Avengers Spotlight #23
Tooth and Nail and Hammer and Bullet and Chainsaw — !!
While attempting to attend marriage counseling with his wife, Mockingbird,[1] Hawkeye gets targeted by some of his old foes seeking to collect a bounty that has been put out on him. With his right arm poisoned, the archer finds himself caught between Mad-Dog and Bobcat, two villains looking to cash in on the price on Hawkeye’s head.
However, the two animal themed villains are not working together and allow their greed to get the better of themselves. Soon, Bobcat and Mad-Dog are sparing with each other, allowing Hawkeye to slip away. The two villains quickly remember themselves and try to give chase, but the Avenger uses a tear-gas arrow to fend them off. Ducking into an alley, Hawkeye tries to remotely summon his sky-cycle, but when it doesn’t arrive on command he decides to press onwards as he can’t wait around for someone else to attack him.
His departure is observed by Myron Steinmetz, the marriage councilor he and Mockingbird hired to help them sort out their marital problems. Apparently, he is involved with the bounty on Hawkeye and calls his employer to report Hawkeye’s movement.[2]
Hawkeye is next ambushed by Bullet Biker who wants to get revenge against Hawkeye over his last defeat.[3] The archer ducks under a parked car for cover but this only provides a temporary reprieve. Diving into a nearby alleyway, Clint tosses a grabage can lid — just as Captain America would toss his shield — and strikes Bullet Biker in the face, knocking the villain off his motorcycle.
Running down the street to get away, Hawkeye is surrounded by the Death Throws. In order to get away from this gang of juggling themed villains, Clint climbs up a electrical pole and throws down one of his blast arrows, knocking them all out. Leaping onto the next roof, Hawkeye is confronted by his old mentor, Trickshot!
Recurring Characters
Hawkeye, Trickshot, Bobcat, Mad-Dog, Bullet Biker, Death-Throws (Ringleader, Bombshell, Oddball, Tenpin, Knicknack), Myron, Steinmetz
Continuity Notes
Hawkeye’s marriage has trouble since the events of West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #17-23. Bobbi was kidnapped by the Phantom Rider and when she got free she left him to die. When Clint learned the truth in issue #35, he was upset because she violated the Avengers code on killing instead of supporting his wife when she was sexually assualted. The two split up in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #37, but have been trying to work on their relationship since Solo Avengers #14. It should be no surprise to you that Hawkeye survives this and the pair will start making amends in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #46.
This is a good spot as any to point out that the bounty is not on Hawkeye’s life, but rather to have his right armed sever so he can never draw a bow again. It’s later revealed in next issue that the bounty has been called by Crossfire. He is seeking revenge against Hawkeye for interfering in his plans in Hawkeye #1-4.
Hawkeye previously clashed with Bullet Biker in Solo Avengers #13.
Second Debut
The Vision is on patrol over the city of Los Angeles when he spots a gang of high tech crooks called Smog Alert use their exhaust based weapons to try and rob an armored car. Their weapons have little effect on the Vision who is able to alter his density to protect himself. As the Vision takes down members of the gang, the leader of Smog Alert takes a woman hostage. However, the Vision uses his phasing powers to get behind him and knock him out. At first, the woman is frightened of the synthezoid as she doesn’t recognize the Vision’s new appearance. Although he calms down the woman, he also has to explain who he is to the police.[1]
Realizing that this could continue to be a problem, the Vision decides the best course of action is to publicly address the changes to his appearance. As he flies across the city, he sees billboards advertising television shows and realizes that a live nation-wide broadcast would be the easiest way to get the word out.[2]
The Vision then interrupts a popular late night talk show to get the word out about his changes. Although slightly annoyed by this unscheduled interruption the host of the show rolls with it and he and the celebrity guests pose questions to clarify the changes the Vision has undergone. The synthezoid explains how he had been recently deconstructed and rebuilt into the form he currently wears, and tells the audience that past reports about him being built from the remains of the android Human Torch have since turned out to be false.[3] After making his statement, the Vision is about to leave when the TV host recommends that he interrupt the tapings of two of his rivals.
Later that evening, the members of the Avengers West Coast catch the broadcast. While the US Agent is mortified by what happened, the rest of the Avengers get a much needed laugh over the whole thing.
Recurring Characters
Avengers West Coast (Vision, Wasp, Henry Pym, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Tigra)
Continuity Notes
At the time of this story, the Vision had just recently been taken apart and reassembled. The process truned him bleach white and deprived him of his emotions and personality. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45.
One of the billboards advertises a show called Tower of Shadows, a horror program hosted by a zombie grave digger named Digger. This is a nod to Marvel’s short lived horror anthology title of the same name. It ran for 9 issues from 1969-1970. The stories in it were introduced by the Digger. The series paid homage to the popular EC Comics of the 50s such as Tales from the Crypt and the like.
The origin of the Vision is actually quite a bit more complex than that and the recent revelation that he wasn’t created from the Human Torch’s body is later exposed as an elaborate hoax. The details:
The original android Human Torch was built by Phineas Horton in 1939, as seen in Marvel Comics #1.
After fighting crime during the war his powers burned out in the 1950s. The Torch’s body was later recovered by the Mad Thinker who revived the android in order to battle his successor, the Fantastic Four’s Johnny Storm. This battle ended with the Torch being deactivated again. See Fantastic Four Annual #4.
During this time, the time traveler Immortus created a chronal duplicate of the Torch as part of a complex scheme to manipulate the destiny of the Avengers. See Avengers Forever #8.
One copy of the Torch was buried in a grave in Sub-Mariner #14 and will later be reactivated in Avengers West Coast #50.
The other copy was taken by Ultron and transformed into the Vision, per Avengers #57-58 and 134-135.
Most recently, in the aforementioned West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45, the Avengers were convinced that the connections between the Vision and Human Torch were falsehoods by a man claiming to be Phineas Horton. In reality, as revealed in Avengers Forever #8, this was actually a Space Phantom posing as Horton as another wrinkle in Immortus’ grand scheme.
Topical References
The Vision interrupts a live taping of the The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. This should be considered a topical reference as this series ended its run in 1992 and its host subsequently died in 2005.
Guests on the show that evening were comedian Paul Reubens portraying his Pee-Wee Herman and Spanish-American singer Charo. These should both be considered topical references because these are real world people.
Johnny Carson then recommends that the Vision crash on rival talk show hosts. One is Pat Sajak (yeah, the Wheel of Fortune guy) who had a short-lived talk show that tanked after one season. The other is the Arsenio Hall show which lasted a little longer from 1989 and 1994. These are also topical because yadda, yadda, yadda, you know the routine.