In this feature we examine comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically "overturned" by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An' Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.

Today, we look at the surprisingly complicated story of whether Hawkeye is hearing impaired or not...

In the final issue of Hawkeye's first mini-series (by Mark Gruenwald and Brett Breeding), Hawkeye and Mockingbird (who he met for the first time in this series) are captured by the evil Crossfire, who uses an ultra-sonic device to drive them to attack each other, forcing them to battle each other to the death. He gives them a break just to torment them a little more and Hawkeye comes up with a way to stop this...

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In the end, Mockingbird and Hawkeye marry and in Avengers #239 (by Roger Stern, Al Milgrom and Joe Sinnott) we learn that Hawkeye's hearing is now permanently damaged and Hawkeye now needs a hearing aid (which he chooses not to use during the Avengers visit to see David Letterman to help promote Wonder Man's acting career)...

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Over the years, however, the hearing aid was very rarely addressed. When it did, it was pretty much as a plot device (like a bad guy is using a sonic attack and Hawkeye turns his hearing aid off or something like that).

Finally, following Heroes Return (the follow-up to Heroes Reborn, with the heroes coming back to Earth after seemingly dying in Onslaught), Avengers Annual 2001 (by Kurt Busiek, Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund), we learn that when Franklin Richards brought Hawkeye back, he fixed his hearing (Franklin similarly fixed Teen Tony and Mutated Wasp)...

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So that's that, right?

Not so fast! Go to the next page to see how this was re-visited...

In Hawkeye #15 (by Matt Fraction, David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth), Hawkeye is stabbed in both of his ears by the villainous Clown (the Clown is awesome, but admittedly, if all you have to go on is "villainous Clown," I can see how it might not sound as cool as it really is - trust me, though, he's cool)...

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So Hawkeye is now deaf again, although his hearing will improve. We learn, though, in the brilliant Hawkeye #19 (by Fraction, Aja and Hollingsworth) that Hawkeye was beaten so much as a kid that his father deafened him then, so Hawkeye has actually had hearing problems his whole life (that's the retcon)...

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In the final issue of the series, we see that Hawkeye can hear enough to use the telephone, and we see that he is wearing a hearing aid...

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So his hearing recovered at least enough for the hearing aid to work.

The more recent All-New Hawkeye kept the hearing aid, although it was a special Tony Stark designed hearing aid.

That's it for this installment!

Send any suggestions for future notable comic book retcons to brian@cbr.com!