As a kid, I didn’t read too many comics. But now as a twenty-six year old woman, I’ve been trying to make up for that by diving headfirst into the realm of sequential art. I’ve generally been sticking to indie, creator-owned, non-Big 2 comics since I’m afraid of missing out on important backstory and/or references to the extensive Marvel and DC universes. But as a fan of their respective mythologies via other media, it was nigh on inevitable that I would pick up some superhero books.
Enter Hawkeye.
Hawkeye Vol. 4 was written by Matt Fraction with illustrations by David Aja and various other artists. After hearing many rave reviews about it, I picked up the four trade paperbacks that comprise the Fraction/Aja run. The first of these, My Life as a Weapon, contains issues 1-5 as well as a Fraction-penned issue of Young Avengers Presents.
Let me start off by saying that I had little to no knowledge on Hawkeye prior to reading this book. I was introduced to Clint Barton with the other comic non-savvy plebs in the MCU’s Thor (2011) and The Avengers (2012). So to me, Hawkeye was just the “normal guy” who fought alongside the powerful Avengers with a bow and arrow. Color me amused, then, when Barton himself lampshades this in the opening panels of the first issue. In fact, you could say the whole volume is about exploring this strange dichotomy. While the other Avengers are demi-gods or wear superpowered armor, Clint Barton is just a guy trying to keep his neighbors from being evicted from their building.
The opening description puts it thusly:
Unlike many superhero comics, there are no universe-ending, global-scale issues at stake here. Fraction’s Hawkeye is more of a street-level hero. But the great thing about this series is that although the stakes may be smaller scale (e.g. the eviction of Barton’s building), there is still a weight to them since they are personally important to our characters.
*Spoilers from here on out!* Continue reading
Wise the Simple 