Hawkeye of the Young Avengers
So I finally read the Young Avengers run and I admit, I really liked it. Lots of great characters, good stories and good art. I especially liked Kate, the unpowered young woman who decides to become a superhero simply on the strength of her will. Well...Until I read the Young Avengers Special that had short 'motivation' stories for all the characters. Now I'm a little put out because Kate's story really took away from Kate's character.
She was attacked. Possibly raped. That's why a nice girl would want to run around with a bow and arrow when she should be shopping and talking about boys! I get it now!
Actually, I got it before. Kate wanted to run around with a bow and arrow because she wanted to. Because she knew she was capable and wasn't a person to wait to be rescued or wait for someone else to do the rescuing. This is the girl who, when faced with armed bad guys and having the police AND superheroes ready to save her STILL decided she needed to take the situation in hand and stab her assailent in the leg to take him out. This is the girl who entertained no doubts about her ability to be a superhero despite a lack of powers or intense training. This is the girl who got on a superhero team by pure force of will.
Kate didn't become Hawkeye because of the half-assed, overused motivation of striking back after an attack. She became one because that's already who she was. Kate knows herself and what she is capable of and pushes herself and others without entertaining a doubt of her ability to acheive her goals. She told off Captain America when he threatened to get in her way. Captain America!
Hopefully that dumb little origin will be buried. Hawkeye is who she is because that's who she is and that's all I need to know.
posted by Dawn @ 3:20 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
::She was attacked. Possibly raped. That's why a nice girl would want to run around with a bow and arrow when she should be shopping and talking about boys! I get it now!::
So...Hawkeye couldn't be a hero just b/c she wanted to be one? She had to have some Traumatic, Life-Altering Event that drives her to it - and, being female in a superhero comic, that TLAE naturally had to be some form of sexual assault? ::headpalm!::
::sigh:: As a white hetereosexual middle-aged male, why am I constantly being smacked in the face with evidence that Tammy is right about (hopefully) unconscious prejudices by creative people? It's NOT fair, I tell ya! I should, at my age, be able to sit in front of the TeeVee, complacent in my WASP Masculine natural superiority and rightness in all things.... BELCH!
Do you ever wonder if this isn't Marvel's way of CYAing in case some kid decides s/he's a superhero, hurts her/himself while trying to Save The Day, and the parents decide to (wait for it) BLAME THE COMICS INDUSTRY! "Oh, no - we're VERY careful to show that trying to Be a Superhero is a bad thing, so nobody will aspire to, you know, do something heroic unless ordered to by an officer somewhere in the Middle East...!" (Sorry - I've been reading Olbermann's book, and the sheer Bizarro World idiocy he points out makes me cranky....)
I'm with you on this, Dawn. Hawkeye sounds like a great character - this twist aside.
Best,
Tim Liebe
Dreaded Spouse-Creature of Tamora Pierce
- and co-writer of Marvel's upcoming White Tiger comic
PS: I haven't forgotten the list of DD comics - we just got the missing issues in the mail today.
I'm not disagreeing with the post, but you've got the names mixed up. Cassie is Stature, Scott Lang's daughter. The new Hawkeye is Kate.
Oh boy. That's embarrassing. Time for an edit, Thanks Kalinara! :)
There, fixed. That's why I will never be a writer. I get a rather obvious thing wrong and run with it. I read and reread that post and never clued in to the mistake. Ah well, my other blog's url is comBicbookwoman.blogspot.com. Obvious mistakes are my forte!
Tim - I never thought it might be something intentional by Marvel. It certainly is hard to think of a recent young character that becomes a superhero for the joy of it. Speedball of New Warriors is the only one that really stands out and that was over 15 years ago now. I'm sure there must be a few more (I sort of missed the interveneing 14 years) but they're more the exception?
::Tim - I never thought it might be something intentional by Marvel.::
Dawn - I think it's like a lot of the sexism or homophobia in comics. I'm sure most of it isn't intentional, either - it's just so pervasive in their world that they don't even think about it. That's why when they reply to allegations of misogyny or homophobia, they sound surprised and hurt that you'd think that of them as often as not.
::It certainly is hard to think of a recent young character that becomes a superhero for the joy of it.::
Maybe the new Batgirl? Otherwise, the whole TLAE thing is pretty much the only template for superheroes, and has been since teenaged Peter Parker let the guy who'd later shoot his Uncle Ben go. Back when I first read comics in the Sixties, the flawed heroes at Marvel seemed multidimensional and genuinely innovative, especially compared to what DC was doing then (and continued doing for about a decade after). But forty-so years on, that every superhero must be a professional failure/failure in love/drunk or other kind of addict/vengeance-driven borderline psycho/victim or perpetrator of child or spousal abuse is as big a cliche as the ready availability of Kryptonite in Fifties and Sixties SUPERMAN comics. You can add depth and dimension to a character without making them a basket case - though apparently it's heresy in the comics industry to say so!
Best,
Tim Liebe
Dreaded Spouse-Creature of Tamora Pierce - and co-author of Marvel's upcoming WHITE TIGER comic!
PS: I finally finished the list of DD issues we used for WHITE TIGER - e-mail me at the address in my profile and I'll send it to you.
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