Clint Barton, Hawkeye: Archer. Avenger. Terrible at relationships. Kate Bishop, Hawkeye: Adventurer. Young Avenger. Great at parties.
Matt Fraction, David Aja and an incredible roster of artistic talent hit the bull's eye with your new favorite book, pitting Hawkguy and Katie-Kate - not to mention the crime-solving Pizza Dog - against all the mob bosses, superstorms and mystery redheads they can throw at them.
Five Eisner Award nominations and two wins, bro!
Collecting: Hawkeye 1-11 & Young Avengers Presents 6
"How he got started in comics: In 1983, when Fraction was 7 years old and growing up in Kansas City, Mo., he became fascinated by the U.S. invasion of Grenada and created his own newspaper to explain the event. "I've always been story-driven, telling stories with pictures and words," he said.
Education and first job: Fraction never graduated from college. He stopped half a semester short of an art degree at Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri in 1998 to take a job as a Web designer and managing editor of a magazine about Internet culture.
"My mother was not happy about that," he said.
But that gig led Fraction and his co-workers to split off and launch MK12, a boutique graphic design and production firm in Kansas City that created the opening credits for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."
Big break: While writing and directing live-action shoots at MK12, Fraction spent his spare time writing comics and pitching his books each year to publishers at Comic-Con. Two books sold: "The Last of the Independents," published in 2003 by AiT/Planet Lar, and "Casanova," published in 2006 by Image Comics.
Fraction traveled extensively on commercial shoots. Then his wife got pregnant. So Fraction did what any rational man in his position would do -- he quit his job at MK12 to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time comic book writer.
Say what? "It was terrifying," said Fraction, who now lives in Portland, Ore. "I was married. We had a house. We had a baby coming. And I just quit my job."
Marvel hired Fraction in June 2006, thanks largely to the success of his other two comics. "I got very lucky," he half-joked. "If it hadn't worked out, I would have had to move back in with my parents.
I wrote a pretty fanboy-y review of the first soft cover a few years ago, and upon re-reading the hardcover, there's not many more ways I can put 'this is a good book and worth your time and money'.
This collects the first 11 issues and a 1 shot Fraction did with Davis a few years before (he did a Young Avengers comic heavily focused on Kate and featuring Clint and would then go on to write a very highly acclaimed run featuring the duo. Planned? Who knows)
The slight problem this volume has is that as we get to issues 9 and onwards, we get some plot-threads that are opened and not tied up. They'll lead directly into volume 2 (which is coming, hopefully? maybe? or they go straight to omnibus) which does hinder this being a strong 1 volume graphic novel in and of itself. But that is me being a little nit-picky.
The book itself has a really nice cover design on the book. This is becoming a regular thing with the recent Marvel NOW oversized hardcovers. They might not always be thick, but they look good.
Fraction and Aja's Hawkeye (or Hawkguy) has come to herald the coming of sublime comic books from unexpected characters. Comic book readers had Charles Soule's She-Hulk, Nick Spencer's Superior Foes of Spider-Man, and Tom King's Vision; critically beloved comics that coexist with blockbusters like Infinity and Secret Wars. Hawkeye was a right blend of thrilling storytelling and innovative art. It was easy to see why fans and critics loved it.
This is the first oversized hardcover to collect the run. A second volume completes it but it is with this volume that shows the reader of how innovative this comic was. This volume has the hurricane issue, the romance covers and the pizza dog issue, the latter especially, since it tells the story from Lucky the PIzza Dog's perspective and utilizes symbols to convey what a dog would be thinking at that particular moment.
This is an easy 5 stars and I will be getting the second volume to complete the set. This was my best FCBD purchase ever.
I'm well behind the hype on this one, as this series has been coming out for over a year, so I read this after just about every one of my comic-reader friends told me it was the best book out there. Needless to say, my expectations were high going in. But here's the other thing: I didn't really know what to expect. So, I think that helped, because the amount of love and creativity Fraction has poured into this thing is beyond what I ever imagined it would be.
I've read a lot of Fraction's work: Immortal Iron Fist is one of my favorite series ever, plus I thoroughly enjoyed Casanova and his Thor work (plus other things I'm forgetting). While I don't think Hawkeye quite lives up to Iron First, it's definitely the second best of all those series. Fraction tends to write heady, rapid-fire storylines that take very subtle (sometimes to the point of not being followable) twists and turns that can at times leave you almost exhausted. However, I much prefer his more accessible work, and Hawkeye is possibly his most accessible, and human, story yet.
