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Avengers: Solo #1-5
Avengers: Solo
The arrowed avenger returns! When a stranger lies dead at the Avengers' doorstep, Hawkeye won't let his world be implicated in a grisly murder. But what seems to be a simple murder gives way to a gruesome conspiracy - one Hawkeye can't walk away from - and one that involves ...the Trapster?! Jen Van Meter (Black Cat) and Roger Robinson (Batman: Gotham Knights) bring Hawkeye with a vengeance! Also, Hank Pym and the class of Avengers Academy leave the school behind for a mystery too fantastic to believe!
Collects Avengers Solo #1-5.
Collects Avengers Solo #1-5.
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 20, 2015
Wow, this was bad.
In a nutshell it was a dumb plot mixed with confusing art.
In one panel, Hawkeye was totally subdued by his enemy, and in they very next panel he was leaping in to save someone else.
??????
Sooooo, how did he escape?
No idea.
And who cares?
The entire story was like that.
The plot itself was full of holes.
These women (now sporting superpowers) were convinced Captain America set them up to be experimented on. Why? Cause the people who experimented on them had a giant poster of Steve Rodgers in the waiting room.
Yep.
Makes sense to me.
Anyway, it took me multiple tries to slog through this thing, and that's never a good sign when it comes to a comic book.
Don't. Read. This.
In a nutshell it was a dumb plot mixed with confusing art.
In one panel, Hawkeye was totally subdued by his enemy, and in they very next panel he was leaping in to save someone else.
??????
Sooooo, how did he escape?
No idea.
And who cares?
The entire story was like that.
The plot itself was full of holes.
These women (now sporting superpowers) were convinced Captain America set them up to be experimented on. Why? Cause the people who experimented on them had a giant poster of Steve Rodgers in the waiting room.
Yep.
Makes sense to me.
Anyway, it took me multiple tries to slog through this thing, and that's never a good sign when it comes to a comic book.
Don't. Read. This.
April 2, 2022
This was not a good book. No idea if it was always meant to be five issues or if it was cancelled, but I reiterate: this was not a good book.
The original series had a Hawkeye main story with an an additional 5-page Avengers Academy story in the back. For the collected edition I think it would have made more sense to sort the material so one could read each story consecutively...
Anyways, the Hawkeye story was coloured so dark that it was at times difficult to follow, especially with the story itself being pretty unclear at times (and characters not looking recognizeable). Some plot points are more implied than actually stated, with the reader being expected to have made the mental leap to follow (oh, the women are super-soldiers now; oh, they exhibit different superpowers...), so there are quite a few very jarring moments where you go back to see if you missed something. The number and identity of the civilian characters is also unclear and when they act this reader at least didn't care and the reason of their mistrust of the Avengers is pretty far-fetched (the bad guys had a poster of Captain America...).
So basically: meh.
The second, Avengers Academy story is too short and leaves too much unexplained (what was that about Myron McLain now and what was Alkhema doing there...?) and only shows that Finesse will probably not turn out to be hero material in the long run.
The end.
The original series had a Hawkeye main story with an an additional 5-page Avengers Academy story in the back. For the collected edition I think it would have made more sense to sort the material so one could read each story consecutively...
Anyways, the Hawkeye story was coloured so dark that it was at times difficult to follow, especially with the story itself being pretty unclear at times (and characters not looking recognizeable). Some plot points are more implied than actually stated, with the reader being expected to have made the mental leap to follow (oh, the women are super-soldiers now; oh, they exhibit different superpowers...), so there are quite a few very jarring moments where you go back to see if you missed something. The number and identity of the civilian characters is also unclear and when they act this reader at least didn't care and the reason of their mistrust of the Avengers is pretty far-fetched (the bad guys had a poster of Captain America...).
So basically: meh.
The second, Avengers Academy story is too short and leaves too much unexplained (what was that about Myron McLain now and what was Alkhema doing there...?) and only shows that Finesse will probably not turn out to be hero material in the long run.
The end.
September 22, 2024
Focusing on Hawkeye deserves at least a three but at the same time I wouldn’t really recommend this to anyone. Interesting enough story about Hawkeye interspersed with a random non-Hawkeye story for no reason that was clear to me. I mean if it was published together in individual issues I guess it makes sense to keep it that way, but it wasn’t ideal. When the first Avengers Academy interlude came in I had a moment of panic, it’s called Avengers Hawkeye Solo, maybe that means it’s a collection of solo stories focused on Hawkeye and I’ll never find out what happens next after he was glued to the wall because in the next issue the rest of the Avengers came along so he wasn’t solo anymore! Luckily that isn’t what happened and we got the rest of the story but I don’t think the Avengers Academy stuff brought anything to this book other than extra pages and disrupting the flow of the story. The art also made the story a little hard to follow, I couldn’t always tell people apart.
March 10, 2015
Frankly, I was bored reading this volume. The story was not clear, with multiple moments of confusion, and while the art was not bad, there was nothing in it that could elevate this volume. With the amount of material that Marvel produces, a few duds are not entirely unexpected yet it was disappointing that I had the misfortunate of reading one of those duds.
