I don't think Hawkeye is a lousy archer, as much as I think Brian Michael Bendis is a lousy writer.
But, did Bendis have anything to do with this art??
( I mean, yeah, Bendis Avengers sucks hard, but lets not blame him for stuff he probably never saw )
I think it may be the arm-guard blunder that amuses me the most, and the gloves to a lesser extent.
Those aren't merely mistakes made by a single underinformed cover artist, but are apparently part of the new standard Hawkeye outfit. Marvel has actually OKed fundamental design flaws that it imposes on the artists for no reason at all.
It looks like the fingerless gloves have been around for a while, but who would be to blame for the arm-guard? Olivier Coipel?
Boy I Can't wait for this site to have a list of archry no-no's incase I make my own comic XD
Out of curiousity, is there a method of pointing out flaws for this site??
Because, normally, I don't mind rubber science, but the Fantastic Four movie scene where they mention "igniting the atmosphere" really made me twitch. Bad, bad, bad science, and completely unnecessary.
If you are collecting bad archery in the comics, see if you can find an image that has haunted me since childhood, when even a kid could see how impossible the illustration was. It's in the Amethyst 12-issue maxi-series, and all I remember was Amethyst pulling the bow string with the wonkiest body position known to mankind. Impossible to describe.
Out of curiousity, is there a method of pointing out flaws for this site??
Do you mean like submissions? I'm always up for new contributors or the occasional guest submission.
If you feel like writing something up, shoot me an e-mail at lorenc@uga.edu.
Cool. I'll do a bit of research, and try and whip something up.
Not much else to say except nice post, I really enjoyed reading it ...
Cheers
Nick :o)
I think you are wrong, the 2nd one has the arrow on the right side. I've done archery many times, and I know that the arrow goes on the same side of the bow as the drawing arm. If you did it the other way the arrow would go across your bow, be very inaccurate, if it didn't snap back into your face.
Oh great, next you're going to tell me that the physics of a boomerang arrow are impossible. Dude, you seem to love archery, which is pretty cool, but who - aside from you - cares? He's a comic book character. He is in the Avengers to represent the hero WITHOUT powers who can still stand alongside Earth's mightiest heroes. You overlook that by implying that he is in the comics to provide archery lessons.
in response to Anonymous | 02.17.06
youre obviously not a very good archer are you? the only way you can shoot an arrow off the same side as drawing arm is if you shoot thumbring hold, eastern mongolian style.
If you shoot off fingers you need the arrow on the left side of the bow for right hander, and vice versa for left to counter the archers paradox ( the bend imparted to an arrow by releasing off fingers, the arrow 'snakes' side to side around the bow )
if a right handed archer shot an arrow off the right side of the bow, it would fly off MILES to the right.
this is from an archer of 4 years experience in modern recurve, longbow and eastern horsebow styles.
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i like the article, but i feel there is a fundimental flaw in your analysis of the first image. you seem to be under the impession he is still pulling back the bow, if you look closly you can see he has already fired the shot and his position may have been different when aiming.
It doesn't really matter because no matter what he does green arrow is so much cooler. Hawkeye would get destroyed by green arrow, plus what kind of stealth archer wears purple? You would stand out like a plum on a golfing green.
Overall a good analysis, but I'll add a couple of points. First in recurve archery there actually is a practice of putting the string into the second notch of the fingers, it provides more stability (but why'd you cover the entire fletchings of your arrows with your hand is a little wrong) and I know guys who shoot 1100+ on FITA's with that style. Also I've never seen anyone have four fingers on the string even for longbow, I dont see how the little finger gives you any more strength (also I dont know where you'd buy a four finger glove or tab?).
As a final note, in the second picture he is cambering the bow slightly, which with an 'off the shelf' style is also alright.
hepps good pics but when u pull back the string on bow u us only the 3 middle fingers & the string is ment 2 sit on the 1st jiont and roll off (i know this as i shot a recurve bow)
The first picture:
1st I will start with the construction of the bow... It appears to be a solid wood bow... however a bow that thick in proportion would never be possible. For example, a 1" thick piece of hickory is impossible to bend to a 28" draw, it would measure over 500 lbs is draw weight if it ever got that far. lets say the super hero was of super strength, the arrow itself would never be able to handle the poundage, it seems like a 5/16 shaft size and would snap in two. The arrow is on the wrong side for a traditional style bow, however this is a very common way to shoot the bow in Hungary and Turkey, most turkish flight bows were shot this way, however he would need a thumb wring on his shooting thumb in order for this to be correct. I beleive the anchor point was correct, you can tell the artist wanted it to look as if the archer just released the arrow, by the loose bend in the string and the movement of the arrow. Therefore after you release the string, your shooting hand will retract past the anchor point... however, The string tension on a bow is never loose, the limbs of the bow simply uncoil, but the tension on the string is never floppy... I think he could have acheived the effect better by putting motion on the limbs of the bow, in imply the arrow had just be released.
2nd picture... there are no feathers on the arrow he is shooting. Also, he has a wooden bow, but an aluminum insert for the broadhead, which indicates they are aluminum arrows, which fly lousy off of traditional (wood bows). He obviously is shooting a wood self bow, therefore to keep with tradition he should be shooting wooden arrows, with feathers. I would also like to see a little more detail put into the string... the string on this bow is way to thick, and appears to be a single cord... traditional bow strings are flemished twisted from 2 seperate bundles of Dacron, usually of different colors. Great picture, but way to much wrong with it.
Hope this insight helps, I am a bowyer and archer of 8 years.
Sincerly<
Justin S
yo are giving him all cocky big-headed look at me im so smart comments but the problem is hawkeye can do the unthinkable and you can talk complete crap for a long time
(p.s.im a big hawkeye fan so youve got on my bad side)
Commenting by HaloScan