In Hawkeye, we get a fantastic portrait of a pretty run-of-the-mill superhero, who makes plenty of mistakes and gets his ass kicked constantly. I was reminded of Indiana Jones a lot as I read this, as Indy seems to almost win by losing. Clint Barton has a similar thing going on, where no matter how much he gets the crap beat out of him, he keeps going.
Also, this book is hilarious in a very grounded way, which I almost never find in mainstream comics. Usually it's about how ridiculous the villain is, or the "funny quips" the hero spouts while kicking someone in the face. Not so in Hawkeye. We get actual comedy from the characters and their reactions to each other, various behavior based running gags, lots of fantastic visual jokes from Aja, and just a light, fun tone that never lets anything feel too heavy, even when it should be. One particular standout is a chapter written entirely from the point of view of a dog, where the story is told through visual representations of smells and snippets of dialogue the dog could actually understand. It's an incredible piece of comic art, up there with any of the most creative entries in the medium.
The only downside I can pinpoint with this volume is its abrupt end. It feels like a new storyline has only just started heating up when this one ends, and Marvel is not known for releasing their deluxe hardcovers in a timely fashion, so it could be years before I continue the story in this form. But who cares, really, when the thing I just read was so great. That'll just give me more of a reason to read it again when the next one comes out.
this friggin comic is friggin best bro. haha see what I did there bro anyways I don't even like hawkeye or marvel really for that matter but this is an amazing read you won't like the art at first but by the end you will love it, this is probably one of my favorite books ever
So, like I've said, I've gotten rid of the trade and went for the over-sized hardcover... will be re-reading the whole thing from the start this evening and coming back to review.
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I hesitated before I purchased this trade, after all, Hawkeye had never been one of those "great" super-heroes, and even when I read a story with him in the Avengers, his snarky attitude always put me off. Here's one guy, I always thought, that does not have his place amongst the greats.
And then I read this.
An amazing story about a super-hero, that really, isn`t. Drawn in a super-hero kinda way, that really, isn`t. Stories and art like the one in this book made me feel I might have been missing out on some other great stuff out there.
Oh, and I just found out there'll be a hardcover version of the first 11 issues... I am so getting that!
•he's a mess and he knows it but he's trying •he's a genuinely good person who wants to help other people •he's funny •he's a great shot •he loves animals •he saved Lucky •"can I pet your dog?" •he called Simone and her kids over to watch cartoons with him •he let Kate keep his bow •he bought an entire apartment building to protect the tenants •he has no superpowers but he's still a kickass Avenger •he believes in young people •he just wants coffee and a nap, let him have it •he doesn't give up even when people don't believe in him •"Okay. This looks bad."
Like a lot of readers, I'd give this six stars out of five if I could. This is the most fun thing I've read lately. This is Clint Barton, the World's Greatest Marksman, ordinary guy, champion of the oppressed (especially one particular apartment building in Brooklyn), and enemy of Bros everywhere, bro. (Read the book and you'll get the joke). With his loyal sidekick/protege Kate Bishop and his loyal sidekick/adopted dog Pizza Dog, he fights for truth, justice and potluck barbecues. I highly recommend this series. Can't wait for the final issue. Marvel doesn't just need to make a Hawkeye movie, they need to make *this* Hawkeye movie.
I read the trades over 2 years ago. Loved it so much I bought the deluxe hardcovers. Now with the Hawkeye show about to drop on Disney+, what a perfect time to crack them open for a reread. Story still holds up. Aja’s artwork is great and the story was still just as fun, crazy and awesome as I remember it. There was an action sequence that I forget about and with this reread I realized it was in the Hawkeye trailer for the upcoming show. Awesome! See the trades for my initial thoughts.
Clint Barton is Hawkeye, a fantastic archer and a member of the Avengers. Aside from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I don't know much about his character, but I liked where they went with him in Age of Ultron. I'd heard so many good things about this new story that I really wanted to check it out. And, as it turns out, the action is so much fun and the sense of humor is right on target.
I loved that, for the most part, each issue started out with some variation of: "Okay, this looks bad." Followed up by a panel that goes something like this:
Then, there's always an undercurrent of absurdity with his skill set like:
I can't forget to mention the artwork that brings it all to life. There are several talented illustrators who lend their talents to Matt Fraction's text. Of all of them, I believe David Aja's contributions were my favorite overall. You can't go wrong with a good car chase scene:
There's so much to like about Matt Fraction's current Hawkeye series! I honestly didn't want to put it down, and I'm really looking forward to reading the next volume.
