Hawkeye #13 - A Review

Hawkeye #13 brings decompressed storytelling to a new low.  Remember everything we saw over the last few issues that only related to Clint Barton in the most indirect ways possible, including a story told from the perspective of his dog, Lucky?  Now, after four issues and six months, we finally get to see the events of those issues from our main character's point of view. 


Thankfully, there's enough new material to make the repetitiveness tolerable.  Still, it is frustrating to see a writer of Matt Fraction's talent resorting to art for art's sake in order to pad out a storyline.  This series does not need such trickery.  It needs more straight-forward action and humor. 


At least David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth are back doing that voodoo that they do so well.  Aja's distinctive artwork gives this book an aesthetic all its' own.  Hollingsworth's palette completes the amazing effect.  Every page of this book is Eisner worthy. 

Hawkeye #11 - A Review

This month's issue of Hawkeye, like last month's issue, sees Matt Fraction and David Aja playing with the idea of how graphic fiction works.  However, this issue is very different from Hawkeye #10, which played with stories being told through multiple viewpoints, with ideas being introduced out of sequence.  This month's issue, by contrast, is told entirely from the perspective of Lucky a.k.a. Pizza Dog a.k.a. Arrow a.k.a. Hawkeye's Dog.



The only story I can think of that has attempted to tell this kind of story in quite the same way is the episode of The Simpsons where Bart took his dog to obedience school and we were treated to a dog's eye view of the world, with everything rendered in black and white and all human language depicted as a series of drones except for certain key words. The language is treated in a similar fashion here but Lucky's perspective is further augmented by pictograms depicting what Lucky smells and hears that the humans around him miss.  It turns out they miss a lot and Lucky has a run-in with his former owners in the Pottsylvanian Mafia trying to investigate a murder that occurred right under Clint Barton's nose.  


This is, to put it simply, a brilliant idea and it is very well-executed graphically and textually.  I imagine dog lovers - even those who aren't usually comic readers - might get a kick out of this story, just for the novelty value.  The one flaw?  The final scene, which would really have benefited from having the full dialogue that Matt Fraction writes so well.  What happens is clear but I really want to know the exact words that are said!

Hawkeye #9 - A Review

There is no small irony that Hawkeye #9 should leave me unsatisfied on the same week that the series was nominated for multiple Eisner Awards.  The sad fact is that this issue has little of the humor or action that made the previous issues so enjoyable.  Dead.  That's the only word I can use to describe it.  This book is dead.

Generally, I hold a preference for DC Comics heroes over Marvel Comics's simply because I find so many of the Marvel heroes - particularly those among The Avengers - disagreeable as characters.  I accept that heroic characters need not always be likeable nor do they always need to act in admirable ways but I read superhero books to be inspired and to get away from unreasonable personalities.  This is not to say that this issue is badly written.  Far from it.  It's just a matter of what I enjoy reading and this issue... well, this issue wasn't enjoyable.  There's none of the fun that previous Hawkeye issues held.


With two exceptions - Black Widow and Kate Bishop, I found every character in this issue to be wholly unsympathetic.  Clint Barton spends the entire issue moping around his apartment while the women in his life are investigating - and cleaning up - the latest mess in his life.  Mockingbird shows up to finalize their divorce paperwork on Valentine's Day and adds insult to injury by calling attention to that fact.  And Jessica "Spider Woman" Drew is revealed to be a physically abusive girlfriend.  Thankfully, Clint refuses to tolerate this (and a good thing too considering she has super strength), so kudos to Matt Fraction for refusing to play this scene for laughs.  Regardless, this issue is low on action and high on unpleasant people being rude to one another.  If I wanted to read that, I could go read the comments on any Yahoo News article. 


At least the artwork by David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth is as fine as ever.  I struggle to find words to describe Aja's distinctive style, which is unlike any artist I can think of.  Hollingsworth's coloring, as always, adds another unique level to the issue's proceedings.  While the story left me flat this month, I have no complaints about the artwork.

Can I recommend this series?  Yes.  Would I recommend this issue?  No.  In terms of story, nothing of note happens until the last page and in terms of character nothing happens apart from it being made clear that Clint Barton is once again single in no uncertain terms.  Go pick up the TPB collection of the early issues if you want to see what all the excitement is about.  There's no excitement to be found in this issue.   

Hawkeye #8 - A Review

Hawkeye #8 came out a few weeks too late for Valentines' Day but romance is very much at the center of this issue.  The action is broken up by a number of splash pages with art by Annie Wu, which resemble the romance comics of yesteryear.  All of these mock-up covers are excellent but my favorite is probably the one pictured below - partly because of the style and partly because it supports my theory that Hawkeye is slowly turning into Oliver Queen.


Behold... the beginnings of The Beard!
The plot centers around the return of the mysterious redhead who sold Clint a car before having a quick fling back in the hilarious Issue #3.  She's in trouble again and is ready to drag a not-totally-unwilling Hawkeye along with her.  Naturally complications abound and hilarity ensues as they only can when Matt Fraction is at the storyteller's wheel. 


