Hawkeye #10 review: Kate Bishop gets a new Masque
By Alex Widen
In Hawkeye, Kate Bishop is acting very strange. Yet is this something normal, or nefarious?
Hawkeye #10
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Leonardo Romero
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
More from Comics
- X-Men: 6 reasons why Marvel’s mutants are the best superhero team
- Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)
- Marvel Comics announces seven important X-Men comic books
- The X-Men were betrayed by Captain America in Uncanny Avengers
- Spider-Man: Miles and Peter team-up for their first ongoing series
When is a Hawkeye not a Hawkeye? That is the question in this week’s latest chapter in the adventures of Marvel’s youngest vigilante archer! Kate Bishop hasn’t quite been herself lately, and her supporting cast is concerned. Her father Derek Bishop came out of the woodwork, half his age and with new powers. He’s been at the center of many of the mysteries Kate has investigated in California. The latest involves her old enemy, former Iron Man nemesis Madame Masque!
Image by Marvel Comics
Kate Bishop has been working nonstop, either to resolve her own baggage or to solve new cases. She’s barely slept and fought off Madame Masque’s goons as well as infiltrating an illegal cage fight ring! Now when her friends have assembled to see to her welfare, Kate is ready to party. Her wounds are healed and her “war paint” is on. The heiress archer is ready to hit the Sunset Strip! Despite her long history of sassy and strange behavior, this may be the weirdest yet!
Image by Marvel Comics
Is This a Night at the Roxbury?
Ramone, her brother Johnny, her sort-of ex Mikka, and Quinn the tech-guy, can’t believe their eyes. They expected to see Kate Bishop either a mess or determined on yet another case, not ready to go clubbing! Could this be how superheroes cope? After all, even the X-Men and Avengers sometimes play baseball or poker to unwind. As a result, the foursome tag along as Kate heads to the appropriately named “Madhouse” club to get her dance on. This time she leads them right in!
Image by Marvel Comics
Kate Bishop’s zeal to dance isn’t the only thing she’s unleashing tonight. While she doesn’t seem to care about her lost dog Lucky, she does care very much for her loins. Although it’s been a fairly subtle subplot, Hawkeye has long involved a love triangle revolving around its lead. Quinn has been attracted to Kate since the moment she randomly recruited him for aid at a college computer lab. And while she hasn’t noticed, Bishop has looked more than twice at Johnny since he arrived.
Image by Marvel Comics
Normally, Kate is too busy on a case or coping with her own intrigue to notice. Tonight, however, it seems like she can’t focus on anything except the boys! First Johnny, then Quinn get a peek at the more carnal side of their favorite archer. Yet it seems that even in a nightclub, Kate can’t avoid heroics. Oddball, lame juggling super-villain and enemy of Clint Barton, randomly turns up at the club. Yet not only does Kate barely want to intervene, she fights with very different tactics!
Image by Marvel Comics
Kate Bishop Has Her Own Clone Saga!
Before the writing on the wall is in neon lights, the story confirms to the reader that this is not, in fact, Kate Bishop. It’s Madame Masque, utilizing a body cloned from Kate like a new suit. The genuine Hawkeye, and her dog, have been captured in her secret headquarters following last issue’s cliffhanger. Can the world’s sassiest Archer break out of her cell and put the hurt on the masked villains? And more to the point, can she finally solve the mystery of her mom’s death?
Image by Marvel Comics
After a slow build revolving around establishing Kate in California as well as the mystery with her parents, Kelly Thompson is developing all of those subplots now. She’s also dabbling into the mighty Marvel vaults at last, offering not one but two established super villains within this issue! It displays more of a confidence within the universe that she’s written in for years, and it’s been great following her progress from taking over A-Force to launching Hawkeye as solo writer!
Image by Marvel Comics
While the plot involving Madame Masque and Derek Bishop controlling the underworld of California is fascinating, the real meat is in character interactions. By impersonating Hawkeye, Madame Masque is showing us what a “dark reflection,” of Kate Bishop would look like if she gave into her cynical undertones. After all, Kate may always have a sassy one liner or sarcastic commentary on a situation, she still seeks to offer genuine aid to other people when she can.
