well. "There's some outstanding issues between these two, and the methods he is taking to exact his revenge are being revealed, and it's been a long time coming," McCann says.

By the end of Blindspot, McCann says the biggest difference in Hawkeye will be that the ways he approaches life and what he's discovers about himself and others will be a driving force for him going forward. "The actions that he takes in this will have consequences, and that's why this is a turning point and a new chapter. It's got both a closure and opens something new."

As much Hawkeye history as there is in this series, McCann made sure to make it accessible to those wanting to get in on the ground floor, since the character will be hitting the big screen soon enough. Oscar-nominated actor Jeremy Renner is set to play Hawkeye in Joss Whedon's The Avengers next year but may be popping up even sooner: Renner reportedly has a cameo in Thor, out May 6.

Since Hawkeye is "his guy," McCann is excited about Renner's casting. "I loved him in The Hurt Locker, but seeing him The Town, he can definitely have that edge and that bucking of authority that Clint has," says McCann, who's currently starting to get back to work on his graphic novel sequel Time of the Dapper Men for Archaia. (The writer could be an Eisner nominee-in-waiting following the widespread acclaim for last year's Return of the Dapper Men.)

"People are already going to go into The Avengers movie loving Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, but now they'll have a greater understanding and an immediate love for, 'Oh, now I get who Renner's playing. This is perfect!' and be excited. Probably not as excited as I am when I see that first arrow go flying through the air and see Clint Barton on the big screen, but until then, you've got this."

[Tawmis]

Oh. And since I got side tracked (thanks a lot work!), the reason I posted it here (not that I expect anyone here to purchase it, really, since I don't think anyone here actively collects {Marvel} Comics) - but the writer Jim McCann is a very down to Earth, very cool person. In many regards, much like Al Lowe, where he will take the time to answer questions you have for him about whatever he's working on. When he relaunched Alpha Flight during the CHAOS WAR, he was very open to the Alpha Flight community (which, admittedly isn't OVERLY vast - but still!) - he took the time to do many online interviews and revealed as much as he could at the time. He saw my review I did on Alpha Flight: Chaos War One Shot and ended up talking to me about it, and how much he appreciated it; friend requested me on Facebook, and now even takes the time to comment, like, etc things I post - whether it's promoting his stuff (as I did with the Hawkeye thing after he posted it on his wall), or if it's videos or pictures of Odin. I thought that was pretty cool.