I had no idea what I was in for as I started into Occupy Avengers. Civil War II isn’t even over yet, but luckily for us, it doesn’t matter. Occupy Avengers begins as Clint Barton a.k.a Hawkeye is on a road trip across the country. In the aftermath of what happened with The Hulk, Clint is being hailed as a hero. He’s just not sure if he is one. Which leads us to Santa Rosa, New Mexico as our story begins as Clint might just be starting to figure out the next step. Turns out being an Avenger isn’t all cosmic battles and shiny costumes, there are many battles to fight on the ground. The ground level of the Marvel Universe is just as crazy as anything else. So sit back and relax as we dive further into Occupy Avengers #1.
Clint Barton’s Great Adventure Begins Now in Occupy Avengers!
Now if you are worried because you don’t know anything about Civil War II, you will be fine. David F. Walker gives you everything you need to know going into this. Within one page of Occupy Avengers, you will know everything you need for the story. It’s one of the smoothest recaps of a storyline I have seen in a while too. Walker is making a point to give you the background and then you are good to go.
The core concept of Occupy Avengers is to show a Hawkeye on the ground level of heroism. Ground level being with the people, and in turn meeting Sheriff Ortiz and Red Wolf in a diner. That’s when you learn of the Sweet Medicine Indian Reservation and what’s happening there. You learn of the contaminated water and why Clint is there. Of course with this chat, you learn that Mr. Barton’s road trip has been eventful before getting here.
That’s what I like about how Walker is building these characters. Ortiz is only in a small bit of the book, but I hope we see more of her as I liked her. Red Wolf is going to be great and it seems like he’ll be hanging around as the series goes on. I do enjoy Walker’s take on Clint; I love it in fact. Throughout the issue, Walker shows a Clint Barton looking for redemption for what happened with the Hulk. He’s not lost but definitely wondering if he’s a hero, a great examination of the character.
Just what makes a hero?
One part of the character examination I enjoyed is how Clint explains why he uses the Bow and Arrow. Walker makes a point to get you inside his head and it’s a joy to read. You get the humor of Clint and how earnest he is in wanting to help, and also how awesome he can be in a fight. It’s a genuine multi-faceted look that I cannot help but enjoy.
As Clint and Red Wolf learn more of what is happening with the Indian Reservation, this is where some low points kick in. Low point being the villains, they’re a little too generic for me. I know what they’re there for, they serve for more examination into Clint but, they could have been better. It’s so minor though as it pushes another old school Marvel villain to life, which will make the second issue interesting, to say the least. I did not see that villain coming into play with this story at all.
The ending had me curious about the next issue in a big way.
While the initial villains didn’t work for me, my goodness did it make for some gorgeous Carlos Pacheco pencils. Besides the slightly weak villain initially, that double page motorcycle chase rocked. My other favorite part was Red Wolf and his army of wolves, that was such a cool image, I loved it to pieces. The only weak part for me art wise was possibly the look of the villains, but that’s a mild complaint at best. Walker’s conversations were also a joy to behold and Pacheco enhanced it with some great expressions. I liked Walker giving Pacheco these great six panel pages to give the chat an almost cinematic look to it.
I also like the strong inks from Rafael Fonteriz, which really does help in strengthening Pacheco’s pencils. Sonia Oback’s coloring on this is beyond gorgeous. In the massive motorcycle chase, there’s a great use of shadows in the battle. It’s almost as if you’re in the thick of it with the bright lights illuminating and surrounding Barton. One particular favorite is when Clint is drawing his bow and it’s so subtle but great to see such wonderful usage of light and shadow. I like that.
Occupy Avengers is not just a well-written book but one with a great art team too.
Occupy Avengers has the potential from this issue to be a strong new series. It’s a new take on the idea of Avengers and Clint Barton is the perfect fit for this idea. Time will tell how this series develops but if this issue is any indication, this series is going to rock.
