Book Review: Hawkeye Vol. 1 by M. Fraction et al.

Hawkeye Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon written by Matt Fraction and art by David Aja and Javier Pulido

Hawkeye (aka Clint Barton) is a characters who looks less interesting on paper than other Marvel heroes. As an Avenger, he has no superhuman abilities. He's an amazing shot with a bow and arrow, an antiquated weapon. He does have a quiver full of trick arrows. He has the graceful athleticism that every other superhero has, more or less. Hawkeye solo adventures seem like they would not be that interesting. In this book, the writer and artists come up with some good stories fighting organized crime or other "normal" bad guys. Clint is teamed up with Kate Bishop, who has taken over the role of Hawkeye after Clint was presumed dead a long time ago (a story too complicated to get into here). They make a fun team as mentor and mentee. Also, Clint is a lot more freewheeling in contrast to Kate's more stable character. In one adventure, a video tape of Clint assassinating a foreign terrorist has been found (the official story is Navy Seals killed the terrorist). The tape will go to the highest bidder but once it gets out, the reputations of Hawkeye and the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. will be tanked. So Clint goes to Marakesh to put his bid in at the auction where all the bad guys (Wilson Fisk, AIM, Hydra, Madame Masque, etc) want a piece of the action. The story has fun twists and action.

Overall, the book is good, giving a minor character his own chance to shine. Clint has a fun personality and enough moral code to show why he belongs on the Avengers. Some of the situations are more hard PG-13, with some arrows sticking out of eyes or some awkward intimate moments. Weirdly, an issue of Young Avengers featuring Kate and Clint is included though that story is clearly out of continuity with the rest of the book.

Recommended. I'll probably read some more of this series.