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
Fitting in is a challenge that not everyone can or want to do. It’s even more complicated when everyone has a particular trait that explains their belonging to a group while you stick out like a sore thumb, trying to justify your presence among these people. How do you deal with that when you also have your own problems to tackle? That’s what the life of the very mortal Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye, is like as his stubbornness, arrogance, and impulsiveness lead him headfirst into trouble that he never looked for in the first place. With five Eisner Award nominations and two wins, Matt Fraction (known for The Invincible Iron Man, The Immortal Iron Fist and Sex Criminals) delivers one of the most important and critically-acclaimed comic book stories to have ever been written over at Marvel.
What is Hawkeye (Vol. 1) about? Collecting Hawkeye #1-11 and Young Avengers Presents #6, this first deluxe edition out of three begins a story centered around newly-initiated Avengers member Clint Barton and the ex-Young Avenger Kate Bishop who both go by the name of Hawkeye. As Clint Barton takes a break from being an Avenger and acclimates himself to the fact that he does not have any superpowers, Kate Bishop learns to embrace her new superhero mantle as she helps her mentor in getting out of all the trouble he somehow gets himself into, from mob bosses, superstorms to mystery redheads and their incredibly sketchy issues. Let’s not forget to mention that this volume also offers fans a look at the crime-solving Pizza Dog, Lucky, as he also makes an appearance and will inevitably snatch a big ‘awn’ of sympathy out of you.
In this stunning series, Matt Fraction brilliantly explores Clint Barton’s conflicted-self as he deals with his powerless contribution to the Avengers’ daily heroic feats. Although his skillset with the bow and arrow are unmatched, he remains mortal and much more prone to suffering heavy injuries and acquainting himself with Death than his compatriots such as Spider-Man, Wolverine or Captain America. Through this volume, Matt Fraction also does an incredible job in presenting the hero outside of the Avengers as he deals with everyday issues while running into problems that are sometimes way bigger than himself. To deal with these obstacles, he often ends up relying on his protege Katie-Kate as she takes on the mantle of Hawkeye and learns to become her own thing in the superhero business. Their synchronicity in thought and action is, however, impressive and remains their forte whether they like how they each deal with problems or not.
The artwork is minimalistic and easy to fall in love with after the first issue, with recurring colours by Matt Hollingsworth that blend perfectly together. Matt Fraction and David Aja also make for an incredible team as they prove to be beyond creative in style and execution. From the writing to the panel positions, they both flex their visionary muscles and show the world that the medium offers plenty of innovative techniques that can be used to convey the emotions, the interactions, and the action sequences. Around the halfway mark, the volume does begin to show signs of its episodic nature and sometimes gets lost in repetition and its structure. This is also coupled with some changes in the artists that slightly deviates from the original artwork style and begins to explore a slightly different tone where the grounded humour isn’t as compelling as it was in the beginning. At least the issue featuring the perspective of Lucky, the pizza-eating dog, is magnificent as Matt Fraction and David Aja play with partial dialogues and symbols to show a dog’s journey to solve a crime in his neighbourhood.
Hawkeye (Vol. 1) is an outstanding introduction to Clint Barton’s and Kate Bishops’s characters as they embrace their inner Hawkeye whilst dealing with their own personal woes.
5 joyous, perfect stars. I actually can’t talk about this book in too much detail because it just hits the mark on every single level, with a perfect union between Matt Fraction’s witty heartbreaking empathetic writing (that addresses Clint as exactly the funny everyman disaster he should be, as the least ~*super*~ member of the Avengers); David Aja’s wonderful sparse noirish art; and also Matt Hollingsworth’s work as colourist — which is not normally something I notice or even think about in comics, but the minimalist colour palette of this series gives it such a distinctive look with all those crisp purples. This edition also has a nice little note at the end showing how the palettes were kept consistent across a whole volume, not just issue-by-issue.
The dynamic & chemistry between Clint and Kate is electric, and I found I could just sit and read them bantering and bickering and her bailing his ass out of the fire, well, pretty much forever. Kate Bishop is an absolute treasure and a complete badass.
This edition is an omnibus — combining volumes 1 and 2 of the trades — which means that it’s actually very long at 272 pages, and gives you a big ole hefty dose of action and fun adventure. There are technically a few downsides to the volume, e.g. I am not a fan of Javier Pulido’s art, and so was really glad when Aja returned; and the whole thing with the Clown is ? really ? disjointed and confusing ? but then it course-corrects and punches you right in the goddamn chest with Pizza Dog’s issue. My heart.
Anyway, it’s just as good as I always heard it was. Bless u Justine for finally getting me to read this. I already have the next volume on hold at the library.
