Generations: Familiar Folks With Different Strokes

by Vince Brusio

Maybe politicians can learn something from comic books. In Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye #1 (JUN170861), writer Kelly Thompson puts forth a teachable moment that does (pun intended) cross generations. Two people with different opinions and world views can nevertheless find common ground when an existential force comes into their common area. Personal preferences can be put on the shelf when danger is in the wind. In this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview, Kelly Thompson points out that when lives are on the line Kate and Clint get it together. Squabbling is sidelined so that justice can move forward.

Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye #1 (JUN170861) is in comic shops August 30.

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Vince Brusio: Kelly! So who's your favorite archer? Kate or Clint? Or are you torn between the two? How do you get your personal affection to work for you in this one-shot? How does favoritism work for you or against you when settling on the voices for both characters?

Kelly Thompson: At the risk of angering Clint fans everywhere, I obviously have to say Kate. But I love Clint. Fraction, Aja, Wu, and Hollingsworth’s Hawkeye series remains one of my favorite comic books of all time. Kate obviously came very easily to me for this story, and Clint required a bit more work. I’ve been wanting to get a shot at not only writing Clint, but writing Clint and Kate together for some time now, so it was an amazing opportunity and I hope I rose sufficiently to the challenge. 

Vince Brusio: We have two very big egos at work in Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye #1 (JUN170861). Might there be faint reverberations of such classic films like Lethal Weapon or 48 Hours in the background? Do the ghosts of movies like these two ever figure into how you can show sparks flying between two firecrackers?

Kelly Thompson: Probably one of the things I love most in all media is chemistry between characters. Clint and Kate have that in spades. Their relationship has already been well established and I just leaned into that – it’s so great – why fight it?  That said, our story has a twist to it that makes the dynamic a bit unique. And it was fun exploring the new facets of that dynamic. Delving into the ways in which Clint and Kate are different, and also the ways in which they’re the same makes for magical chemistry.

Vince Brusio: You essentially have a brother/sister 'get out of my room' scenario for a story. That would be the expected template. Did you use it to a degree? Or did you instead want to show how these two aren't necessarily 'cut' from the same cloth, and yet they're on the same page?

Kelly Thompson: Clint and Kate are an amazing team and though they disagree plenty — when it comes time to save the day — they’ve proven time and again how compatible they are as superheroes. Admittedly they’ve been apart for a while, but I think it’s only natural for them to fall back into what makes them such a great team at their core.

Vince Brusio: This book looks to be the one that has the fun factor turned up to "11" because of Kate and Clint's attitude toward life. But what was the most important thing for you to do in this story? What was the goal? And how high did you set the bar for yourself in making this book one to be remembered for generations?

Kelly Thompson:They are indeed unique in their approach to life. They both have a sort of relentless enthusiasm and ability to never give up that has come to feel core to the Hawkeye name. For Generations we’ve got a lot of action, fun cameos, and certainly as many jokes as I could reasonably stuff in there (and here’s where my editors say “it was way too many, Kelly”) but I think the goal was simply to tell a quintessential Kate and Clint story. A story that highlighted what makes them such a wonderful pair. The Generations books have some fantastic character team-ups and incredibly talented creative teams, so I was definitely feeling the pressure in trying to make us “the best.” But for me it all came back to the total joy of getting Clint and Kate back together on the page again and telling a story that means something to who they are as characters and where they’re headed as Hawkeyes. I hope the fans will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

*To learn more about what’s in store for Marvel’s Generations one-shots, read our previous creator interviews with the books’ writers!

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Two Wolverines: A Cut Above The Rest

The Fury and Fallout From Phoenix Times Two

How Heavy Are the Hearts of Hulks?

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.