Image by Marvel Comics
A Great Supporting Cast Is Key!
It’s also great seeing Kate’s cast react to the situation. Both Johnny and Quinn are caught in a bind. Each one would love to have a relationship with Bishop, yet the circumstances are both bad and suspicious. Quinn outright refuses to make out with her during the Oddball attack, which irritates Masque to no end. And while it’s clear that the boys’ hormones are confusing them, both Johnny and Quinn feel something is up. Ramone and Mikka, watching from outside, definitely know.
Image by Marvel Comics
One thing I have harped on consistently about Kelly Thompson’s writing is her seemingly effortless ability to construct and juggle an ensemble cast. Many modern superhero comics have mostly abandoned a supporting cast of civilians which goes terribly deep. In the name of the shared universe, many superheroes interact mostly with other superheroes, with maybe a parent and/or lover being an exception. Hawkeye has gone the opposite way with brilliant results shown.
Image by Marvel Comics
Let the record show that a super villain has impersonated Hawkeye, and everyone around her at least became suspicious after one issue. During Superior Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus took over Spider-Man’s body for over a year. He proceeded to talk like a 1940s Republic Serial villain, become more violent, and employ both minions and robots. Literally no one within Peter Parker’s main cast nor any of the superheroes he hung around with noticed anything in the slightest.
Image by Marvel Comics
Madame Masque Is Good at Schemes, Bad at Traps!
As for Madame Masque, her grand scheme for revenge on Kate Bishop has been interesting to behold. On the surface, she’s after a chance at super powers upon seeing Derek Bishop gain some with a younger body. Yet in the end, it’s all about getting revenge on the heroine who once humiliated and impersonated her in the Matt Fraction/David Aja Hawkeye series. As such, Masque is having a ball with mucking with Bishop’s life and asserting her colossal arrogance all over.
Image by Marvel Comics
If the plot has any flaw, it is that Madame Masque’s infamous instability seems like it has been revealed in how she tends to her nemesis. While Kate Bishop and Lucky have been successfully captured, Masque only does the bare minimum to keep her that way. Considering the build up towards Masque impersonating Kate stretched across two issues, Bishop’s escape is almost routine. Masque didn’t even bother to move her arsenal of arrows into another room.
Image by Marvel Comics
On the other hand, Kate Bishop’s rapid escape showcases her imagination and spontaneity. While escaping a rusty cell and a few henchmen is routine for most adventurers, Kate always has her own flair. In addition, Thompson “lampshades” this by having one of Masque’s minions carry a “worst thug ever” mug. Costumed henchmen in the Marvel Universe are notoriously incompetent. It’s amazing Taskmaster can still run a successful underworld business training them!
Image by Marvel Comics
Why Aren’t More People Gushing About the Artwork Here?
Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire are the main art team for this series, and every issue which showcases their work makes the case as to why. From the dazzling nightclub to the fight against Oddball, to Kate Bishop’s daring escape, this issue is full of feasts for the eyes. The color work and line work for the Madhouse scenes alone are worth the cover price. And while Kate’s escape may have been underwhelming as a story detail, visually it’s paced as an utterly amazing sequence.
Image by Marvel Comics
While I did find it a bit underwhelming that Madame Masque has underestimated Kate Bishop so drastically, in the long run of the arc it is small fish. The real climax will be when Kate meets her evil double and faces down her arch nemesis for a much-anticipated rematch. The subsequent aftermath of Masque’s manipulation of Johnny and Quinn will also be highly anticipated. In fact, the end result may be Kate realizing how much she’s come to rely on her main cast after all.
Image by Marvel Comics
Next: Kate battles the wrath of Clem in #9
It’s a rare issue of Hawkeye without Kate dominating the story with her trademark sassy dialogue and biting narration. However, the lack of this was entirely the point; it helps tip off Ramone and Mikka that something is very wrong. Even the well-crafted recap page gets in on the act. Madame Masque’s impersonation was never intended to last long. It’s been meant to throw Kate’s life into chaos as she gears towards closure regarding her family. This arc has easily been this series’ best!