Title: N/A
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Breakdowns: Michael Lark
Finishes: Stefano Guadiano
Colorist: Pete Pantazis
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Before I say anything, what about those wacky credits! ‘Breakdowns’ and ‘Finishes’?? Whatever, dudes.
Anyhoo, like every other frickin’ Marvel title on the shelves, this one takes place in the ‘House of M’ universe, and therefore is ‘really happening’. Well, at least until the reset button gets hit, at any rate.
As the bright and sparky among you will have noticed from the cover, Hawkeye exists in this reality! Wow! Actually, this is one of the main, gaping holes in the whole House of M #3 ‘break the Internet in half’ cliffhanger.
Sure, I can tell from the way that this series is being written that the intent is to ‘bring Hawkeye back’. However, within the story itself, there is no reason to think that Hawkeye being ‘alive’ in this reality has anything to do with his chance of survival when things revert to ‘normal’. As I’ve said, UNCLE BEN is alive here! So is Captain Stacy! Reed Richards looks like the Thing! Why should it warm the cockles of my heart to see that Hawkeye is alive??
Anyway, I should really get into the meat of this issue. We are taken through the ‘House of M’ Pulse, where hard-bitten reporters like Ben Urich and Kat Farell struggle to function as ‘real’ reporters in an atmosphere of fear and censorship. Actually, to be fair, the scene in the newsroom, where Ms Farrell is shot down in flames, is an interesting portrayal of self-censorship in a regime of this type. After a while, the idea of censoring your stories becomes so ingrained in the culture that the idea of a rebellious story is met with a collective ‘Huh?’.
However, the whole second half with Hawkeye is really all over the shop. This whole metaphysical idea that Hawkeye ‘sees’ a different newspaper than other people, and one which depicts his demise, is muddled and does not resonate. We are meant to feel for Hawkeye, trapped between worlds where he is ‘alive’ and ‘dead’. But the whole thing smacks of ‘cuteness’ and game-playing, rather than conjuring an emotional touchstone for the reader.
Hawkeye’s final resolution does must a quiver of empathy, for the lone warrior unable to reason through an impossible situation, but it comes too late to save this mess.
Michael Lark’s artwork is pretty enough, I suppose, and at least everyone doesn’t look bruised, as was the case through much of his work on Gotham Central.
And couldn’t we have some kind of serious time with, y’know, Jessica Jones in the Pulse??
