Hawkeye, Vol. 1

This is a fantastic book. For a little under twenty dollars, at the time of writing this, you get eleven of out the twelve issues of the series on the stand now, not including the excellent origin story of Clint and Kate's first meeting. Hawkeye is easily one of, if not, the best current series running in Marvel today, and this collection is, by far, the best deal out there. Matt Fraction writes Clint Barton as an affable everyman who just wants to do the right thing. The stories are fast, funny, and just plain fun. Clint and Kate are some of the most engaging characters in comics now, and their playful, flirty banter alone is almost worth the price of admission. The story takes a more serious turn later, but never looses the fun loving element that made it great. David Aja draws the crap out of this book, and when he can't make it, Javier Pulido and Francesco Francavilla pick up his slack and knock it out of the park. Add to the fact that Matt Hollingsworth colors this book to purple hued perfection, this is a beautiful book no matter how you look at it. The hardcover is big, colorful, easy to read, and most importantly, very well made. Marvel has been known to skimp on the quality of their releases, but I'm happy to say they've done right by Hawkeye. I cannot overstate what an amazing deal this is. You are getting eleven out of the thirteen existing issues in this series for less than it would cost to buy both soft covers. When all is said and done, you are getting almost the entire run of the best current Marvel series in print, collected in a beautiful and well made package for a more than reasonable price. This is a must buy all the way. Pick it up and enjoy, bro.

I've always loved Hawkeye, and this book in particular really does him justice. The art is clean and well-done, the dialogue fits him very well whether it's comical or dramatic, and the story really rolls along in a detailed-yet-condensed manner. Over all, I was very pleased with this product! It made me fall in love with Clint Barton all over again, and will serve well to bring new fans into the fold, as it's easy for those new to the comics to follow and enjoy.

My experience with Marvel Now has been that the individual hero series are exceptionally strong, like Captain Marvel, and the team series, like New Avengers, are not as good. Hawkeye continues this trend with another outstanding solo series. First off, I love that this story has both Hawkeyes – Clint Barton and Kate Bishop, of Young Avengers. It’s fun to see him as a mentor to a protégé, balancing his usual brash tactics with the need to look out for a less experienced partner. And she’s not just a side-kick; she can hold her own, even going so far as to pull his butt out of the fire more than once. It is she who described his life as a “car crash.” And it is that which makes him so relatable. He’s incredibly skilled, and an Avenger, but he makes crap decisions that constantly come back to bite him. Like the Black Widow series, this one follows him on his “down-time” from Avenging. He picks a fight with the Russian Mafia who are trying to force the tenants out of Clint’s building, and this starts an ongoing feud that will continue. In between, he has missions, he has hook-ups and break-ups, gets beat up, and saves the day. The art here is very different from what I usually see and difficult to describe. Though it’s not what I would usually like, it works perfectly for this character. Overall, this is an excellent series that I will definitely continue to read. Highly recommended.

I bought this book knowing nothing about Matt Fraction's work and being primarily a DC snob. That being said, I read my copy of this book at least 6 times since purchase and have enjoyed every pass. Everything about this book is fantastic, from the quality of the paper/binding to the art and storyline. With no complex tie ins, no "pre-reading" needed to understand, and no unnecessary vague references any reader can pick this book up, read it cover to cover, and savor every work and every drop of ink. Starting with the art, seldom have I ever seen a combination of an author, illustrator, and colorist appear to be functioning on the exact save wavelength. This starts with Fraction establishing a broken everyman type character, a character who has money and friends, but still has a hollow spot in his life that he attempts to fill in. His ward, Kate Bishop is brilliantly depicted as a stubborn youth disconnected from the true reality of the job. Aja (et all) follow up with a brilliant, minimalist style to the illustrations that clearly illustrates to you the characters emotions, from Clint's sadness to his anger the reader is never guessing the emotional state of the characters. the minimalist styling of the illustrations are matched step for step by a masterful use of color by Hollingsworth .

