A review by athena21
Hawkeye Omnibus Vol. 1 by David Aja, Javier Pulido, Matt Fraction

5.0

Holy fuck, how did it take me this long to re-read this (the answer is because vol. 2 took 2 YEARS to come out but ignore that). This remained in my memory as one of my favourites; it is certainly one of my most lent-out comic books. But still, I'd forgotten just how fantastic it is on every front. Of course, it's hard to ignore David Aja's downright stylish art (almost!) throughout. His covers were just made to be posters, and he uses creative panelling, awesome imagery, and a limited colour palette to absolutely fantastic results. I just LOVE how iconic his art is, and how he wasn't afraid to diverge from classic "comic book style". Of course, I also need to mention Fraction's grounded, hilarious and sometimes emotionally resonant writing. Hawkeye is just a regular-ass guy, and you can't forget it for a moment - but while that adds to the hilarity sometimes, it also emphasises the humanity of these stories. He's just a guy with a particular skill who's trying his best to make things better, despite his disaster of a personal life. I also don't want to forget the other artists in this volume - while Aja is my favourite, the use of other artists does not frustrate me as much as it does in other runs. It's been done thoughtfully, both so that complete stories are always with the same artist throughout, but also by leaning into their strengths. Francavilla lends dramatic and creepy art to issue #10, and it's the perfect thing for Kazimierz Kazimierczak's backstory. Honestly, I just really love this book and I feel like I could talk about all the little details for forever. It's incredible how a series of stories loosely connected through the so-called "Tracksuit Mafia" (and also Clint's desire to do good in the most miserly way possible) is this fantastic. I love the way that the Avengers are certainly a part of this but never the focus, and Clint (and Kate too) are always a counterpoint to them. I love the exploration of Clint and Kate's relationship, and their stupid banter ("Thanks, Hawkeye." "After you, Hawkeye."). I LOVE the issue about Hurricane Katrina, although I wish it had been provided alongside the editor's note, because it's a really great one. I also love the issue that's entirely told fron Lucky's (that's the dog, for those that don't know) perspective. It finds the coolest ways to represent both Lucky's thought process, and the story going on with Kate and Clint in the background. I love the way every issue begins with "This looks bad" and then works backwards from there, often in a non-linear or at least disjointed style. Actually, on that, the Valentine's issues are specifically really cool for that in the way they intercut multiple stories (along with the most GORGEOUS art) and clearly give you the big picture. Sometimes it takes a bit of thought to piece the original narrative back together, but I really liked that about it. Graphic novels/comics can feel much too quick, and despite only being 200-odd pages, this does not feel this way. I enjoyed taking the time to digest each story, sometimes flipping back through to reconstruct the story in my head. What I'm saying is, it took more than one day to read, and I liked that about it. All in all, I really think this is the pinnacle of comics (not like. the one peak. but one of the peaks. yk?) - it's really really funny, does really cool things with the form, and really understands who Hawkeye is and what makes him (them? her?) interesting. And if you were able to actually digest this disjointed and somewhat frantic review, I think you'll like it too.