When Joe Quesada took over as the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics one of his vows was "dead means dead." He pointed out how often people died and came back. Since then he's had a lot of explaining to do, especially for the X-Men who had been one of the main reasons for the rule's inception. We watched as Colossus, Phoenix and Psylocke returned.
Phoenix it was explained is the essence of rebirth and so can never die. Fair enough. I'll buy it. Combine that with the fact that Jean Grey had died and come back so many times and it's almost like she's getting in through a grandfather clause anyway. Colossus, we are told, came back because Joss Whedon had such a great story to tell and Quesada simply could not refuse to print it despite his public statements in the past. Okay, I dig Whedon and I won't deny him the right to tell his story. Psylocke, we're told, came back because Claremont lobbied hard for her and because Quesada thought her character hadn't been fully explored. Again, I won't complain because I happen to agree with Mr. Quesada (as well as Sequential Arts' own King Snake) that Psylocke is a character that hasn't been fully tapped yet.
That brings us to Hawkeye. Hawkeye's only been dead for only a few months (which is what in terms of Marvel time? A long weekend?) and already he's coming back. His death has no emotional resonance because it was overturned and the fact that it happened so quickly only goes to further undercut the significance. I'd say there's no way to validate this return... save perhaps one way:
Hawkeye is seen as a modern day Jesus.
Not that he is Jesus but that he'd be perceived as being like Jesus. Here's a guy who died and a week later has been resurrected. Here's a guy who's a hundred percent superhero and a hundred percent man. How is the Marvel Universe going to look at this guy? Surely if you're a plumber in Brooklyn, a part of you is going to think, "so that's why he's been hanging out with these superheroes, he is more powerful than all of them. He can't die. I knew he just wasn't some guy with a bow." Even in a world of the spectacular wouldn't someone coming back from the dead make some people (maybe not a large group but a sizeable one) think that person has some kind of divine power? Combine that with the fact that he's on the same team as a Norse god and surely someone's thinking it.
How do you feel if you're a villain? Suddenly you're about to take on the Avengers. Here comes Iron Man and Hawkeye, wouldn't you try to take on Iron Man? He's just a guy in a suit but Hawkeye is a guy who can't die. And you know that Dr. Doom would be tracking him down, trying to figure out the secret to eternal life.
Even though I'm a big supporter of "dead means dead" I have to say that if Marvel explored that concept, I'd have no problem whatsoever with Hawkeye's return.
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