ok, all you boys and girls who read comics, listen up.
if you read matt fraction’s hawkeye comics, you know that clint barton has been stabbed in the ears with arrows, and as a result, is now deaf. furthermore, if you read the comics, you know that today was the release of the asl issue.
in case you don’t know me, i’m hard of hearing. i grew up hearing, and my hearing wound up getting fucked up the older i got. now i’m 20 years old and wear hearing aids. my signing isn’t as good as it could be since i’m surrounded by hearing people who won’t learn asl to communicate with me, but i use it as often as i can.
when i read the asl issue, i found a superhero that i could actually relate to, an actual, real, human being, flawed superhero that d/Deaf/hoh people can relate to and understand, particularly those people who have lost their hearing as they’ve gotten older the way i have. this asl issue speaks more than anyone can understand.
admittedly, the issue didn’t quite use proper signs all the time, and the grammatical structure was more english than asl (asl has a very different grammar syntax), but for now, it was enough. it was representation. it was a step forward. (and why was clint talking on the phone if he’s deaf? honey, if you deaf, you deaf. i’m hard of hearing, and i can’t hear shit on the phone. like, i get he was letting jess know that it was him talking, but son, you are deaf and cannot hear her response. but that’s ok, it’s just details.)
so marvel, you don’t know how much your asl issue meant to me, but i’d like to thank you, matt fraction, and everyone else involved with this from the bottom of my heart. thank you for giving representation to a group of people who don’t really get very much representation at all. thank you for for showing me a superhero who gets it.
deaf clint barton is important.
disabled superheroes are important.
disabled superheroes getting back on their feet when their disability makes things rough for them is important.
disabled superheroes trying to figure out how they fit into the abled world around them is important.
deaf clint barton is important.
This. All of this.
Tag: sign language
Hawkeye 19 link and ASL translation!
One upon a time, I had a deaf friend that I learned basic ASL to be able to communicate with. Hawkeye 19 is right up my ally, so I figured I’d post this for people that want to know what’s being said in this issue.
Here’s a download link to the comic via my Dropbox.
PLEASE READ THE ISSUE WITHOUT THE TRANSLATION FIRST! Matt Fraction stated that he wanted readers to feel the sense of confusion and loss along with Clint, so read it as it is first, then go back with the translation. ASL translation is under the cut.
I AGREE WITH THE PERSON WHO REPLIED TO MY ASK. I don’t know… how to reply to that. But I just wanna say that I agree with evilkneazle so hard! :DD
So hey @evilkneazle this happened. ^
Okay, so I talked to my pal who’s a professional interpreter and she says she basically agrees with this.
Her actual commentary: “You’re exactly right: “Stupid” and “Clint.” I can’t really extrapolate more than that without having context, but I am wondering what the question mark is all about. [I then sent her the whole page, rather than just the bottom couple panels] I think maybe it’s Barney asking Clint, “Are you stupid or something?” Clint hasn’t been involved in his own treatment or shown any interest and Barney is obviously fed up. It feels like spelling his name is like when your mom would get so mad she would throw in your middle name.”
That last part feels so right. That perhaps Barney is spelling it out in frustration, though it’s also possible that Clint doesn’t have a name sign.
Anyway, thanks, @whichfandomdoipick and @actuallyclintbarton! Good convo!
Whether he’s just asking if Clint’s stupid or he’s doing the “mom using your middle name” thing, this makes a hell of a lot of sense. Hooray!
One of Marvel’s Avengers Turns to Sign Language. The story strives to connect readers with what he is experiencing: when he can’t hear, the word balloons on the page are blank. The comic also makes extensive use of sign language, but provides no key to interpreting them. “If nothing else, it’s an opportunity for hearing people to get a taste of what it might be like to be deaf,” Mr. Fraction said.
knitting in the dark 