Somebody’s First Comic Book: Avengers (1963 Series) #189

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: Wings and Arrows

CREDITS:
Writer: Steven Grant (Plot by Grant, Mark Gruenwald & Roger Stern)
Penciller: John Byrne
Inks: Dan Green
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: Ben Sean
Editor: Roger Stern
Publisher: Marvel Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: I recognize Captain America, of course… saw that Thor trailer during the Superbowl. I thought Hawkeye was from MASH, though.

IMPRESSIONS: As this issue starts, the Avengers (seems to be your basic superhero team) is finishing up a mission and an old member, the Falcon, is coming back to re-join the group. But evidently, there’s some government rule that the team can only have seven members, so Hawkeye is getting kicked out.

Most of the book follows the now-unemployed Hawkeye as he attempts to find new employment as head of security for a big corporation, which just happens to be attacked by a supervillain called Deathbird. The fight scene between the two of them is pretty good, actually – a guy with a bow and arrow trying to take down a girl who can fly works out surprisingly well, and the writer gives us a very good feel for just who Hawkeye is.

In fact, even though we don’t see the rest of the team for more than a few pages each, we get to know them all pretty well. Especially Yellowjacket, the Vision, and the Scarlet Witch, all of whom are totally new characters to me. And hey, Iron Man and the Beast are in this too! I thought Beast was one of the X-Men though… anyway, we get a feel for what’s going on in all of their lives, and there are even several footnotes that seem to refer to other stories featuring these characters. Neat feature – the script gives you everything you need to know, but if you want to know more, it tells you where to look. I like that.

This was a pretty cool story. Lots of characters, although there’s really a spotlight on just one. Clearly there’s a lot of history here, but it’s nothing that’s particularly intimidating. I’d definitely read more of these characters.

GRADE: B+