Hawkeye: My Life As A Weapon

by Matt Fraction, David Aja (Illustrator)

Eisner Award-Winner: Matt Fraction & David Aja, Best Single Issue
Eisner Award-Winner: David Aja, Best Penciller
Eisner Award-Winner: David Aja, Best Cover Artist

The Eisner Award-winning modern classic, presented in a newly designed book format edition with a brand-new introduction by author Matt Fraction.

Matt Fraction (Batman, Invincible Iron Man) and David Aja (The Immortal Iron Fist, The Seeds) deliver a stylish, cinematic, and profoundly human take on Marvel’s most unlikely Avenger — one that inspired countless creators, won armfuls of awards, and laid the groundwork for the hit Disney+ series.

Clint Barton, ordinary guy in a world of gods and super-soldiers, just wants to do right — and maybe grill a decent rooftop BBQ. Alongside Kate Bishop, his equally sharp-eyed protégé, he takes aim at digital digital doomsday, Russian mobsters in tracksuits, and the everyday chaos of life in New York. With Aja’s minimalist brilliance and Fraction’s razor-sharp voice, these stories turned the small details — neighbors, stray dogs, broken tape decks — into unforgettable legend.

And then there’s Pizza Dog. Yes, he gets his own Eisner-winning story.

Bonus Content: variant covers, sketchbook, cover concepts, page process, color guides, David Aja’s drawing playlists

Collecting: Hawkeye (2012) 1-11, Young Avengers Presents (2008) 6

Genres: Marvel, Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels

280 pages, Paperback

Published November 25, 2025

About the author

"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.

- 2009. Alex Pham. Los Angeles Times.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly like Hawkeye from the movie Marvel world and as such, I thought well lets have try at the comic version. This is a collection of adventures of Clint Burton & Kate Bishop in which I sometimes felt that their relationship is bordering on inappropiate behaviour .
Basicly this collection feels not very balanced in its stories, the colouring is fine but story-wise it never engages me. But still nice that they offer important stories for a low budget release. Which also means that you can try everything and even if you dislike some publications it is not an enormous financial loss.
This book is not my cup of tea, perhaps it is yours.

[ana! · Rating 3 out of 5]

-1 star because entire intro about hawkeye being deaf and not a single goddamn hearing aid and he can hear everything. disabilitybaiting, if you will.

[Cmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

matt fractions Hawkeye run was always on my radar since I started getting back into reading collected editions. for the most part was really enjoying the story, i think the pacing of the story and different “arcs” being told throughout the issues was really well done. David Aja’s art during his issues were fantastic and his paneling was next level. this premier collection version would’ve gotten a 5 star if the story didn’t run a bit flat and abruptly end.

[Chad Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hawkeye works through the issues of not having super powers

[stephen smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’ve read the full omnibus of this but wanted to go back bc christmas and it’s strange that this one only had half the story and ended in the beginning of the second arc in the series

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for the writing; 3 stars for the lack of story resolution.

[Caitlin Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this story! The art style wasn’t my favourite, but super funny and interesting to see the origins of lucky.

[Brooke Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Scott A. Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing, the layouts, and the art come together to make this book a Must-Have for fans of Hawkeye!