This book will grow on you, it is one of my personal favorite series because it is unique and sets itself apart from other graphic novels by being very humanizing. Hawkeye is just a person, and seeing life outside of the avengers is actually pretty fun. Also artwork is a definite upside to this.

For those who haven't read Hawkeye then you definitely must, and for the ones that have and are thinking of having this beautiful collection then you definitely should buy it. The quality of the prints are great, the colors look amazing and you can really appreciate the work that Fraction has put on the story, the effort Aja and Hollingsworth have put on the art and Eliopoulos beautiful lettering. Also if you an artist or just a process geek then you definitely should buy it as the book has Aja's character designs for Hawkeye, the development of the covers and a lot more amazing stuff. And for the colorists and/or color lovers we can see Hollingsworth colors for several pages and read a little insight on how the colors function in the book. I think the books has much for character designers, illustrators or comic artists, being it pencillers, inkers or colorist. It has a good insight on the process and it is a great book to have in your collection. Though really is a great book to have in any collection.

Had heard numerous times the book was great, but really hadn't much much stock in the talk. After reading it though, it really is great. Good mix of humor, heart, adventure, very reminiscent of Priest's Black Panther. Well worth the investment

Wow am I going to be the minority with my review. While I thought it was an interesting take on Hawkeye and I really loved the weird dynamic between Clint and Kate, there was so much of it that just wasn't fun. And some of it was downright depressing. The art was interesting and appropriate in parts, but mostly it seemed messy and like maybe a first draft that never got polished. I also wasn't particularly fond of the constant back and forth in the storylines either. There are times when it builds more tension in a story doing it that way, but it felt so over used here. I really liked the every man feel Clint was given in most of the storylines, but turning him into a cheating creep wasn't interesting or fun. It was just painful. While there were parts of this I really liked, there were equal parts that were disturbing and cringeworthy, Bottom line, I really thought Clint deserved better.

A friend of mine gave me a copy of the first Hawkeye soft cover and not knowing too much about the Avenger I read through and found myself really enjoying it. It's a fun read with stylish, pulpy art Hawk brings a self loathing sense of humor that is not brooding and dark but down to earth and somewhat realistic being he's a guy with an arrow trying to keep up with Gods, super soliders and guys in iron battle armor.

I'm into comics, I love the graphics and the writing that complement each other in a way that no other medium can't quite pull it off, in short its unique! The cover of Hawkeye caught my attention in the same way that a painting in an art gallery would, I found the simple lines appealing and quite satisfying. I will now admit to myself and to anyone who reads this review that I bought the comic book solely on the strength of the cover art, how sad is that. To my utter and complete joy the book was brilliant the interior art, hard and gritty and basic to my eye, not to my taste but on reading the the prose, completely suited to the story arch! A supper hero, with no super powers, who works with super being, who is completely believable and worthy of being in such a elite group.

Matt Fraction fait encore une fois part de son talent indéniable pour la narration en rendant le personnage de Hawkeye passionnant (un exploit en soi). Si les dessinateurs se succèdent, ce sont les traits de David Aja qui retiennent vraiment l'oeil, avec une claire passion pour le graphic design. A ce titre, le numéro du chien détective est un exercice de style dingue au niveau narration. Si découvrir l'histoire en version traduite ne vous dérange pas, privilégiez quand même peut-être la version de Panini, qui contient l'équivalent des deux premiers volumes oversized (plus de 500 pages pour 36€)

A perfect down to earth script with superb experimental art and new heights in narrative. Several chapters tell the story from different points of view, even that of a dog, with dog-sight and smell-o-vision, and you don't get all the picture until you add them all together. These ways of reinventing secuential narrative give the final product the quality of an instant classic.

Good introduction for a down to earth hero, definitely beneficial to have the comics in collections as many of the stories carry over in random orders that would be harder to follow if buying single issues.