Hawkeye #1 Review

I’m not a Clint Barton fan. That’s a fact. But then, I wasn’t a Danny Rand fan either until Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Ed Brubaker delivered the Immortal Iron Fist. With Fraction and Aja reteaming for Hawkeye #1, all signs are pointing to history repeating itself. This debut issue is a solid introduction to a book that puts its focus on Clint the man over Clint the superhero. If you’re looking for some classic archery action, you won’t get it here. But what you will get is a whole lot of gritty street-level action and a display of Clint’s pinpoint accuracy with a bevy of different weapons.

More importantly, Fraction plays up Clint’s genuine personality. He’s rough around the edges but a good person at heart. Hawkeye #1 forgoes any sort of Avengers-level threats, instead focusing on Clint’s battle against a shady landlord as he sticks up for the other tenants in his building. Fraction manages to take what’s often been Hawkeye’s shortcoming in the Avengers crew – the fact that he’s got no super powers – and manages to use it to sculpt Clint into a man of the people. This debut issue celebrates the fact that Clint is down in the dirt, so to speak, and is able to take on problems that are simply below the typical Avengers fare.

I did find that Fraction’s dialog is a bit overdone at times, particularly when it comes to the shady landlords, whose overuse of “bro” is humorous at first but quickly turns irritating. One other problem that this issue runs into is the jarring narrative structure, which leaps back and forth in time. By the end of the book the timeline is clear, but for all of the pages leading up to the very last scenes, it’s a bit overwhelming to manage. That said, the payoff at the end is great – anyone that knows my personal taste in superhero comics will know exactly what I’m talking about after they read it – and proves that Fraction is determined to take Clint in a fun and different direction.

As much as I enjoyed Fraction’s characterization and interesting new addition to the cast, it’s the return of David Aja to interior artwork that was the baseline selling point. Simply put: if Aja draws, I buy. And, as expected, this book is gorgeous. Aja’s stylish layouts heap character onto this book, while his thick, heavy blacks are beautifully balanced by the color work of Matt Hollingsworth. Aja’s got an ability to emote an entire city block just by the way he constructs the page; images of Clint walking in a Bed-Stuy neighborhood are particularly impressive, as the artist laces the panels with the smallest of details that makes the scenery authentic and, coupled with Hollingsworth’s brownish hues that perfectly capture the “New York City in August” from Fraction’s script, you’ve got one hell of a visual feast. While Aja doesn’t get to explode on a whole lot of action sequences in this issue, his storytelling in even the most mundane of moments make Hawkeye #1 an education in page design. There’s one brief sequence in which Clint visits an illegal casino that just might be the most impressive piece of purely visual storytelling that I’ve seen all summer.

As a traditionally non-Hawkeye fan, this book delivered in spades. In the span of one issue, Fraction and Aja made me care about a character I never had before, and did it with such force that I can’t wait for the next chapter. But if you’re an established Barton enthusiast, then this might just be your new favorite Marvel title.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He will love Star Wars until the end of his days.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com