David Aja's artwork is as welcome as ever.  All of the artists on this book have been good ones, but Aja's subdued style has quickly become the definitive look of Hawkeye.  The color-scheme utilized by Matt Hollingsworth also adds to the overall excellent effect that makes this one of the most distinctive and unique-looking comics in existence.

If you aren't reading Hawkeye by now, I don't know what else I can say to get you to start.  Great writing.  Amazing artwork.  What more could you ask for? 

Hawkeye #6 - A Review

Hawkeye #6 is not just a holiday special.  It is the culmination of the last five issues of barely-contained brilliant insanity.  Titled Six Days In The Life of Hawkeye (or Six Nights In the Life of Hawkeye if you go by the cover instead of the title page) , this issue covers exactly that.  We focus on Clint Barton's actions across the better part of a week, all out of order, as he attempts to take a vacation, finish moving into his new apartment and catch up on some TV.


Naturally things aren't that simple and Clint once again runs afoul of the Russian mobsters who have been a pain in his butt since the first issue.  Matt Fraction depicts all this with the trademark humor we've come to expect from this book.  Amazingly, despite this issue being rather continuity-heavy, Fraction's script still follows the Stan Lee rule of "every comic is someone's first issue".  New readers might not laugh at the references to previous issues but at least they can follow along with the story easily enough.   


With this issue, David Aja returns to be Fraction's partner in crime.  And what a partnership!  Aja's style is simplistic but never simple.  Stylized but not annoyingly so.  Colorist Matt Hollingsworth also contributes to the proceedings, utilizing a muted palette that leaves everything looking softer and more realistic.  The one exception to this is the bright costumes of the superheroes besides Hawkeye and the various shades of purple that seem to surround Hawkeye no matter where he goes.  The complete effect is something unique and memorable.

It's been said before and it will be said again for as long as this book is around: Hawkeye is one of the best books on the market and a must read for all fans of good comics.

Hawkeye #1-3 - A Review

It was inevitable, in the face of the blockbuster success of The Avengers movie, that every character in that movie who did not already have their own comic would get one.  This presented a unique set of problems for Hawkeye.  For all of the things The Avengers movie managed well, their treatment of Hawkeye was not one of them.  He didn't have much chance for character development compared to the rest of the ensemble cast.  And what little development he received didn't develop him past the level of generic bad-ass. 

While this fit the Ultimate version of the character well enough, it did a disservice to original Hawkeye.  The Clint Barton who was raised by carnies, trained as a thief and was far too undisciplined and disrespectful of authority in general to ever cut the mustard in a military organization like SHIELD.  The Clint Barton who was a good guy but was also a smart-ass, a risk-taker and very much a non-generic bad-ass.

How then do we reconcile the two versions of this hero, when The Powers That Be at Marvel are pushing the Ultimates versions of the characters as much as possible in the popular media and the Ultimate Universe, in the comics at least, is largely played out?  If you're Matt Fraction, the answer is obvious - you write the best damn Green Arrow comic ever!

Hawkeye was recommended to me as "the best Green Arrow comic in years".  And that's as fair a summary of it as I can think of.  The hero we see here is less like Clint Barton and more like Oliver Queen as written by Kevin Smith.  That proves to be a pretty good character choice, as this book is something that's been all too rare in the Marvel Universe in recent years - fun.

Even the opening scrawl at the start of each issue is humorous, admonishing the reader by Issue 3, asking them why they are continuing to read the book's introductory concept when it hasn't changed.  Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye became the greatest sharp-shooter known to man.  He then joined The Avengers.  This is what he does when he's not being an Avenger.  And what is it that he does?  Be awesome! 


The first issue introduces Clint as something of a social-crusader, as he goes up against the Russian mobsters who own his apartment complex when they elect to evict everyone in the neighborhood.  The second issue gives Clint a sidekick in the form of Kate Bishop (a.k.a. the young lady Hawkeye from Young Avengers) and ends with him having thwarted a robbery by the revamped Circus of Crime (which has more of a Cirque Du Soleil feel to it now) by stealing the money they already stole, which belonged to several criminal scumbags.  The third issue details a typical day for Clint and all the complications that arise as he tries to get his gear organized, get some Scotch-tape, get a car, get laid and not get killed - not necessarily in that order.


All of this is amazingly illustrated by David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth.  Aja's pencils are reminiscent of Alex Maleev's work on Daredevil but cleaner and less heavily inked as befits a brighter, more cheerful title like this.  Hollingsworth's palette further enhances the art, rendering everything in muted pastels for the most part, save for the shockingly vivid purple that both Clint and Kate favor in their clothing.

I'm not sure how the old-school Hawkeye fans will feel about this title but as a comics-reader in general, I liked it.  Fraction does a perfect job balancing the humor and the action.  The artwork perfectly matches the feel and attitude of the book.  All in all, it's a fun little read.  I'd recommend it to anybody who enjoys high adventure, stories about down-to-earth superheroes and anyone with a twisted sense of humor.