Hawkeye Omnibus

Hawkeye Omnibus by Matt Fraction
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hawkeye is the Avenger that uses a bow and arrow. This is the stuff he does when he's not avenging.

A couple years ago, I read this series in singles on Marvel Unlimited and was blown away. A few months ago at MightyCon, some guy was setting this sweet ass hardcover for $40. It sounded like a great deal to me.

The first story, an issue of Young Avengers, doesn't have the look and feel of the rest of the book but it's a surprisingly touching story about Hawkeye and Hawkeye meeting. It was fun but was just a prelude to the star of the show, Hawkeye 1-22 and is a nice introduction to Kate Bishop.

And then we get to the meat of the book. I adore the look and feel of this, the subdued color palette and artwork make this feel like an old comic I forgot about. It also reminds me of Batman: Year One quite a bit, gritty and somewhat understated. Hawkeye isn't taking on Celestials in this one, he's battling street level crooks and the artwork suits this perfectly. I wish the entire volume had been a David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth production but that couldn't be helped, I guess.

While there are some side stories, like The Tape and Kate heading to LA, it's mostly the story of Hawkeye defending his building against the Tracksuit Draculas, gangsters from an unknown eastern European country. It's a gritty story about Hawkeye manning up and being the person everyone else thinks he is.

Fraction uses a variety of storytelling techniques in this: non-linear issues, silent issues, even an issue from Lucky's point of view, Lucky being the dog Hawkeye adopts early in the series. For years, I dismissed Hawkeye as a Green Arrow ripoff but Fraction shows depths to the character I've never seen before. The relationships between Clint and everyone else drive the book: Barney Barton, Kate Bishop, Spider-Woman, Mockingbird, and the other tenants in Clint's building. There are some surprisingly touching moments.

I think Hawkeye appeals to me so much because it is a throwback to the early days of Marvel. Marvel heroes were the heroes with ordinary problems, something I think they lose sight of in these days of endless deaths and resurrections and big honkin' crossovers. If the series had to end, I'm glad Fraction and Aja ended it when they did. This run of Hawkeye ranks right up there with Starman and Gotham Central as one of my favorite runs of all time. This was my second time through and I enjoyed it even more the second time. Five out of five stars.


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