Marvel Comics | 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.

This is exactly why you need to read this title if you haven’t already.

It’s that time again, for the weekly top ten countdown. This week’s topic is a ‘freebie’ week, meaning we can talk about whatever we want to. And since I’ve got to the comic book side of things, I’m going to talk about my top ten comics/graphic novels that I’m loving right now. Most of these are DC verse with a couple others thrown in. As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Broke and Bookish

Batman: Battle for the Cowl Tony S. Daniel, Fabian Nicieza Who has earned the right? Who thinks they deserve it? Robin? Nightwing? Jason Todd? Two-Face? Catwoman? Batgirl? Who will ultimately win the BATTLE FOR THE COWL?

One of the few Pre-52 volumes that I own and love, Battle for The Cowl is explosive, entertaining and really lays down some great Bat mythos and dynamics.

Hawkeye Vs. Deadpool Gerry Duggan Matteo Lolli Once upon a time, champions emerged to fight the evil plaguing humanity. They fought for all that was good in the world. They were kind, generous and self-sacrificing. They were heroes. These are not those heroes.

I love this comic, and I’ve got a review of it coming soon. Working on a few things, but this is hysterically funny and it’s not really a VS in the true meaning of the word, but more of a team up.

Nightwing: Death of the Family Kyle Higgins, Eddy Barrows, Andres Guinaldo, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo Joker makes his horrifying return to Gotham City! But even for man who’s committed a lifetime of murder, he’s more dangerous than ever before. The Joker sets his twisted sights on the members of the Bat-Family and attacks them all where it hurts—and for Dick Grayson, that means going after the family he’s built up for the past year at Haly’s Circus!

I’ve got a whole review of the Nightwing graphic novels coming up, so I’m not going to get too much into my feelings about Nightwing here. I do however really love the Death of the Family arc and the Nightwing volume was my second favorite when it comes down to it. Beautiful art, great story line and it really helps define a the Dick Grayson/Nightwing character.

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