Hawkeye #7 Review
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artists: Steve Lieber & Jesse Hamm
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover: David Aja
I have a confession to admit….I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hawkeye when I originally started the series. I heard so many good things about the book, I gave issues one through three a chance. I wasn’t impressed. I had the wrong impressions of what Hawkeye would be about. I envisioned a supehero tale featuring The Avengers’ resident archer. But Hawkeye deals with Clint Barton’s life when he’s not an Avenger. And surprisingly, this makes for an entertaining comic.
Hawkeye #7 is a Hurricane Sandy tribute. The story puts both Hawkeyes (Clint and Kate Bishop) in New York while the hurricane passes through. They have to help the residents of the city deal with the epic storm. Matt Fraction is donating part of the proceeds to victims of the hurricane.
What I Liked
It was very smart of Matt Fraction to have Hawkeye deal with the fallout from Hurricane Sandy. These are the type of stories Fraction can tell in a book that isn’t reliant on continuity with other titles. He can tell standalone tales and not worry about interfering with anyone else’s stories.
As usual, items introduced early in the book are referenced later on. An example would be Clint complaining to Grills about tape in the beginning, and then seeing the tape introduced later on. It was great seeing Clint and Kate have a friendly argument about New Jersey and Brooklyn, and which town is the best. Especially when Jay-Z is referenced.
Kate encounters a problem when trying to retrieve medicine for a resident in need. Thankfully the good citizens of New Jersey come to her rescue. It renews Kate’s faith in her city and shows how everyone comes together in times of tragedy. While this is a comic book and not real, it reminds us that the true heroes in the real world are everyday citizens.
What I Didn’t Like
When the store owners reward Kate by giving her the medicine she was looking for, how did they even know what kind she needed? The readers are the only ones who knew she was even there for medicine in the first place. I can see them thanking her by offering money or items from the store, and THEN Kate asking for the meds. But that doesn’t happen. Just seemed odd.
The final complaint would be with the art. We have two artists working on this one…Steve Lieber & Jesse Hamm. Both do fine work, but it’s easy to tell that it is not David Aja. Whichever drew the first half of the book did a better job than the ending artist. The beginning looked a lot like Aja’s work.
Summary
Along with the Christmas issue, Hawkeye #7 is a fine solo story. We get to see the Hawkeyes help the city in time of need. Also while purchasing the book, you the reader will be doing your part by helping those still on the road to recovering from the storm damage. Nothing beats enjoying a good book and helping others all at the same time.
This review is written in partnership with Pop Culture Network. They can be found at their website http://www.popculturenetwork.com/
Timdogg
#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE
