Hawkeye: Freefall #6 (September 2): Holy fucking shit. I did not see this issue coming.
When Bryce survived Bullseye's attack last issue, I assumed that he'd survive period. Like, of course he would. Rosenberg wouldn't kill the breakdancing Skrull and hipster hacker. But, he does. Of course, Bryce doesn't just die; he dies after Clint agrees not to take him to a hospital (because cops) and instead take him to Linda's. Linda berates him for this decision, and you have to agree with her. It's one of those moments where Clint just can't be the adult. He can't say to a teenage boy, "Dude, it doesn't matter if you have warrants against you, you're going to die if I don't get you to a hospital."
It's an excellent example of his fucked-up optimism that he can fix everything when all his experience shows that he cannot. It's like when the Clown kills Grills in "Hawkeye" #9. Clint just pulls people into his vortex without understanding the responsibility that he has to them. He's like the anti-Peter Parker. You can't have your teenage assistant hang in your barely secured basement while you're fighting an increasingly personal war against a demon-powered supervillain and expect that he'll be safe.
Of course, instead of asking for help, Clint doubles down. He almost kills Bullseye, he robs Parker's legitimate bank of the money that Parker has stashed in safety deposit boxes, he has Count Nefaria summon a demon to steal Parker's hood, and he maybe kills Parker. As Fancy Dan says to Ox at the issue's end, Clint's become one of them even if he doesn't realize it. At some point, Parker wonders if Clint isn't suicidal, and it's hard to argue with him. I mean, he always seems too willing just to set his life on fire, but he goes totally over the edge here.
In other words, Rosenberg and Schmidt have really delivered one of the best Hawkeye stories that I've ever read, which is a high fucking bar. I can't recommend this series enough.
Empyre #6 (September 2): Calling this issue a dumpster fire feels unfair to dumpster fires. After ignoring the tie-in mini-series for the first five issues, the main title's resolution turns entirely on events that apparently happened in said tie-in issues. Cap learned the value of friends, Thor learned a lesson about family, and Tony reaffirmed a truth about...I don't know, something. In the end, the heroes win because the heroes win. I can't really explain it better than that. The event ends where we began, with Hulkling as Emperor of the Kree-Skrull Alliance. I think we're supposed to believe that his defeat of R'Kill (whose survival of Throneworld's destruction I'm pretty sure Ewing never explained) means that the Kree and Skrulls will rally to his leadership now that they've been reminded of how futile war is by...some device that the two kids the Fantastic Four rescued used...despite it actually holding them hostage? Anyway, we're done here.
Guardians of the Galaxy #6 (September 2): I'll be honest that I wanted this issue to end with a sobbing Richard admitting that it wasn't his fault like "Good Will Hunting." But, we don't get that here. Instead, we get a Richard maybe starting to get comfortable with the idea that he needs help, which is admittedly truer to his character.
The most telling part isn't his discussion with his therapist, but the flashback with Gamora. I've often wondered why we've glossed over the fact that Gamora and Richard were a couple, and Ewing at least does a great job here explaining why they aren't any longer. Richard runs into her at Gosnell's Bar, which offers Annihilation War veterans half-priced beer. Gamora confesses that she loved Richard after Peter told her what he said to Peter in the Cancerverse, about how he hoped that he could convince her just to be happy. But, Gamora tells Richard that she ultimately chose Peter over him because Peter isn't like Richard: he came home from the war. To Gamora, Richard is more like her: they didn't, and Richard never will. It's sad because it's true. Gamora leaves, telling Richard that they'll never see each other again. Before she goes, Richard tells her that he loved Peter, too. When the therapist asks why, he tells her that it's because he was the only loyal friend that he had, and, as Richard says, it's what got him killed.
Ewing ends this issue on two hopeful notes. First, Richard agrees to return to therapy next week. Second, he learns about the Kree-Skrull Alliance and contemplates a lesson violent galaxy. I mean, it clearly won't be, but at least he gets some hope that it'll be for a minute.
New Mutants #12 (September 2): This issue is spectacular. This series has been middling for a while, but Brisson really summarizes the need for Krakoa in this issue.
Magik has Trinary track Dox activity, and she confirms that its "reporting" has led to numerou attacks on mutants. (In one of the interstitial pages, we learn that Dox has been publishing gate-related activity.) Magik decides to take the fight to Dox. With Glob and Mirage, she goes to Dox's headquarters. Dani tells the employees the story of three mutants who Dox's reporting injured. But, the editor interrupts, saying that mutantkind "escalated the war" when it started using human lives as bargaining chips. He uses the standard cable TV line that they can't blame the actions of a few lunatics on them. But, Magik goes one step further: Dani informs them that Trinary has developed an algorithm that publishes the author's full name and address when they dox a mutant. When the editor starts screaming at them as they leave, Glob attacks him. (As Magik said, she never thought Glob would be the one to lose his shit.) He tells the editor that he'll kill him if another mutant dies. Dox subsequently is, um, "down for temporary maintenance."
But, it's Magik's conversation with Glob on Krakoa that takes the cake. With his chickens feeding at his feet, Glob tells Magik about how his father was an anti-mutant nutjob. It took over his entire life. He'd drag Glob to protests with him. When Glob mutated, he beat him for any trespass. It only ended when his mother snuck him to Westchester in the middle of the night. In a heartbreaking sentence, Glob says, "She gave me a kiss on the forehead and told me not to call home." Glob says that he's really felt happy on Krakoa, and the editor reminded him of his father and the people who want to take that from him. He tells Magik that he needs to be better, but Magik hugs him and tells him that a little anger is good for the soul so long as it doesn't consume you.
Glob's story is why I've realized that Krakoa really is necessary. As Charles and Erik tell Reed in "X-Men/Fantastic Four" #4, it really is about survival. It's also about fighting on the same level as the humans fight, as Magik does here. It's hard not to worry that it'll end in tears, but for now I'm glad that people like Glob get to have their anger in a safe space. As Magik said, it's good for the soul.
Amazing Spider-Man #48 (September 9): Ugh. As a long-time Spider-Man fan, I have to say that I've read so many version of this issue - of a navel-gazing Peter wondering what he's going to do about Norman Osborn - that I just can't. First, I find the idea that Norman somehow managed to get himself appointed the head of Ravencroft to be a hard sell, even with Kingpin as Mayor. But, even if I accept that, it's hard to get excited about a Norman Osborn story. He's like Spider-Man's Joker; he's going to make him feel all the hurts and then he's going to inspire him to rise above it because he's a hero. The only interesting twist here is this idea that Peter is still working off the premise that Sin-Easter cleansing him of sin is a bad thing. The rest of Team Spider isn't convinced, and they've pledged to stop Peter from saving Norman. It's definitely as interesting as a twist as I could imagine for a Norman story, but it doesn't mean I care all that much.
Also Read: Empyre: Aftermath - Avengers #1 (September 9); Marauders #12 (September 9)
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