August 16, 2021
This was incredibly bad. The plot is beyond lame and frankly, amateurish. Clint acts like he's never been a hero before or ever been in a difficult situation. Its embarrassing. The art is overly sketchy and doesn't fit the story very well. There is also a completely misplaced Avengers Academy back-up story that was good but hidden here for no reason. Overall, a disaster.
August 19, 2015
Pretty confusing. I could never keep track of which character was which and why they were there. Plus two plot lines, each with different characters, going on at the same time and I wasn't very familiar with the academy team so that was a little more confusing.
September 5, 2023
This rating is for the collection, which combines Hawkeye solo issues interspersed with Avengers Academy stories,
Elements of the Hawkeye issues were good. Van Meter put together what seemed to be a decent script that would have been great with some polishing. It was a story worthy of Hawkeye, as he helps a group of former test subjects stop the organization that conducted superpowered experiments on them under false pretenses. He chooses to keep the other Avengers out of it, namely Cap, who had been used literally as the poster boy for the superhero drug experiment.
It was an odd touch that the test subjects had a super suit. Then they trade it sometimes. I couldn’t tell if their powers were from the suit or the drugs. In any case, as other reviewers have noted, I would honestly have to read it twice to fully understand it, as there were jarring shifts throughout,
I think the Hawkeye story was let down by the artwork, which varied in consistency. It often led to confusing moments. It seems that different artists were involved, even in the same issues. Much of the art was dark and it was hard to see what was happening in the panels. Other panels, especially involving Hawk’s sky bike, were crisply drawn an d gave a sense of movement.
The Avengers Academy story contrasts with this most notably in the artwork. It is noticeably consistent, appearing to have been done by the same artist. The story was simple, and we got a sense of the characters (mainly Finesse and Striker, who are led by Hank Pym and Tigra).
The story was odd. Something has reactivated Hank’s old lab in Dearh Valley. It seems that Pym set up the whole thing as a training exercise. This includes a crash landing, a fight with several Marvel robot (?) superheroes, and another fight with an Ultron variant, Alkhema.
Nevertheless, both stories held my attention to the end of each. I wanted to see more of the new heroes, Finesse and Striker, and I gained more respect for Hawkeye by the end of his story.
Elements of the Hawkeye issues were good. Van Meter put together what seemed to be a decent script that would have been great with some polishing. It was a story worthy of Hawkeye, as he helps a group of former test subjects stop the organization that conducted superpowered experiments on them under false pretenses. He chooses to keep the other Avengers out of it, namely Cap, who had been used literally as the poster boy for the superhero drug experiment.
It was an odd touch that the test subjects had a super suit. Then they trade it sometimes. I couldn’t tell if their powers were from the suit or the drugs. In any case, as other reviewers have noted, I would honestly have to read it twice to fully understand it, as there were jarring shifts throughout,
I think the Hawkeye story was let down by the artwork, which varied in consistency. It often led to confusing moments. It seems that different artists were involved, even in the same issues. Much of the art was dark and it was hard to see what was happening in the panels. Other panels, especially involving Hawk’s sky bike, were crisply drawn an d gave a sense of movement.
The Avengers Academy story contrasts with this most notably in the artwork. It is noticeably consistent, appearing to have been done by the same artist. The story was simple, and we got a sense of the characters (mainly Finesse and Striker, who are led by Hank Pym and Tigra).
The story was odd. Something has reactivated Hank’s old lab in Dearh Valley. It seems that Pym set up the whole thing as a training exercise. This includes a crash landing, a fight with several Marvel robot (?) superheroes, and another fight with an Ultron variant, Alkhema.
Nevertheless, both stories held my attention to the end of each. I wanted to see more of the new heroes, Finesse and Striker, and I gained more respect for Hawkeye by the end of his story.
May 13, 2021
I quite like this story. It showed Hawkeye as being competent and fiercely loyal to separate parties (the Avengers and the victims). He really went solo and made full use of his resources, experience and knowledge. He relied heavily on his street smart skills and he has doubts about himself but still he wanted to do it with his own efforts instead of actively seeking help from the other Avengers. The mystery behind the conspiracy was pretty good though it could’ve been better handled. Sometimes, the details got a little foggy and confusing but fortunately the dots weren’t hard to connect. I don’t understand one of the older reviews saying that it was never explained why Hawkeye was approached for help by the victims. It’s quite evident imo when Hawkeye stopped Tuli and demanded for answers. Tuli then approached Hawkeye again because he believed in the latter and when he died, Hawkeye played detective and tried to find leads in the mystery and that led him to the victims who then decided to trust him when they saw how deeply concerned he was for them. Sometimes, not everything has to be told explicitly through words. It can be easily discerned by readers when they are attentive enough.
October 24, 2023
Interesting story and good art. Can be read as a standalone mini-series if you have a general knowledge of the Avengers and Hawkeye in particular.
Plenty of the social commentary that you will find in a well-written superhero comic.
Plenty of the social commentary that you will find in a well-written superhero comic.
