Kate Bishop Takes Aim In New Hawkeye Series

Readers will soon ‘heart’ Hawkeye when Marvel Comics launches the hero’s new series with Kate Bishop behind the quiver. The fan-favorite heroine stole hearts with her co-starring role in previous Hawkeye and Young Avengers titles. And, now, Kate Bishop is taking aim at her own series with Kelly Thompson’s guidance.

The acclaimed writer recently sat down with io9 to talk about her Hawkeye run and spilled plenty of details about the series.

“Hawkeye finds Kate back in L.A. – Venice Beach, specifically, trying to make a go of things as a P.I. slash superhero,” Kelly explained. “She’s there on a personal mission that’s a bit of a mystery, but as always with superheroes she gets caught up in doing some good, and as always with P.I.s there’s a dame with nice stems involved!”

As for what her personal objectives are, no one can say. Fans are speculating that the mysterious project might have something to do with Civil War II. After all, the special series left Kate in flux after her mentor Clint Barton was put on trial for killing a major Marvel hero. According to Kelly, the fallout over the event has left Kate worse for wear.

When asked about how Civil War II changed Kate, Kelly said she believes Hawkeye isn’t so much disillusioned as she is emotionally drained. The creator explained that Kate feels “like she needs a clean break from things” so that she can “prove to everyone, perhaps most notably herself, that she can stand on her own.”

Kelly went on to tease fans with what they can expect to see Kate get up to in this Hawkeye series. As this run will mark the first real time Kate is on her own, readers are curious to see how the new comic will borrow from Kate’s past appearances.

“Our series is definitely a spiritual successor to what Matt Fraction and Annie Wu began when they brought Kate to L.A. We’re definitely doing our own thing, but they absolutely laid the groundwork for where we wanted to take Kate,” Kelly explained.

And, if you were wondering whether Kate would team up with any gal pals, then it is time you started crossing your fingers. Kelly gushed over the friendship between Kate and American Chavez and said she is “going to do everything I can to get her in the book.”

As for the tone of the series, Kelly believes her Hawkeye run is best summed up as Veronica Mars plus superheroes.

“When I was pitching I initially described Kate’s book as Veronica Mars with superheroes, and though a lot has changed since pitching, I think that still sums us up pretty well. Kate will be taking on P.I. cases – both her own personal mission that brought her back to L.A., and the clients she finds – but you can’t take the superhero out of Kate, nor would we want to.”

Kate Bishop won’t be the only heroine taking over some big Marvel series soon. Earlier this year, Marvel confirmed that 15-year-old Riri Williams will be taking up Iron Man’s mantle under the alias Iron Heart. And, just recently, the company announced they would be launching a new Hulk series starring She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters. Prior to these series, Marvel first stunned readers when they published a Thor series with a mysterious female protagonist.

Hawkeye #1 will hit shelves later this December.

[H/T] io9