Solo Avengers #8
Blind Justice
Hawkeye has returned home after his trip to Paris and is decked by his wife, Mockingbird. She is furious with him for leaving her behind to go after Trickshot on his own.[1] Wonder Man sees the whole ordeal and figures Clint has a lot of making up to do.
To try and make up with his wife, Clint goes down to a flower shop to order some flowers for her. However, his transaction is interrupted when a gang of armed men in ski-masks come barging. They tell Francis, the owner, to close up shop and begin wrecking the merchandise. When Clint tries to step in and stop him he is swarmed by the masked men. One of them gets behind Clint and knocks him out by shattering a flower pot over his head. The attackers then flee as Clint recovers from the blow. The frightened flower shop owner then pleads with Clint not to get the police involved.
When Clint returns to Avengers Compound, Mockingbird helps stitch up the wound on the back of his head. Although she is still mad at him, the two make peace so they can investigate what appeared to be some kind of protection racket. Hawkeye and Mockingbird then stake out the flower shop from a nearby rooftop. As they watch, a limousine pulls in and some men in suits carry in another man who has been bound and gaged. Hawkeye notices that their prisoner is wearing the same clothes as one of the masked men earlier that day.
They go in for a closer look and watch as Francis beats on the young man. It turns out that the flower shop owner is actually a mobster and that his flower shop is a front for his criminal operations. However, before Frances can kill the young man, another costumed individual named Blind Justice comes crashing in.[2] Armed with guns, the masked man begins mowing down the criminals. Horrified that this new comer is using lethal force, Hawkeye and Mockingbird leap down and try to stop him from killing more people.
In the ensuing carnage, Frances tries to make a run for it but Blind Justice follows after him. However, before the vigilante can kill Frances, Hawkeye arrives and orders him to stop. While trying to convince Justice to let the law do its thing, Frances suffers a heart attack and collapses to the ground. Blind Justice then refuses to do anything to help and walks away, hoping that Frances will die.
Although Hawkeye and Mockingbird race the mobster to the emergency room, he dies in the hospital. The young man who was almost killed by the mobster is overjoyed that Frances is dead. Hawkeye, on the other hand, feels like a complete loser for allowing someone to die on his watch. Mockingbird tries to cheer him up and as they leave the hospital a delivery man drops off a funeral wreath for Francis. Attached to it is a card that reads “In the service of justice”.
Recurring Characters
Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Blind Justice, Wonder Man
Continuity Notes
Hawkeye left Mockingbird behind when he went to go face Trickshot in a battle to the death. See Solo Avengers #1-5.
The identity of Blind Justice is left a mystery for years. Marvel Comics #1000 reveals that he is Jerome Hamilton, a former member of the Enclave.
Another Word for Revenge
Hank Pym has been called to the headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department to meet with Lieutenant Ishmael who wants to speak with him on an urgent matter. Arriving in his autonomous craft, Rover, Hank gets through security and meets with the detective in his office. Ishmael tells Hank that the LAPD has been investigating a series of robberies where the thief apparently used size-changing abilities to pull off his crime. The robberies happened at New Century Labs, the home of the wealthy Entwiler family, and most recently at Moren-Stern Electronics.
Given the nature of the crimes, Ishmael admits that they wanted to talk to Hank because he is the top of their suspect list. Pym explains that he no longer uses his size changing abilities on himself and notes that there are other size-changing heroes and villains out there who even operate under his former identities.[1] Insisting that he is innocent, Hank decides that he’ll solve the mystery himself and clear his name.
Returning to Avengers Compound, Hank and Rover go over all the evidence to try and find a pattern. Figuring out where the thief will strike next, Hank prepares a number of shrunken-down weapons to bring with him to Eckman Electronics. There he catches his old enemy Doctor Nemesis red handed. Hank figured out that the first letter of each place Nemesis robbed spelled out his name, like a signature. Having survived being shrunk down to microscopic size in the past, Doctor Nemesis came back to get revenge on Hank Pym by framing him for crimes.
As it turns out, Nemesis has developed a means to change his size. First, Doctor Nemesis tries shrinking down to ant-size but Hank uses a cybernetic feedback device causing Nemesis great pain. Instead of returning to normal size, however, Nemesis grows into a giant. This is a shock to Hank but he quickly comes up with a way to beat his foe. With the help of Rover, Hank leaps onto Nemesis’ back and rips a slit in his costume. Then using his own Pym Particles, Hank touches Doctor Nemesis’ bare skin and shrinks him down to normal size. This keeps the Doctor’s costume at giant-size, allowing Pym to use it to tie up his foe and turn him over to the police.
Recurring Characters
Hank Pym, Doctor Nemesis
Continuity Notes
Hank Pym goes into some of his own history and points out that other individuals could be responsible for the robberies:
Hank mentions his history of mental instability. He has suffered three mental breakdowns in the past. The first in Avengers #59-60 another in issue #213 and his most recent one in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #16-18.
Also points out that there is a new Ant-Man, this is Scott Lang who took on the identity in Marvel Premiere #47. He also mentions the new Yellowjacket who on the identity in Avengers #264.
