I have a newfound appreciation for Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye!
Hawkeye has admittedly always been one of my least favourite Marvel heroes. He’s just a guy who shoots arrows. He’s an expert marksman but for some reason prefers bow and arrows over a friggin’ gun! And he used to wear a really goofy mask, at that. (Glad they got rid of that) But as it turns out, his humanity (contrast to a god like Thor, or a gamma monster like Hulk) is what made him so endearing in his self-titled book, Hawkeye.
Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon is a book about Clint Barton, the guy. Not the superhero, not the Avenger, just the guy. Off the bat the book acknowledges that fact that Clint doesn’t have any special powers. He gets hurt more often than the other heroes and he’s not especially proficient in fighting or strategy. He gets beat up a lot in this book. And even more than that, the book has Clint doing the most mundane things, like label his arrows, go to barbeques, fool around with women. And it’s all kinds of fun! It’s refreshing to see a hero not win all the time, not be a boy scout or a moral standard, not have a world-ending crisis to deal with, and just be a dude. It has just the right amounts of humor, action and hero-ing. With a partner with the same moniker, Kate Bishop, this book might as well have been called The Misadventures of Hawkeye and Hawkeye! I love this book!
The Misadventures of Hawkeye and Hawkeye
Matt Fraction does a great job writing a very grounded Avenger. Nothing is over the top, and the pace is so relaxed. And the art in this, done by David Aja and Javier Pulido, is simple and gritty, nothing flashy, perfect for street-level heroism like this. Personally, I enjoy Aja’s art more. Hope to see more of it in later issues.
I loved this book, and I can’t wait to read the succeeding volumes! For those looking to buy different kind of superhero book, I would recommend reading Hawkeye! He's not so super, but still a hero!
Check it out now!
PS Hawkeye’s head censoring Hawkeye’s head – BRILLIANT!
I like this series. After reading the first few issues, I wanted to call everyone 'bro'.
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