Desde los 80´s que yo descubrí los Avengers West Coast Hawkeye y yo hicimos click, su personalidad rebelde pero responsable siempre fue algo que le admiré, y creció más ese sentimiento cuando se ponía al tú por tú con Steve Rogers en los títulos de Avengers. Empecé a leer este cómic como un reencuentro/homenaje a Clint y encontré un tesoro: un superhéroe muy humano con el que es fácil de conectar, que con todas sus virtudes y defectos (que son muchos) nunca pierde su objetivo de ayudar al prójimo. Fracción Y Aja hacen un trabajo extraordinario el guión sorprende aún a los que pensábamos que ya conocíamos a Barton y el arte Maravilloso marca un antes y un después en como los cómics exitosos no necesariamente deben traer arte "all over the place" sino que con buena técnica de narrativa, dibujos sólidos y buena paleta de colores se puede hacer merecedor a un Eisner.
I completely get all the praise. From the writing, the graphics, and the coloring to the writing, dialogue and nonlinear structure - I totally and utterly adore this book. The only thing I hate was the ending. As in not the ending itself, but the fact that it ended at all. I could've easily kept reading and continued to love every minute of it. Definitely getting my hands on the next volume.
3.5 stars Hawkeye has always been one of the avengers that I have been curious about, and this comic is (what I could make of it) about his time when he's not an avenger. Which basically is Clint/Hawkeye fighting with bad guys and being knocked out (many, many times).
I think that this comic just scrapped the surface of Clint's character and I want to read more and get to see more of him. It would be interesting to see him with the other avengers too. ^^
This was fun! I've never been the biggest Hawkeye fan, the MCU version of him is pretty low ranked among my favourite Avengers. But comic Clint? Cool dude, I like him. I mainly read this because my library had it (and then I remembered I paid 50 bucks for a Marvel Unlimited subscription and should probably just use that...also the German translation is iffy)...and I may or may not have seen pictures of Hailee Steinfeld in the new Hawkeye show on TikTok (you read that right) and decided that this was my time to get into the Hawkeye comics.
Turns out, I really love comic art, it's so dynamic and I am obsessed with how the pages tell stories on so many levels. And I vibe with the sense of humour, so that's a plus.
The reason that this is just 3 stars is this: I was so confused all the time?? Which might be me just not being used to reading comics and lacking the necessary media literacy associated with that, but there were multiple times where I just had no fucking clue what was happening. But hey, the art was nice. Bonus points for dedicating an entire comic issue to a dog. 10/10, glorious idea.
Hawkeye Vol. 1 collects Marvel Comics issues Hawkeye 1-11 and Young Avengers Presents 6 written by Matt Fraction with art by David Aja, Javier Pulido, Steve Lieber, Jesse Hamm, Fransesco Francavilla, Annie Wu, and Alan Davis.
What does Hawkeye do while he isn't an Avenger? He defends his apartment complex from Russian gangsters, trains his protege Kate Bishop, eats dinner with his neighbors, adopts a dog, becomes a landlord, and mainly just gets into increasingly deeper trouble.
I had read the first 6 issues as they were released years ago but never got around to finishing up the series. With the upcoming release of the Disney+ show, I wanted to fix that. This was an amazing series that was truly trailblazing in story, art, and covers. I feel it paved the way for a lot of modern writers - especially Tom King. It reads more like a crime story than a superhero book and really humanizes it main characters. Definitely a must read for comic fans.
First half was a fun action superhero comedy with extremely great bottle chapters of Clint Bartons ever day life outside of the costume. Adored it. Second half really faltered to incoherence with the mob after him and getting into details of his past loves. Some really good supporting characters but, I've read better superhero books. Fraction annoyed me with some of his "hip" dialogue and how the entire mob kept saying bro. It stopped being funny after two pages of hearing that word. Aja is a talented artist and made some creative panel details but I feel needs a better colorist.
Top notch stuff! I'm fairly certain this is the first time I ever read Matt Fraction and I gotta say it blew me away. Also a a great selection of artists for this first collection. Its gritty and real, while still playing with story and page structure. I was never one for Hawkeye. When I was a kid he was always just the guy who shot trick arrows and that was about it. This run and the recent movies have given him new life, and I'm loving it. I can't wait to read the next hardcover.
Now as per my standard closing message. I bought this book from a brick and mortar bookstore. I encourage you to do the same, or at least order it from one. Support brick and mortar stores!
good stuff ... Fraction : marvelous script Aja : gorgeous retro art Hollingsworth : fitting, minimalistic coloring.
Minor points : The quality suffers a bit when Fraction teams up with Pulido (issues #4 & 5) I wish they wouldn't have added the terrible Young Avengers comic which couldn't be more different from everything that went before in this collection.
