Hawkeye #22

Matt Fraction // David Aja
September 2015
*****

Together Kate & Clint save the BK brownstone & its families from the ‘Tracksuit Draculas’ & harlequin hit-man. Fraction & Aja close their outstanding run, adding a gesture to set up next ‘season’. Superlative comics on every level, the sort of collection you can lend to a non-fan of superheroes.

last issue: Hawkeye #21
continued in Hawkeye #1

Hawkeye #21

Matt Fraction // David Aja
April 2015
****

The Battle of Bed-Stuy! Hawkeye and neighbors defend their brownstone from mobbed-up property developers, using ready-made siege defenses. The stakes of locals v. organized crime give a whole new angle on vigilantism v community activism and on gentrification—all lifted this month by TV’s Daredevil.

last issue: Hawkeye #20
next issue: Hawkeye #22

Hawkeye #19

Matt Fraction // David Aja
September 2014
*****

Even as they head into the climax, the creators keep experimenting. #19 is mostly silent—but not without words, since the Barton Brothers sign to each other. Hearing has factored into Hawkeye’s character before, but this latest loss plays into the run’s theme of listening to & trusting others.

last issue: Hawkeye #18
next issue: Hawkeye #20

Hawkeye #15

Matt Fraction // David Aja
April 2014
****

Aja at his most conventional is still a delight. He falls back on Iron Fist style, hand-to-hand focusing on movement & balance. It makes for a claustrophobic issue, as the gangsters slip past the brownstone’s defenses & do damage to the Barton Brothers! The plot thickens in this Brooklyn noir.

last issue: Hawkeye #14
next issue: Hawkeye #16

Hawkeye #13

Matt Fraction // David Aja
December 2013
****

Wow, Hawkeye loops back to cover the last four issues (incl. annual) from yet another POV! The blow-up btw Hawkeyes, the neighbor’s funeral, & the fraternal reunion get replayed in linear progression. The art also gets back to classical comics storytelling, modeling a 3×3 grid like Ike’s in office.

last issue: Hawkeye #12
next issue: Hawkeye #14

Hawkeye #12

Matt Fraction // Francisco Francavilla
late September 2013
****

Now that Kate’s off in her LA arc, Clint gets a new foil in his older brother, a skid-row loser. Fraction turns their Thomas/Colan backstory into a montage of alcoholic American orphaning that dates at least to Twain. For once I miss Aja, tho Franca brings a morbid tone to the flashbacks.

continued from Hawkeye Annual #1
last issue: Hawkeye #11
next issue: Hawkeye #13

also indexed for Sept. ’13
Hawkeye Annual #1

Hawkeye #11

Matt Fraction // David Aja
August 2013
*****

Eisner-winner for best single ish, and Aja totally owns it. His schematics render visually the mind of Lucky the Pizza Dog. But Fraction earns the Eisner-nom for ongoing mag by connecting this silent issue to the run on several levels, incl. the dog solving the nieghbor’s murder in #9!

continued in Hawkeye Annual #1
last issue: Hawkeye #10
next issue: Hawkeye #12