Hawkeye Epic Collection: Shafted 4

The Epic Collection series of Hawkeye's adventures continue, chroncling the death — and rebirth — of Earth’s Mightiest Marksman!

Life is tough — but the alternative is worse! In mourning for his ex-wife Mockingbird, can a reclusive Hawkeye take on the shadowy Secret Empire? Clint clashes with the U.S.Agent, mentors two junior Avengers…and soon hits the road for all-action adventures! Prepare for exotic locations, offbeat characters, dubious morals, sleazy motives…and a can-do hero who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. But when the Scarlet Witch disassembles the Avengers, Hawkeye is a heartbreaking casualty — though death is not the end! Hawkeye awakens in the altered House of M reality, one of only a few heroes who remember how things should be…but when the world returns to normal, can Clint find a new place in it? Or will he give his mantle to another up-and-coming hero?

COLLECTING: Hawkeye (1994) 1-4; Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman (1998) 1; Hawkeye (2003) 1-8; Avengers (1998) 502; The Pulse (2004) 10; New Avengers (2004) 26, 30; Young Avengers Presents (2008) 6; material from Marvel Comics Presents (1998) 159-161

Chuck Dixon wrote several limited series for Marvel’s Epic imprint, the long-running ’Nam series and multiple Punisher titles. When he set the Punisher against DC’s grimmest character in the one-shot Punisher/Batman, Dixon set the stage for his writing tenure on virtually every Batman-related title: Batgirl, Detective Comics, GCPD, Nightwing, Robin and more. Dixon’s other Marvel work includes What If?, Marvel Knights and Hawkeye.

Tom DeFalco’s earliest comic-book scripts were for Archie and DC; he soon moved to Marvel, where he wrote Avengers, Machine Man and other titles, also launching Dazzler, a hit series of the early ’80s. In addition to writing long and well-received runs on Amazing Spider-Man and Thor, DeFalco edited many titles, eventually becoming editor in chief. During the 1980s, he headed the creative team that provided fictional biographies for G.I. Joe members, originally included with Hasbro’s toys and later used as the basis for multiple storylines on the animated series. Perhaps his best-known work is multi-title character Spider-Girl, whom he introduced in 1998. DeFalco has authored multiple books, including Ultimate Guides for Avengers, Fantastic Four, Hulk and Spider-Man.

Since his start on the New Universe’s Psi-Force and backup stories in Classic X-Men, Fabian Nicieza has written most of Marvel’s major super-teams — including Alpha Flight, the Avengers, the New Warriors, the Thunderbolts and the X-Men. Together with artist Rob Liefeld, Nicieza transformed New Mutants into the blockbuster X-Force. The writer also tackled solo heroes ranging from Cable and Deadpool (later combined in Cable & Deadpool) to Gambit and Nomad. He edited Marvel’s Star imprint, contributed to multititle X-events like “X-Cutioner’s Song” and “Phalanx Covenant,” and wrote various “pre-modern” limited series such as Adventures of Captain America and Citizen V and the V-Battalion. Elsewhere, he has written both JLA and Justice League Adventures, The 99, Turok, X-Files, and others.

After working consistently throughout the 1990s, artist Scott Kolins made his mark with a critically acclaimed two-year tenure on DC’s Flash with writer Geoff Johns. Kolins reteamed with Johns at Marvel, on Avengers and the limited series Thing: Freakshow. He also partnered with writer Robert Kirkman to revive the classic series Marvel Team-Up. Kolins’ unique skill at portraying larger-than-life super-heroic action with a high level of detail earned him a number of choice assignments, including Beyond!, a sequel of sorts to the classic Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. Often inking his own work, Kolins’ other Marvel projects include Thor: Blood Oath, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Omega Flight, Annihilation Prologue and Stan Lee Meets The Thing.

Hired on the strength of his Official Marvel Tryout penciling submission, Mark Bagley rose to prominence as the artist of 1990s sleeper hit New Warriors. Following an acclaimed run on Amazing Spider-Man, he worked with writer Kurt Busiek on Thunderbolts. When Marvel launched its Ultimate line, Bagley and Brian Michael Bendis led the way with Ultimate Spider-Man, whose years of success made the pair the longest-running creative team in Marvel history. Bendis and Bagley have also collaborated on Avengers Assemble and the creator-owned Brilliant. His subsequent credits include Fantastic Four, Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand, Hulk, All-New X-Men and Venom.

Stefano Raffaele is an Italian comic-book artist. After penciling Hawkeye in his own title over a decade ago, Raffaele returned to Marvel to draw both Clint and Kate in Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye.