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HAWKEYE #1
"The High, Hard Shaft 1: The Hotter, The Better"
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Stefano Raffaele
Colors: Ben Dimagmaliw
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.99 US/$4.75 CAN |
Hawkeye is one of my favorite Marvel characters, which is a point in favor of this series as well as a point against it. See, in accordance with New Marvel style, this is a book where Hawkeye never uses his super-hero codename, wears his costume or (at least in this first issue) even uses his bow. So when you compare it to classic Hawkeye stories from the Jim Shooter or Roger Stern era of the Avengers or Mark Gruenwald's Hawkeye mini-series of the 80's, well, it falls a little short. However, if you look at this as a sort of streetwise loner hero traveling the country and righting wrongs, more akin to an indie movie version of Hawkeye, well, in that case it reads pretty well. Raffaele captures the gritty, maybe even sleazy riff that Nicieza is going for in his settings and his lead character, even if he doesn't nail every action sequence just right, and Nicieza pours on the low life crime atmosphere with the best of them.
I know that trick arrows and a purple costume might seem a little ridiculous to some, but to me, they're an integral part of Hawkeye, and so I'm sorry not to see them in the series, at least so far. However, Nicieza does capture the all-important element of Hawkeye's personality, which makes me forgive the lack of surface trappings. Despite Hawkeye's role as a longtime Avenger and buddy of quintessential good guy Captain America, his background as a carny, super-villain and rebellious agitator gives him a certain amount of street cred, and his transition to something of a roaming vigilante fits in with what you'd expect from the character.
Nicieza also gives Hawkeye the right sort of palooka attitude, a guy who likes chili, strip clubs, motorcycles and who has a smart mouth and a fearlessness that is both admirable and seems like the kind of thing that would annoy you if you actually knew him. Basically, Hawkeye is a character who needs a sarcastic sense of humor, but he has to be distinguished from the quips style of Spider-Man, and Nicieza does a pretty good job of that. There are also some nice moments where we see Hawkeye's basic heroic nature, from the shot of him fixing a flat tire to his intervention in the bar and the parking lot with what seems like an abusive boyfriend.
I keep calling him Hawkeye, but really, this is all about Clint Barton, uncostumed identity of Hawkeye. Nicieza has extended Clint's powers beyond the use of a bow, to being able to fire a spoon across a bar using a hairband or do that Tiger Woods thing with the golf club and golf ball, only to use that as a weapon. It's an interesting extension, although I'd probably be more open to it if it were being used as an extension instead of a replacement for his bowslinging, but given the final pages of the story, I think it's too early to complain that we don't see him using a bow... clearly, that day is coming.
When you're doing a non-costumed, more street level take on the character, you need an artist who can manage that style, and Stefano Raffaele, Nicieza's co-contributor on Blackburne Covenant, is a good choice. While I had some trouble with his action sequences being a little flat or unclear (the crucial two-page sequence where Clint fires the spoon across the diner is clear only in generalities, reducing a potentially way-cool scene into merely a good one), his way with realistic people, vehicles and backdrops is impressive. Basically, this reads and looks like a Hawkeye TV series or movie might, and while the purist in me would have preferred the costume, trick arrows and super-hero elements, this traveling tough guy take isn't bad.
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