Posted By Dave Howlett on April 11, 2013

Nobody in their right mind could have predicted the runaway success of the new Hawkeye ongoing. Even though he did appear in last year’s biggest movie, the bowslinging Avenger spent most of the film as a mind-controlled slave, plus the Hulk stole all the best scenes anyway. Yet somehow, Clint Barton–veteran of many a miniseries and several earlier failed attempts at a regular book–has emerged as a fan favorite with his latest title, from the Immortal Iron Fist team of Matt Fraction and David Aja. The book, which reads as though Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli, circa Daredevil: Born Again, teamed up to create a monthly Rockford Files comic but with bows and arrows, has burned through five printings of its first issue, and the trade paperback collection has been roaring up the best-seller charts. The ninth and latest issue is another mini-masterpiece that focuses on the women in Clint’s life, and it points the way to an accessible approach to mainstream superhero comics that Marvel would do well to try and emulate across its line.

Sort of an alternate perspective on some of the events from the previous issue, which saw the disruptive return of a troublemaking mystery woman from a few months back, “Girls” looks at events from the perspective of four of the most important women in Clint’s life. Old flame Natasha Romanoff, AKA the Black Widow, puts her spy skills to use, investigating the lady further to find out just how much trouble Hawkeye is in this time. Clint’s ex-wife, Bobbi Morse, AKA Mockingbird, gets him to finalize some divorce paperwork while helping him deal with the ever-present threat of the “Tracksuit Draculas” (Russian mobsters who have wanted our hero dead from Issue One). Clint’s supposed current girlfriend, Jessica Drew, AKA Spider-Woman, arrives at his apartment to lay down the law on her cheating beau. And Clint’s protege, Kate Bishop, AKA Hawkeye also, pinches in with the Russian problem and assures Clint that, while he might do bad things often, he’s not really a bad guy. And on top of all that, a creepy last-page threat announces itself, delivering a shocking casualty to the title’s rich supporting cast.

Fraction and Aja take a nicely low-key approach to superheroes who are usually seen crisscrossing the globe or travelling into outer space. The heroines aren’t ever really referred to by their code names, nor do they even appear in costume (although Aja cleverly dresses them in civilian attire that’s color-coded to match their superhero outfits). Fraction’s script differentiates the ladies’ personalities by how each one deals with Clint–Natasha’s problem-solving, Bobbi’s weary acceptance, Jessica’s heartbroken outrage, and Kate’s optimistic loyalty. There’s action too, with both Bobbi and Kate throwing down with the Russians on Clint’s doorstep. Fraction and Aja have hit upon an approach to this material that is the comics equivalent of the fabled Hollywood “four-quadrant hit”–superhero fans are given a glimpse of what an Avenger gets up to on the days when he’s not being an Avenger, and fans of more alternative material can groove on the book’s sense of humor and its cut-and-paste approach to the passage of time, its minimalist art style and instantly-recognizable character designs, its selectively-muted color palette courtesy of Matt Hollingsworth, and, of course, Aja’s thrillingly sparse but eye-catching covers. Not to mention, Hawkeye eschews the scantily-clad, objectified women depicted in most superhero comics in favor of realistic, appealing, fully formed characters, which is probably a big factor in the title’s success with female readers. With most of Marvel Universe going increasingly cosmic (Age Of Ultron gives way to Infinity, which gives way to…something else, surely), Hawkeye‘s less-is-more approach makes it, almost paradoxically, a much bigger priority in the monthly reading pile.

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Categories: Comics, Reviews
Tags: Age of Ultron, Black Widow, Bobbi Morse, Clint Barton, Daredevil: Born Again, David Aja, David Mazzuchelli, Frank Miller, Hawkeye, Hawkguy, Immortal Iron Fist, Infinity, Jessica Drew, Kate Bishop, Marvel, Matt Fraction, Matt Hollingsworth, Mockingbird, Nathasha Romanoff, Russian Mobsters, Spider-Woman, The Avengers, The Rockford Files, Tracksuit Draculas