Significantly more than I could have possibly asked for in a Hawkeye comic. It is rare to find a piece of fiction with this much ability to delight while also pulling at my heartstrings. 100% recommend it. I am suddenly compelled to get my hands on everything Matt Fraction has ever written.
Matt Fraction's Hawkeye takes a risk by leaning away from the super-secret-agent Hollywood Hawkeye, instead focusing on the very human, very out of his depth Clint Barton. This series opens with Hawkeye being thrown out of a window- and subsequently spending six weeks in hospital recovering. The dry, witty often sardonic sense of humour is one of this series defining characteristics as we follow the once mighty Avenger struggle to pay his rent, juggle his current girlfriend, rescue a dog, and piss off a violent gang along the way. Clint is a deaf man, a fact which is often glossed over, but notably not in this series. The way his deafness is incorporated into the art through frequent references to lip reading and even an entire issue in sign language is amazing, both creativity and representation wise.
Hawkeye is joined by Hawkeye, aka Kate Bishop, a New York socialite turned Young Avenger who’s not about to give up her title of Hawkeye just because Clint is back. She also happens to be possibly my favourite Marvel character (sorry Bucky). She is kickass without being invincible, sex positive without being sexualised, and as a survivor of sexual assault being a hero is personal to her. I’m so grateful she has been given the arc, development and hero status she deserves and wasn’t thrown in the dumpster behind marvel with countless other female characters.
Kate is exactly what Hawkeye needed to pick his tired old ass up, literally and figuratively. I loved the dynamic of Clint as an exasperated old hermit who seems about 110 years old, and Kate the audacious no doubt meme lovin millennial. Clint and Kate’s relationship is what drives this series as Hawkeye mentors Hawkeye it’s debatable just who is helping whom. In between banter, kicking ass and getting their asses kicked, a deep love begins to blossom as the walls Clint has built up are no match for Kate’s pure stubbornness. This duo prove how much more affective meaningful platonic relationships can be over romance, which imho is overrated and overdone especially in comics.
Matt Fraction’s wonderful characterisation, illustrator David Aja’s distinct style and creative use of panels make this latest Hawkeye installment a breath of fresh air. There’s an issue entirely in sign language, one from a dog's point of view, a winter special, and plenty of special guests that’ll have you giggling.
There’s a reason this series has a cult following- because it is brilliant.
I’m not quite sure if I should give this three stars or four. I loved the humor, Kate is a great character and a very effective foil for Clint and the chapter told from Lucky’s perspective was probably my favorite thing I’ve come across in a comic. However, parts of it were kind of repetitive in a way that was definitely intentional but still didn’t work that well for me, like how most chapters started with Clint thinking “This looks bad” or the Tracksuit Mafia’s constant use of “bro.” I ultimately settled on four stars because it ended on a high note with the chapter from Lucky the Pizza Dog’s perspective. The part where there was a heart over his head when he was looking at that other dog, the heart broke when he thought she was leaving, then it fused back together when she came back for him was very sweet and endearing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Truly there is nothing new I could add to the amount of praise this anthology has gotten and yet I feel compelled to at least say, that this is in itself a brilliant, boiled-down example of what comics can achieve. The minimalistic art style, the cold colors and the superb writing all make this work so compelling. And yet it is the layout of some of the pages that surprised and delighted me the most. If one is only familiar with the MCU, one might think of Hawkeye as the most boring character, a side note with little depth but Matt Fraction makes him into a compelling, deep, touching and very human hero who just wants peace. If you're a fan of comics, you don't get to go past this and if you aren't you will be after this.
This is probably the best comic I’ve read in a while. I just how it explores Hawkeye’s day to day life outside of the Avengers. In the Avengers, he’s the small fish in a big pond, but to the people in his apartment, he’s the big fish in the small part. I’m still a bit confused by what his relationship with Kate Bishop is. I know she’s the new Hawkeye, but he’s also Hawkeye? And does he have a crush on her or what, because I’m not really sure how old she is.
Dave Aja’s art design is awesome. Took a lot of inspiration from Chris Ware and I am completely on board with that. It was such a fun departure from typical comic book splash pages.
The Russians saying “bro” every other word got tiresome really quick though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I'm way more familiar with the MCU than the comics, but I really enjoyed the first volume of this collection of Hawkeye's adventures. I loved seeing how many elements were pulled into the Hawkeye mini-series, and there's definitely a similar vibe between the show and the comics. I also enjoyed the art style and writing/dialogue (and pizza dog's POV story.). On to volume 2!