April 2, 2014
Well. IDK what the plot was. Bad scientists were creating Steve knock-offs, maybe by impregnating women?
Someone comes to Hawkeye for help. And ONLY Hawkeye. No explanation as to why him, although his struggle to keep the other Avengers out of it is the most interesting part of the story. (He doesn't want Steve to have to deal with his image being manipulated by Evil Scientists or to come up against the victims of said Evil Scientists because of Steve's Feelings. Also the victims are Stark Suspicious, because they're going for low profile, and, well. Tony Stark.)
The art's good, although dark enough that it made me find a seat closer to a lamp, and in the fight scenes I had no idea who was who. I couldn't keep the victim/humans straight (they switched suits?) so that was probably part of it.
The "My sister's in trouble, I need your help!" emotional storyline was over-complicated by multiple bad guys, confusing explanations, last-minute reveals, and wasn't helped by the lack of connection between the victims-seeking-revenge and Hawkeye.
Best parts: Steve & Hawkeye's little talks. Clint's such a fanboy for Steve (I'LL MAKE HIM PROUD EVEN IF I DIE TRYING) and Steve wants so badly to help, but doesn't want to overstep his bounds (HE WANTS TO IMPRESS ME SO BAD OH GOD HE MIGHT DIE TRYING. I'LL PAT HIM ON THE BACK. THAT'LL HELP.)
A little more talk (or well-lit panels of characters looking at/responding to each other) and a little less action, and this coulda been really good.
Someone comes to Hawkeye for help. And ONLY Hawkeye. No explanation as to why him, although his struggle to keep the other Avengers out of it is the most interesting part of the story. (He doesn't want Steve to have to deal with his image being manipulated by Evil Scientists or to come up against the victims of said Evil Scientists because of Steve's Feelings. Also the victims are Stark Suspicious, because they're going for low profile, and, well. Tony Stark.)
The art's good, although dark enough that it made me find a seat closer to a lamp, and in the fight scenes I had no idea who was who. I couldn't keep the victim/humans straight (they switched suits?) so that was probably part of it.
The "My sister's in trouble, I need your help!" emotional storyline was over-complicated by multiple bad guys, confusing explanations, last-minute reveals, and wasn't helped by the lack of connection between the victims-seeking-revenge and Hawkeye.
Best parts: Steve & Hawkeye's little talks. Clint's such a fanboy for Steve (I'LL MAKE HIM PROUD EVEN IF I DIE TRYING) and Steve wants so badly to help, but doesn't want to overstep his bounds (HE WANTS TO IMPRESS ME SO BAD OH GOD HE MIGHT DIE TRYING. I'LL PAT HIM ON THE BACK. THAT'LL HELP.)
A little more talk (or well-lit panels of characters looking at/responding to each other) and a little less action, and this coulda been really good.
December 10, 2016
I might be a little spoiled by Matt Fraction's Hawkeye, but I found Van Meter's Hawkeye to be flat and overly aggressive. He didn't seem to sit well with the other iterations of Hawkeye that I knew and at times seemed to try and be both the smart-ass who can out-snark Iron Man as well as the angry soldier. It was not a well-wrought combination and left me feeling like the writer didn't really know Hawkeye at all and was, instead, trying to blend together Captain America and Tony Stark.
I might come back to this after I finish Fraction's run, but I don't think Van Meter's Hawkeye will ever really be for me.
I might come back to this after I finish Fraction's run, but I don't think Van Meter's Hawkeye will ever really be for me.
November 30, 2014
I've been loving Matt Fraction's Hawkeye, so I thought I'd read up on some classic Hawkeye. Unfortunately, this "solo" collection was intermixed with an Avengers Academy storyline that had nothing to do with Hawkeye. The Hawkeye storyline itself wasn't that interesting, and had Hawkeye agreeing to keep secrets from the other Avengers, which just made me sad.
All in all, I'd rather stick to Fraction's version.
All in all, I'd rather stick to Fraction's version.
May 29, 2015
This is a dual adventures offer. In the first one we have Hawkeye doing his solo thing, investigating a rogue super soldier serum outfit and the second, a Young Avengers story is inserted in between every chapter of the Hawkeye story. Which was kinda of annoying.
The Hawkeye story is a good one, the Young Avengers, not so much since I have no idea how they are, etc.
The Hawkeye story is a good one, the Young Avengers, not so much since I have no idea how they are, etc.
May 27, 2012
Story was okay but it was slow going. I appreciate the narrative of Hawkeye having his own story, but I would prefer a decent story with better villains.
February 9, 2014
I read about 1/2 of it and just gave up. The story was slow moving and not all that exciting. Coupled with the story from the Avengers Academy, the book was a such strange hodgepodge.
January 28, 2013
The Hawkeye story was terrible, the Avengers Academy story was OK, but nothing special.
March 3, 2014
Individual issues on marvel unlimited
April 17, 2014
Really not a good book. Messy plot, art wasn't as nice as normal (and changed every double page spread, at some parts), side-story didn't relate... just a whole mess that needed a lot more finesse.
April 2, 2013
A solid Hawkeye adventure.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews