#425 - Re-reading Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja - part 2

So this week ended up starting much like last week finished.

With Hawkeye!

After writing up my thoughts on Hawkeye Volume 1, I decided that there was little point even pausing for breath (because I was totally into the story at that point) and continued on with my re-read. Of course it certainly helps that I had already broken into the second instalment before last week ended. Anyway, I finally got omnibus number two read and decided that I'd get my thoughts down for this week.

(And I finished it just in time for the Disney+ series to come out)

So, Hawkeye Collected Edition Vol. 2 continues where the first volume left off with Kate Bishop setting off with Lucky to be a West Coast Avenger, leaving Clint Barton alone to face the tracksuit draculas. Fortunately, Clint isn't alone for long as big brother Barney Barton shows up on his doorstep and double both the number of Bartons as well as the amount of chaos they bring. Meanwhile, the younger Hawkeye sets herself up in L.A. but finds her recent past has followed her out there, leaving her in just as much trouble as her mentor back home. These two simultaneous journeys will see the Hawkeyes taking wounds and facing betrayals as they find out who they really are to themselves.

For the second time in two weeks, I absolutely loved reading this book, although I felt that maybe it was not as good as the first volume. What I did love about it though was the inclusion of Barney Barton. I know very little about 'Trickshot', beyond that he was a part of Norman Osborn's 'Revengers' once upon a time. However, i found myself completely engrossed by his and Clint's shared journey as the brothers Barton almost staggered their way, beaten and bloody, through this story, with Barney always propping Clint up in a very emotional sense. This made me think a lot about my own relationship with my siblings and how, in a similar manner, we almost often mock each other and annoy each other but when the chips are down we will always back each other up (although not with a bow and arrow ... yet). This was what I loved about the relationship between Clint and Barney because, while they maybe have even less reason to like each other than most (Barney is a 'supervillain' and Clint stole all of his money. You know, I really wanna read THAT story), still Barney supports Clint and makes him see sense, even when Clint reaches his lowest ebb.

Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same about the other Hawkeye plot running through this book as I found myself really struggling to get invested with Kate's journey out to L.A. The problem here is that I'm not entirely sure why, although I suspect it is the character's depiction which I had trouble with because it felt like a really long way away from the character I was first introduced to in Heinberg and Cheung's Young Avengers (I really need to re-read that by the way). I remember having a conversation with Emma Vieceli at a True Believers some years ago, whereby she explained me that the original Kate Bishop was steeped in a tragic origin and that the Gillen/McKelvie Bishop (who was a lot more like this one) effectively did away with that origin and it's impact on her personality. For me though, ignoring it has always been a struggle and so I believe its caused me here to struggle to get invested, at least to begin with. I will admit, however, that as her story progressed, my enjoyment of her journey increased as the charm which Fraction wrote her seemed to finally crack through my preconcieved notions (hopefully my next read will improve it further). As a result of this, I felt it helped get the book (and the series) to a finale which I found to be as addictive as anything as every bow wielding (not a) superperson came together to take out the Tracksuit vampires once and for all (I assume)!

As for the art, we'll the breakdown for my views on the visuals marries up in a similar way to the writing. David Aja's artwork continues to rule for me, with many of the same reasons from volume 1 being relevant here. I just love the design of the pages and Matt Hollingsworth's use of colours. The same goes with Javier Pulido and Francesco Francavilla's inputs, which maintain a European and horror esque flair respectively (the latter's, I think' working really well in showing us the Barton brother's traumatic upbringing). However, it was Annie Wu's work on the the Kate Bishop centric issues where I struggled. Not to say that the work was bad, because it wasn't, but I just had problems getting to grips with the more chaotic style, although this too grew on me as the series progressed.

Now that I've finished Hawkeye (far quicker than I expected to) I have to say that both volumes were read which I really liked (though the first was a high while the second was most likely a low). However, u do believe that this series of Hawkeye in its entirety is one of those rare examples of when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I now have so many questions about the end and I find myself more than a little tempted to pick up Jeff Lemire's follow up series.

However, even if I didn't then it wouldn't matter as Fraction, Aja and the gang certainly a nice ending which could happily close the story despite open endedness, allowing it to work well as a contained story.

And it's that full, contained story which takes two 'really likes' and makes it a phenomenal story, one which I'm glad I have on my shelf.

Certainly a far cry from my thoughts back when I first read it.

And that's been my week (shockingly). I wont lie, I had expected to read more, including a load comics in need of review as well as a read of a whole lot of stuff that I missed throughout 2021 and some things which need focus for a certain 'project' I'm involved in. However, time got away from me and real life got in the way. I guess that'll all be next week's job.

