Broken Frontier

Dealing with Captain America’s death is hard enough for most people, but for Clint Barton, he’s about to receive the bargain of a lifetime from it.

Captain America’s post mortem continues to reverberate throughout the Marvel U and this time the focus is on another former Avenger returning from the dead. Of course I am talking about Hawkeye and in some ways Clint’s relationship with Steve Rogers seems like the perfect foil for him to replace the legend. Now is that intriguing enough for you? Well, all I can say is sit back and watch the fireworks, as Clint weighs in on the situation with an opinion all his own.

In fact he’s been given the daunting task of listening to Tony Stark’s manipulative speech about replacing Captain America, and ultimately being coerced into wearing the dead hero’s uniform. In some ways it makes perfect sense, given Clint’s susceptible past flip flopping between the identities of Hawkeye and Goliath, and Tony intuitively understands this. Clint also exhibits precise marksmanship which affords him the luxury of slinging Cap’s shield with commanding authority, and this is coupled with the fact that seventy-seven other trained S.H.I.E.L.D agents failed attempting that feat. So it appears as if Clint could conceivably fill the void left by Cap’s untimely death, but does he really want to do this?

That question is continuously explored throughout the issue and writer Jeph Loeb follows this thread to maximum effect. I also liked the fact that Clint Barton was used not only as clever device to examine the importance of Cap’s role in the Marvel U, but also to parallel his situation to Steve’s. Both characters have extensive histories and both men have been thrust into leadership roles at various times in the past, so it makes sense that the first hero given the chance to become the new Cap would be Clint Barton. At least in Tony’s eyes it’s justifiable, but the poignant exchange of dialogue at the end of the issue served to underscore Tony’s role as uber-villain in this drama and Clint recognized that.

On the other side of things, a strong script should have quality art to support it, and John Romita Jr. seemed up to the task of doing just that. I’ve always liked his working going as far back to his earlier days on Amazing Spider-Man, so it’s nice to see him get the chance to take part in this series of one-shot examinations of a fallen hero. John was also joined by the ever reliable and talented Klaus Janson on inking chores to help cement a solid production from beginning to end.

So far out of the three one shots to hit the new stands I liked this one the best. Dipping into Cap’s past to bring back an old friend like Hawkeye was cleverly handled to imbue the concept of Fallen Son with much food for thought. It’s also nice to find out a little more information about Hawkeye and get his thoughts on how he perceives Cap’s death given his own relationship with Steve. I say kudos to Jeph Loeb and Co. so far for bringing about this post-mortem examination, and now I wait with baited breath for the next chapter starring Spider-Man.