This review covers the entire run of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye: Issues 1-22, plus Young Avengers Presents 6, and Annual 1.
Volume 1 (the hardcover) was also our Graphic Novel Book Club book for March 2016
Hawkeye, Volume 1
Collecting Hawkeye #1-11, and Young Avengers Presents #6
Matt Fraction, writer
David Aja, main artist
Matt Hollingsworth, main colorist
Chris Eliopoulos. letters
Javier Pulido, artist for #4 & 5
Steve Lieber & Jesse Hamm, artists for #7
Francesco Francavilla, art & color for #10
Annie Wu, "romance covers" for #8
ISBN: 9780785184874
(Hawkeye, Volume 1 is a hardcover containing the issues collected in the softback Vol. 1 and 2.)
Hawkeye, Volume 3: L.A. Woman
Collecting Hawkeye #14, #16, #18, #20, and Annual #1
Matt Fraction, writer
Anne Wu, main artist
Matt Hollingsworth, colorist
Javier Pulido, art and cover for Annual
ISBN: 9780785183907
Hawkeye, Volume 4: Rio Bravo
Collecting Hawkeye #12 & 13, #15, #17, #19, and #21 & 22
Matt Fraction, writer
David Aja, main artist
Matt Hollingsworth, colorist
Francesco Francavilla, artist, covers, colors for #12
Chris Eliopoulos, art for # 17
Jordie Bellaire, colors for #17
ISBN: 9780785185314
Short review: It's amazing. It's everything perfect about comic books. Go read it.
Longer review. What we have here is a perfect look at heroes off-duty - this run gives us Hawkeye when he's not off "Avengering" with the other heroes. He goes home to his apartment, has cookouts with his neighbors on the roof, deals with tracksuit mafia (Bro) and tries to do the right thing and help out his friends.
This being Hawkeye, he screws things up on the regular. He also gets the everloving snot stomped out of him on the regular. He starts the run in traction, and ends it temporarily deafened. I love that we see the consequences of his choices here - he's not Cap, he's not got armor, and it shows. Poor Clint.
We also get to see the other Hawkeye: Kate Bishop of the Young Avengers. She pops in and out of Hawkeye's life for the first dozen or so issues, but then there's a bit of a mess that sends her off to Los Angeles to try her hand at solo heroics. Which is really an excuse to get her into the clutches of Madame Masque and her creepy shenanignans over there, and also to get Clint on his own.
What I like about the collected issues is that they've decided to make Volume 3 into the Kate Hawkeye book, and Volume 4 into the Clint Hawkeye book - so Volumes 3 and 4 alternate comic issues and give you a full story of one Hawkeye or the other, whereas if you read them during the actual run, you'd be alternating between the coasts every month or so until the finale.
The run is pretty fantastic. It's internally cohesive, has stakes that range from the mundane to the global conspiracy, has roots in the real world (there's an issue about Hurricane Sandy) and ties back into the Marvel universe (shout-out to Moon Knight!) all while keeping the focus sharply on the Hawkeyes and their attempts to be heroic and good, and to beat the bad guys without lowering themselves to the level of the bad guys. Truly excellent writing.
Now for the art. I can't enjoy a comic unless the art appeals to me, and boy howdy does this appeal. Aja (pronounced A-ha) is a genius, and Hollingsworth's colors are like an intensive study course on color theory and how to color block without making people's eyes bleed, or boring them to death. Annie Wu's exuberant work shines through in the retro covers of My Doomed Love and in the wild excess of Hollywood with Kate (although I felt the chibi "internal voice" was a peculiar choice). The scenes are fresh and powerful and flow beautifully - I rarely felt lost (I always feel lost in the thicket of panels) even when we're being led around by Pizza Dog, or in an issue where everything's narrated in sign language and lip-reading. Massive appreciation for stellar work by everyone involved.
I have to say, I know all good things come to an end, and runs often don't make it quite to their full potential, but I really do feel like this one rose to the challenge, smote it to death, and strutted on into the sunset. I'm truly sorry that it's over.
Showing posts with label Hawkeye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hawkeye. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Monday, May 18, 2015
Movie Novelizations: MCU Phase One, The Avengers, Alex Irvine
I found this in the bookstore and couldn't resist the lovely cover!
Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One, The Avengers
Alex Irvine
ISBN: 9780316256377
MG novelization of the 2012 movie, The Avengers.
To state the obvious first, this is an actual novelization of the film, and therefore has all of the scenes and events of the film in order, all the way to completion. This is not a "teaser" or a "movie storybook" with character bios or plot hints.
I was interested to see what sort of changes and omissions would be necessary to make The Avengers (overseas title: Avengers Assemble) into a MG-level book as far as content, and I have to say that I was impressed with the deft handling of the storyline, characters, and content.
I may possibly be a giant MCU fangirl, and so there were a couple of places where I have quibbles about the dialogue - please note that these aren't the places where certain not-so-PG comments are elided or rephrased, but other sections of dialogue that I felt were unclear or badly formatted. Dialogue is seriously difficult, and transcribing actual human speech, even in an environment as structured as a script, is even more difficult. It is impressive that Irvine got as much of Whedon's patter down in a manner I felt was satisfying, so the few bits I read as flubs sadly stood out quite a lot to me.
As far as the PG alterations, here's what I noticed:
1) Black Widow's introductory scene is handled beautifully by simply refusing to comment on her clothing.
