Secret Invasion #2

In Issue #2 of Secret Invasion (Brian Michael Bendis), Hawkeye apparently gets his wife back. Mockingbird was killed off many years ago (in reader time, at least), but returns in the midst of the Skrull takeover. So, like anyone faced with a "Would the Real Superhero Please Stand Up?" Hawkeye asks her about something that only his real wife would know, something they never shared with anyone else. He asks his wife to remind him of the significance of October 12.

"The baby we lost, Mockingbird replies, "October 12th would have been the birthday. It... would have been a nice day."

What I found fascinating was not the fact that Hawkeye used the date as his password question, but that these people, who have been through one of the most horrible things that a couple can experience, don't talk about it as something that haunts them. They just say, "It would have been a nice day."

When I look at characterization that works, I see superheros as people that we want to be. It's not just that they have the powers and the vision that we wish we had; they find the strength to put personal tragedies in perspective. I think most people could be consumed with grief at losing a child, and though it's clear that the couple were deeply saddened by their loss, they chose to focus on how happy they would have been. It's a subtle but vast distinction.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird have been described as the Mr. and Mrs. Smith of the Marvel universe. I don't know these characters particularly well yet, but I'm really looking forward to seeing where they go from here.

And hey, it's nice to see Marvel un-kill a marriage for once.

- JC