Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Dominic Fortune finally turn the tables of Crossfire and the Phantom Rider, sending them fleeing to Spirit Peak, Nevada - - a site that brings up some horrible memories for everybody.
The Good
Part of the fun of reading titles in a shared universe is that you get to see inversions of even the subtlest genre tropes. In this case, I got special enjoyment out of Mockingbird shoving the telepathic conversation back down the Phantom Rider's throat (or, more accurately, back into her mind) as well as the "love birds" using their pal Hank Pym's sub-space network to give these bad guys the "teleportationally runaround." Actually, after such an intense cliffhanger last issue, it was really satisfying to see the good guys thwarting the bad guys so soundly, here. I might not be rooting for Dominic Fortune to get the girl, but I was definitely cheering him on when he was faking Hawkeye out and putting Crossfire's goons down.
The Bad
This issue seemed a little talkier than the previous ones have been. I love dialog, but there were a lot more balloons that seemed like they were liable to burst, as opposed to previous issues which had, I feel, a better balance. I suppose we're getting to the end of the arc and they need to wrap things up a little more deliberately, but I think some spots could've been a little more concise.
The Verdict - 4/5
As I've been saying for every issue of this title, Hawkeye & Mockingbird is probably the best book to come out of the Heroic Age. It's certainly the one that best captures the spirit of clearer superhero fun where "the good guys are the goods guys, and the bad guys are the bad guys again." McCann and the Lopez's are definitely talents that everybody should take note of.
The one and only problem I have with this series is the supporting cast aside from Fortune. They're all terribly generic in both name and character. Thankfully, they're all used sparingly as to not distract from Clint and Bobbi's interactions.
The ending was good is this issue, but overall I've been losing interest in it. The first issue captured my attention real quick, introducing it into the middle of a chase scene. But ever since it seems like a lot of standing around and yapping. Never been a fan Dominic Fortune- he's only dropping farther down the scale of likeable with each issue. Hawkeye is fun, but he either needs to be with the Avengers or in a more solo title. Hell I'd be happiest if was running the Thunderbolts again, they need he is wit a lot more than Luke Cage.
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