2) In the scene with Barton, Loki, and Selvig, Loki's query as to what Barton needs garners a different response: "I need a distraction" he says, "and a biometric ID" instead of the slightly more disturbing comment in the film.
3) In related plot-developments, Loki doesn't gouge out any body parts in Stuttgart.
4) The Loki/Black Widow interrogation scene omits a certain nasty British imprecation.
5) Banner's despairing speech about Hulk's utter invincibility is left as an implication of suicide, with the actual description of his attempt left entirely out.
Now, oddly enough, despite all that, Cap still gets to call aliens "bastards" in the final battle, and I'm not sure if they just missed that one, or decided it was their single use and better make it a good one. It isn't like I mind language (although that it's CAP's language is especially amusing, given Ultron's running joke) but when it's the only instance in the whole book, it does become rather more noticeable and a bit jarring.
This one was super cute, and now I'm planning to hunt up the other ones.
Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One, The Avengers
Alex Irvine
ISBN: 9780316256377
MG novelization of the 2012 movie, The Avengers.
To state the obvious first, this is an actual novelization of the film, and therefore has all of the scenes and events of the film in order, all the way to completion. This is not a "teaser" or a "movie storybook" with character bios or plot hints.
I was interested to see what sort of changes and omissions would be necessary to make The Avengers (overseas title: Avengers Assemble) into a MG-level book as far as content, and I have to say that I was impressed with the deft handling of the storyline, characters, and content.
I may possibly be a giant MCU fangirl, and so there were a couple of places where I have quibbles about the dialogue - please note that these aren't the places where certain not-so-PG comments are elided or rephrased, but other sections of dialogue that I felt were unclear or badly formatted. Dialogue is seriously difficult, and transcribing actual human speech, even in an environment as structured as a script, is even more difficult. It is impressive that Irvine got as much of Whedon's patter down in a manner I felt was satisfying, so the few bits I read as flubs sadly stood out quite a lot to me.
As far as the PG alterations, here's what I noticed:
1) Black Widow's introductory scene is handled beautifully by simply refusing to comment on her clothing.
2) In the scene with Barton, Loki, and Selvig, Loki's query as to what Barton needs garners a different response: "I need a distraction" he says, "and a biometric ID" instead of the slightly more disturbing comment in the film.
3) In related plot-developments, Loki doesn't gouge out any body parts in Stuttgart.
4) The Loki/Black Widow interrogation scene omits a certain nasty British imprecation.
5) Banner's despairing speech about Hulk's utter invincibility is left as an implication of suicide, with the actual description of his attempt left entirely out.
Now, oddly enough, despite all that, Cap still gets to call aliens "bastards" in the final battle, and I'm not sure if they just missed that one, or decided it was their single use and better make it a good one. It isn't like I mind language (although that it's CAP's language is especially amusing, given Ultron's running joke) but when it's the only instance in the whole book, it does become rather more noticeable and a bit jarring.
This one was super cute, and now I'm planning to hunt up the other ones.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Graphic Novel: Hawkeye (collected issues: Hawkeye #1-11, Young Avengers Presents #6)
Hawkeye
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artists: David Aja, Javier Pulido, Steve Lieber, Jesse Hamm, Francesco Francavilla
Cover Artists: David Aja, Annie Wu, Francesco Francavilla
Color: Matt Hollingsworth, Francesco Francavilla
Letterer: Chris Eliopolos
ISBN: 9780785184874
Graphic Novel: Hawkeye issues #1-11, Young Avengers Presents #6
These are so much fun!
Poor Barton has such bad instincts. He gets himself into all sorts of scrapes that he really ought to know better than to get into, and only his truly astounding durability - and sometimes a little help from his friends - gets him back out in (mostly) one piece.
If you've ever wondered what the Avengers do when they're not on duty, here's the answer for Hawkeye at least - gets the piss beaten out of him by the tracksuited "Bro" gang, as well as other bad guys that he just happens to piss off in passing. He's good at that, almost as good as Spiderman, really. Unfortunately, he doesn't show Spidey's acrobatic prowess in avoiding getting hit, and he literally spends the entire comic collection acquiring and working off various injuries (sometimes serious ones) due to his extracurricular activities. Makes me wonder if perhaps he isn't safer ON the job than off it!
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artists: David Aja, Javier Pulido, Steve Lieber, Jesse Hamm, Francesco Francavilla
Cover Artists: David Aja, Annie Wu, Francesco Francavilla
Color: Matt Hollingsworth, Francesco Francavilla
Letterer: Chris Eliopolos
ISBN: 9780785184874
Graphic Novel: Hawkeye issues #1-11, Young Avengers Presents #6
These are so much fun!
Poor Barton has such bad instincts. He gets himself into all sorts of scrapes that he really ought to know better than to get into, and only his truly astounding durability - and sometimes a little help from his friends - gets him back out in (mostly) one piece.
If you've ever wondered what the Avengers do when they're not on duty, here's the answer for Hawkeye at least - gets the piss beaten out of him by the tracksuited "Bro" gang, as well as other bad guys that he just happens to piss off in passing. He's good at that, almost as good as Spiderman, really. Unfortunately, he doesn't show Spidey's acrobatic prowess in avoiding getting hit, and he literally spends the entire comic collection acquiring and working off various injuries (sometimes serious ones) due to his extracurricular activities. Makes me wonder if perhaps he isn't safer ON the job than off it!
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