In the meantime though, I'll just bask in the greatness of what Hawkeye turned out to be for just a for days longer.

#424 - Re-Reading Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja - part 1

This post was planned to go a whole lot differently when the week began.

After I posted last week's post, I did some thinking into how I could be more productive this week. The outcome of this was that I had plenty of print trades I hadn't read and so I would make the effort to burn through at least one of them. But then Blake's Buzz on Twitter announced his plan to read the entire Fraction/Aja run of Hawkeye and my plans changed to what they now are.

It's been nearly eight years since I first (and last) read the first omnibus edition of this run and, my views at the time didn't seem to find it favourable. However, as I thought back to that read, I struggled to remember what exactly happened. Therefore, I figured a re-read was maybe due.

Very little has changed since the last time I read the book as Hawkeye Collected Edition Vol. 1 sees what happens when everyone's (second) favourite Marvel Archer isn't running with the Avengers. Backed up his Young Avengers namesake, Kate Bishop, Clint Barton spends his downtime, battling Storms (the actual kind, not the X-woman), getting in trouble with women (what else is new) and being a very persistent irritation for a gang of tracksuit wearing thugs and the criminal underworld at large.

However, I'm not sure whether it's my age and wisdom which has done it or if the material is just more relevant to me now than it was then, but this first omnibus of Hawkeye was so much more entertaining than I recall it being. As with the first time I picked this book up, the concept still appeals to me and Matt Fraction's inserting a real sass and wit in the characters (particularly the Hawkeyes) works wonders. 

The thing is that I had previously expected Hawkeye to be a comic series more akin to what we saw in the Vision in that we were taking a look at Hawkeye's personal life. What I realised as I read this volume with older, fresher (if that isn't paradoxical) eyes, and what I didn't fully appreciate that first time round, is that THIS was his personal life! It occurred to me this time that Clint Barton is a screw-up with a heart of Gold, a normal guy whose life only makes sense when he draws back the bowstring and sends that arrow flying. Otherwise, every other action that Clint partakes in seems to fall apart around him, either by some form of Spider-man-esque luck or his own self sabotage, and it's this form of life that actually now makes a lot of sense to me.

As a result of this, I found the entire book far more entertaining and captivating than I remember doing all of those years ago. I loved the characters who turned throughout these eleven issues, even the tracksuit mafia this time. I wondered if this was because, while their effectiveness still seemed rather pointless, it was what they represented in how Clint's fight with them once again showed he didn't consider the consequences when it was revealed their 'higher' connections. In fact, I saw this in a lot of the characters as man suffered from Clint diving in without considering the ramifications.

As for the art ... well, I think that, much like the story and the writing, I've turned a complete 180 on the art. Based on my previous thoughts from the previous read, my thoughts on the art by the various artists was 'mixed' at best. However, I feel that, on this occasion, I can see these various styles for the quality and message they emit. For instance, I really felt that all of the artists for the series were given not given the issues which they produce by accident but because their styles worked for the environments Clint and Kate and everyone found themselves in.

For instance, David Aja's style, which I absolutely adored as I progressed through the title with some truly gorgeous layouts that really connected to me, seemed to appear primarily in issues set in New York, with Matt Hollingsworth's colour shades of colour helping give it this rather cold, steely vibe which (probably, I've never been there) makes sense for the City. The there is Javier Pulido, whose work I loved on the She-Hulk run by him and Charles Soule. Now, while it didn't connect with me as much as Aja's, I certainly enjoyed it here and felt that it gave a good European-esque vibe which helped when the story moved away from the city and to locales like Madripoor. Finally, there was Francesco Francavilla work, which I have loved since I first read Black Panther: the Man Without Fear. Unfortunately, while I still struggled to connect with it in the same way here (given its major tonal shift to the other styles), I was certainly able to appreciate it more as it worked to display a character's past in terms of almost nightmarish flashbacks.

As a result of this link in respects of the visual/tonal shifts, I think that my struggles dealing with the artwork and its ever changing look were severely lessened here. In fact, it's fair to say that I well and truly loved the art throughout the omnibus (Aja in particular) and that, this time around it helped keep me engrossed as I read through.

I remember saying, back when I had first read this collected trade, how I wish I'd seen more of what the internet hype had said about this series. Well, obviously the added years of knowledge and experience of comic reading have really helped me because, his time round, I really do see it. This first volume of Hawkeye has gone from 'pretty ok' to actually a 'phenomenal read' in my book (as evidenced by the fact I burned through it in only the latter half of the week) and look forward to seeing if the second volume continues in the same direction. That said, I don't remember what I said about the second one so, all being well, it won't have as uphill a struggle in proving my old opinion wrong.

