Hawkeye (vol. 2) #3
Run of the Arrow
While up in Norther Canada, Hawkeye uncovered a Secret Empire operation to create hybrid wolves. He manages to rescue one he named Rover. However, in the process of doing so, the entire town of Dunroman, Alberta is wiped out. Hawkeye has vowed to avenge the innocent people there by shutting down the Secret Empire for good.
Needing a resupply of equipment to do so, Hawkeye puts in a call to his friend Jim Rhodes, aka War Machine. Jim agrees to help and takes Clint to see an inventor named Mack Mendelson, who can built Hawkeye new equipment and weapons.[1] Mack agrees to help Clint out, saying it will take a few days to prepare everything. While they wait, Jim asks Clint how he is holding up following the death of his wife Mockingbird.[2] However, this is still a raw subject for Barton, who tells Rhodes that he’ll get over it eventually.
Meanwhile, after taking control of the Secret Empire, Viper has decided to relocate their operations to a new facility. Traveling to South America by air, she has private council with her hired mercenaries Trick Shot and Javelynn. Viper is concerned that Trick Shot might still have some loyalties to Hawkeye since he was the one who taught the bowman everything he knows.[3] Trick Shot assures Viper that he’s loyal only to her, but she isn’t entirely sold on this, warning him that she’ll see him dead the moment his loyalties begin to waver.
A few days later, Hawkeye’s equipment is almost ready but Clint still doesn’t know how to track down the Secret Empire. Luckily, Mack has the solution to his problem as he can hack into surveillance satellites all over the globe and can probably pinpoint the terrorists wherever they’re hiding out now. Mendelson finishes his work on a new supply of trick arrows, a brand new costume for Hawkeye, and a new souped up version of his sky-cycle. As Mendelson is showing off his latest works he gets a notification that the Secret Empire has been located. With that, Hawkeye, Rover, and War Machine fly off for Central America.
They find a Secret Empire base on an island off the coast of Baja and blast their way through the defenses. Fighting their way through the jungle and getting into the facility, they arrive too late to stop the soldiers stationed there to commit suicide. While they have been silenced, War Machine is still able to hack into their computer database and determine that Viper and her cohorts have pressed on to a new location in the Amazon jungle. The trio then flee the base just moments before the self-destruct kicks in and blows up the entire island. With his final destination determined, Clint thanks War Machine for his help, telling Jim that from here on out it’s just going to be him and Rover.
Meanwhile, in the Amazon, Viper is updated on the status of their project. She is pleased to see that not only are they back up and running, but the Secret Empire’s scientists have been able to create a new breed of humanoid wolves that are far more feral and deadly from the last batch.
Recurring Characters
Hawkeye, Rover, War Machine, Secret Empire (Viper, Trick Shot, Javelynn), Mack Mendelson
Continuity Notes
There is a gruff moment between Clint and Jim, mostly because War Machine is still carrying a lot of attitude from dealing with his former employer Tony Stark and the Avengers. This is because both were giving Rhodey a lot of grief at the time of this story. The details:
Jim Rhodes was a long time friend of Tony Stark until Tony faked his death in Iron Man #284. When Tony revealed he was alive in issue #289, Rhodes was furious and quit on the spot and had been mostly running solo since then. The two will eventually make peace by Iron Man #312.
He is pissed at the Avengers as he had joined up with the west coast branch in Avengers West Coast #94, only for the team to get shut down — thanks to Iron Man’s deciding vote — in issue #102 of that series.
Mockingbird seemingly died in Avengers West Coast #100. However, it is later revealed that this was actually a Skrull spy who took her place. Bobbi will turn up alive again in Secret Invasion #8 and the truth explained in New Avengers: The Reunion #2.
Here it is mentioned that Trick Shot taught Hawkeye everything he knows. See Solo Avengers #2.
Topical References
The computers in Mendelson’s lab are all depicted as CRT models. This should be considered topical as this is an obsolete technology.
