five stars | books and writing

Title: Hawkeye My Life as a Weapon
Artists/Writers Matt Fraction, David Aja (Illustrations), Javier Pulido (Illustrations), Alan Davis (Illustrator)
Published: March 13, 2013
Publisher: Marvel

Rating:

Synopsis:
The breakout star of this summer’s blockbuster Avengers film, Clint Barton – aka the self-made hero Hawkeye – fights for justice! With ex-Young Avenger Kate Bishop by his side, he’s out to prove himself as one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! SHIELD recruits Clint to intercept a packet of incriminating evidence – before he becomes the most wanted man in the world. You won’t believe what is on The Tape! What is the Vagabond Code? Matt Fraction pens a Hawkeye thriller that spans the globe…and the darkest parts of Hawkeye’s mind. Barton and Bishop mean double the Hawkeye and double the trouble…and stealing from the rich never looked so good.

I’ve come to accept that I’m a DC girl. I’ve tried to claim that I enjoy both for a little while now, but frankly I favor DC titles over Marvel. That’s okay though, because while I favor DC I still read Marvel and enjoy them. Fraction’s Hawkeye is literally gold. One of my friends had been telling me for months to pick up Fraction’s Hawkeye and I kept putting it off and finding other things to read. Another one of my friends picked it up when we were in the comic book shop, bought it, read it and then slipped it into the pile of trades we were swapping. I stared at it, glowered at it, picked it up and fell in love.

I get it now. My Life as a Weapon has some amazing art. The characters are well drawn, distinguishable and what I found really interesting is the tonal focus in each arc. The trade starts heavy with blues and purples then moves to sepia tones, then in the final arc it’s full of vibrant primary colors (red and yellow to be more specific) which really makes the story even more dynamic. The writing is brilliant. Clint says what everyone is thinking, drinks coffee directly from the carafe of the coffee pot, bemoans inanimate objects and what I like most of all, doesn’t take himself seriously. Kate Bishop is a thing of beauty and I love her and Clint’s interactions and relationship. Her character is written strong and stands on her own against adversaries and Clint’s presence in a scene. What I like even more is the respect that they have for each other.

My Life as a Weapon features three stories that wrap up within the volume, so there’s no cliff hanger. There is a short fourth story featuring Kate when she was with the Young Avengers and how she and Clint first met. This story also maintains the beautiful art and rich color saturation and great story telling as the other three main stories.

Overall
Beautiful artwork, great story telling and amazing characters. I am looking forward to reading more of this series.