Oh, and before I forget ...

While the latter half of the week was taken up by Hawkeye, the beginning of it saw me produce a review for Pipedream Comics of Lyndon White's Candles. Now, much of what I'm about to say has already pretty much been said in the review proper but, truth be told, it all doesn't hurt to bare repeating.

This is because Candles is a truly beautiful comic book/graphic novel in every sense of the word. It is both beautiful in the visual sense because Lyndon's art is without doubt some of the most gorgeous I've seen and the real high point of the book for me .

I also found the story was also a really beautiful, uplifting tale as I moved through it, although I can't lie when I say it didn't hold a candle (get it? .... ok, moving on) against the art which I thought was, without doubt, the superior part of this book. This is because I found Candles a bit of a struggle to get into as it started, maybe due to a lack of sufficient backstory (or simply that I wasn't feeling it). That said, it certainly improved and came together by the end, culminating in a good read for me. 

So, that's been my week and, technically it hasn't ended there. This is because I've already cracked open Hawkeye Volume 2 and started reading (although it sadly couldn't be finished by today). Fortunately, there still (almost) a week before the Hawkeye series on Disney + and I'm confident that it'll be finished in short order.

Which will then allow me to focus on the End of Year backlog for Pipedream Comics.

#423 - A Quiet Week.

As the title suggests, this week had been a quiet week for me when it comes to reading comics.

Unlike last week, where I devoted my time to a single six issue story, or even the week before, where I managed to burn through the equivalent of 16 issues from two different series, this week I found myself floundering with enthusiasm for reading. Therefore, while it was not a lesser amount than the smaller of these two prior weeks, it was nonetheless quieter (in my opinion).

The first thing I read was AL15: the Adventure Begins over the weekend, which I was to prepare a review on for Pipedream Comics. I feel ashamed of myself with this comic by Steve De La Mare from Markosia Comics because, from the moment that it fell into my Dropbox, I don't think I gave it much (if any respect). I, for some reason, always thought it wouldn't be a great read and so always let it get passed over for other newer, seemingly more interesting titles.

However, by the time I read it I certainly felt like I had egg on my face because, as the review would suggest, I found AL15 to be a truly engrossing and enjoyable read. While it took a moment for me to get a grip as to what was going on, really quickly I was immersed into a story that felt more akin to a fantasy journey (I repeatedly compared it to Labyrinth) but in a sci-fi setting which made me think of the video game 'The Outer Worlds'. It was truly something else entirely, with creatures and aliens which felt ripped from the Mos Eisley Cantina and concepts I certainly don't think I've ever seen in any sci-fi film/show/comic beforehand.

And then there is the art, which was unlike anything I have ever seen. I remember hearing conversations about the early Doctor Strange material and how it was theorised that the creative team were under the influence. Well, the art here would certainly give me that impression because AL15's visual style seemed so trippy and ... hallucinogenic (for want of a better term) that there certainly could not be a more sound argument as to why this book looks the way it does. Of course, that didn't impede it in my book as, instead, it really added to the epic-ness of the story.

By the end, it was fair to say that I had been re-taught that ever age old rule of never judge a book by its cover. This is because, while the cover or even the title didn't give me anything to go on, the story and interiors were more than enough to blow my initial expectations out of the water. This was a comic I really liked and it makes me wish I had given it the necessary attention much, much sooner.

Anyway, after that I spent most of the week struggling to feel enthused, even when I started reviewing a second graphic novel for the week, I just couldn't find the right mojo to get properly invested.

Fortunately, however, I finally got out of my slump yesterday one the bus home from work when I read the newly released Batman: The Imposter #2. This issue picked up where issue 1 left off as Batman, continued to search for the person responsible for killing criminals in his name while continuing to justify his actions to his therapist, Dr Leslie Thompkins. However, when the Dark Knight finds his attempts to locate the imposter more difficult than he initially imagined, he realises that he needs more eyes and information and decides to gain access to the computers files of both the Gotham P.D. and Weskar Industries, a move than causes him to make a connection he could not have prepared for.

When I had left this series with issue 1, I recall finding myself unsure about where I was going to find myself falling in regards to its quality. However, I have to admit that Batman: The Imposter #2 allayed my fears quite considerably with an issues I really loved. I really thought that Mattson Tomlin's story really picked up the pace in this issue as the more detective aspects of the plot really started to assert themselves. I also enjoyed the idea of the connection which Bruce made with Detective Blair Wong, an idea that made me think of the Thomas Crown affair (because of the therapy sessions and the whole 'sleeping with the enemy' thing), Mask of the Phantasm (because of the romance angle and how it nearly destroyed Batman), and Year One (the whole rivalry and being on the run thing). In fact, there was a lot I liked about this issue, including the questions it left in my head such as who the imposter is (I was starting to cycle through who it could be by the end) and what's the imposter's connection to Weskar Industries (because there has got to be one. Also, nice cameo!!).

