“Cherry”
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: David Aja
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
[rating:5/5]
There are other comics out today. Great comics. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16 is really good. I enjoyed the flashbacks to Kyle’s past in Green Lantern: New Guardians #13. Seriously, there’s a lot of good books out.
Sadly, those books are not Hawkeye.
Where other comics are presently bogged down with tie-ins to overwhelmingly crossovers or mounds of exposition as Marvel prepares for it’s Marvel NOW! relaunch, Hawkeye continues to exist in it’s own little bubble as Matt Fraction writes a Hawkeye enjoying his down time. This time, our lascivious longbowman buys a super sexy cherry red 1970 Dodge Challenger after he sleeps with it’s owner, then has to save her from goons, all the while showing off and having fun with Hawkeye’s arsenal of trick arrows. Fraction continues to ride high on snappy, hilarious dialogue and a frenzied story pace as things quickly escalate from bad to worse for Clint and his sidekick Kate Bishop. And while the writing propels the story forward, David Aja’s gorgeous art, aided by Matt Hollingsworth’s colors, really helps give the book an exciting and unique look.
It’s that simple: I challenge you to find a book more fun than Hawkeye. The team is doing wonders with the book, largely by keeping it out of crossovers and not bogging it down with continuity (like the ill-fated Hawkeye & Mockingbird did). Instead, the series so far has been self-contained, fun stories that haven’t even focused on Clint in costume. This is, for my money, one of Marvel’s top books right now, and one you all need to be checking out.
