Solo Avengers #9
In the Service of Justice
Seeking to learn more about the vigilante known as Blind Justice, Hawkeye confronts a mobster named Speedo to see how much the criminal underworld knows about him. Convinced that Speedo knows nothing about Blind Justice, Hawkeye leaves with a warning to the mobster that he’s going to keep an eye on him. Once the archer is gone, Speedo calls his boss and asks for help dealing with Hawkeye. She quickly comes up with a scheme to deal with both Hawkeye and Blind Justice.[1]
Later, at Avengers Compound, Hawkeye is visited by reporter Gayle Rogers who is also investigating Blind Justice. As Clint goes through a training exercise he deflects her questions. Meanwhile, Speedo is arranging a trap for Hawkeye unaware that someone is observing him from the shadows. After going over the plan with his boys, Speedo calls Avengers Compound and tells Hawkeye that there is something going down at the docks that evening and that Blind Justice might appear.
That evening, Hawkeye heads to the pier unaware that he is walking into a trap. However, the many of the snipers and armed thugs are taken out by the mysterious man in the shadows, who can command the darkness itself. When Hawkeye arrives, all of Speedo’s remaining men come out of hiding. So does Hawkeye’s mysterious benefactor, who turns out to be the Shroud. Using his power to plunge the entire pier in darkness, the Shroud then helps Hawkeye take out the guards.
Meanwhile, Speedo is watching from a nearby rooftop. After Hawkeye and Shroud are done with his guards, he is confronted by Blind Justice who got the drop on him. Hawkeye tries to stop Justice from killing Speed, but his blunted arrows bounce harmlessly off his chest. Speedo manages to shoot Blind Justice. However, as the vigilante falls over the edge of the building he manages to use his blaster to kill Speedo as he falls into the water below. Hawkeye assumes that Blind Justice is now dead and wishes there was a better outcome for what happened. However, as he and the Shroud leave, the hand of Blind Justice emerges from the murky waters.[2]
Recurring Characters
Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Shroud, Blind Justice, Gayle Rogers
Continuity Notes
The identity of Speedo’s boss remains unknown as she is never seen or heard from again after this story.
Although this story promises that there will be future Blind Justice stories, this plot thread is dropped for decades. It isn’t until Marvel Comics #1000 that it is revealed that Blind Justice was Jerome Hamilton, one of the former members of the Enclave who became a masked crime fighter after being left for dead.
Topical References
Hawkeye makes a reference to WrestleMania an annual pay-per-view event put on by World Wrestling Entertainment. Its reference here should be considered topical.
Memoirs
Patsy Walker-Hellstrom has put out a brand new book about her life as a teen comic book sensation, super-heroine, and her current career as a ghost hunter with her husband Daimon Hellstrom. Making a television appearance to promote her book, Patsy finds herself being aggressively interviewed about the contents of her book, particularly her marriage to Hellstrom and the claim that Patsy’s father-in-law is a demon.[1]
As she fields these questions, Mad-Dog — aka Buzz Baxter, aka Patsy’s first husband — is making his way to the television studio to contront her. Caught off guard, Patsy is unable to stop Mad-Dog from biting her on the neck with his poisoned fangs. The drug causes her to black out and when she wakes up again, Patsy discovers that her ex-husband has dressed her up in her Hellcat costume and taken her to a nearby warehouse.
He tells Patsy that he still loves her and he wants to get back together. However, Hellcat has no such interest in doing so and tries to explain to him that she never really loved him, and besides, she has already re-married. Mad-Dog refuses to take no for an answer and the pair come to blows. The whole time, Mad-Dog tries to get Patsy to admit that she loved him. However, she continues to deny it until she finally knocked Mad-Dog out. Given a moment to think, Patsy admits that once-upon-a-time she did love Buzz Baxter. However, she fell out of love with him after he became a monster. At first, she thinks she was trying to forget the good times they had. After the police come to take Mad-Dog away, Hellcat realizes that she wasn’t trying to forget but was refusing to allow herself to remember.[2]
Recurring Characters
Hellcat, Mad-Dog
Continuity Notes
During the TV interview, a number of details about Patsy’s past are brought up:
Being the star of popular teen comic books: Patsy Walker didn’t get her start as a superhero, but by appearing in teen romance comics starting with Miss America Comics #2. Her first in-universe appearance though was Millie the Model #103. It was later revealed in Defenders #89, that her mother wrote all of those old teen comics in-universe and that they were fictionalized accounts of Patsy’s teenaged exploits.
That she was an Avenger and a Defender and lived for a time on the Saturnian moon of Titan: Patsy paled around with the Avengers as Hellcat from Avengers #144 until issue #151. She was offered membership but declined so Moondragon could teach her how to harness her mental powers, this resulted in her going to Titan. She later returned to Earth and became a member of the Defenders from Defenders #44 through 125.
Marrying Daimon Hellstrom: This happened in Defenders #125.
Clarification is made that Diamon’s father is not the Biblical devil, but a devil who took the name of Satan for a time. Indeed, since his first appearance in Marvel Spotlight #13, Hellstrom’s father claimed to be the Satan. However, it was later revealed in Defenders #99-100 revealed that he was one of many Hell-Lords who took the name Satan as it suited their names. Hellstorm: Lord of Lies #16 reveals that he is actually a Babylonian demon named Marduk Kurios.
Patsy first married Buzz Baxter, her high school sweetheart. As explained in Avengers #144, the pair started to become distant as Buzz became more focused on his career as head of security for the Brand Corporation and the couple eventually divorced. Baxter later became the costumed mercinary Mad-Dog. See Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #13-15, Avengers #141-149, Defenders #125-130.
Topical References
Patsy Walker does her television interview at ABC Studios. This isn’t necessarily a topical reference as ABC is now owned by Disney, the company that also owns Marvel Comics.
Patsy states that she is just a woman trying to find her identity in the 1980s. The decade in question should be considered topical.