Once again though, the thing I loved most in this issue (only just) was the art as, once again, Andrea Sorrentino's work is just SO gorgeous. This work, once again, has the gritty look that suits Batman's world perfectly and the image of Batman continues to make me think the inspiration is Robert Pattison's upcoming depiction (in fact, the whole design and look of the issue makes me think of it). I will admit that, for the first time since I first looked at Sorrentino's art, there was a moment where the layout confused me a little. That said, it was only the one time and there's a first time for everything (and, knowing me, I probably just wasn't paying attention).

In the end though, while issue 1 left me with a degree of uncertainty towards this series, issue 2 has me sold. I now look forward to the final instalment and discovering how everything ends and who is the Imposter.

And that was my week. Unfortunately, I had hoped to get another review comic read before this was written but it seems this week was something of an off week for me, with little else getting done. Hopefully though, next week will a little more positive and a little bit more productive.

#422 - Green Arrow: Year One

Nearly a year ago, I received a grand total of 24 graphic novels for my birthday. Unfortunately, in that year which has included a lockdown (I think, I can't actually remember if 2021 had any now that I ponder on it), I've still only been able to read two of them, Spencer and Locke and Resonant, and that was back in January.

This week, however, with my kids hogging my android tablet and preventing me from reading any digital comics, I decided to take a risk and pull one of those many graphic novels of the shelves (and hope that they didn't rip apart as destructive children like mine tend to do).

So, I got around to finally reading Andy Diggle and Jock's Green Arrow: Year One, a contemporary (well, as of when it was written) re-imagining of the origin of the Emerald Archer. This story saw billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, having made a fool of himself I front of his peers, make a hasty escape to sea aboard his boat. But when he is betrayed and thrown overboard, Oliver washes ashore of a mysterious island that forces him to not only learn to survive but fight for a village he discovers trapped in the clutches of a dangerous drug lord.

I remember when I was selected this book from a Zaavi deal way back when, it made its way into my choices because of the good things which I had heard about it. This was certainly something which seemed to be true when I found five minutes a few months back and flicked through this book, finding myself highly intrigued by the contents. Fortunately, the things I heard were in no way exaggerated as I found that I really enjoyed this mini series. I thought that Andy Diggle's script and story has such a cinematic feel to it from characterisation to its flow and pacing that I have to wonder if this might have been a film treatment once upon a time (it did come out around the time of those Green Arrow: Supermax film rumours) given how it came across the page.

Indeed, I think this would certainly make sense as the characterisation of Oliver Queen certainly has that kind of rebirth arc that all film plots love. Of course, that isn't to say that I didn't for I certainly enjoyed Ollie's journey from arrogant playboy to dispenser of justice with a longbow. Meanwhile, all of the other characters are perfect for the cliched tropes they depict: Hackett, the traitor turned number 1 goon, China White (in her first appearance it seems) as the merciless drugs lord (or lady) and Taiana as Ollie's exposition/Guardian Angel/Confidante. But again, while this might all seem cliched, it didn't make their use in the tale any less enjoyable.

As for the art, I really felt that Jock's visuals were equally as cinematic as the story, thanks to its panels which feel much more splashed and spread out over the pages in a less structured way than I think I've ever seen before. Jock's pencil have this really sparse look to them in my opinion which are also a little rough in how they're placed on the page, but these look like they are full of energy, giving it a real kinetic vibe. Meanwhile, I thought that David Baron's colours really made Jock's pencils feel very atmospheric with a harsh and bright look with almost every day time island scene, making me feel like I too was with Ollie as the Island's harsh sun bore down on him.

I think I'm starting to ramble a little but, all in all, I really did enjoy reading Green Arrow: Year One. I thought the book gave the character of Ollie Queen an uncomplicated but worthy origin for his alter ego which really kept me engrossed throughout. In fact, by the time I had finished the series, I could only wonder why this book was never the basis for a film on the character (although I certainly see it's DNA within the Arrow TV show through the flashback sequences. Also, I wonder if Hackett was the template for what in the end became Diggle?). Still, moviegoers loss is my gain I guess as I'm glad that I got my hands on a good comic.

So, that's one graphic novel down, just another 21 to go.