First a thank you to my compatriot Philip for loaning me Marvel NOW’s Hawkeye Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon. Hawkeye has been a bigger player in the Marvel universe since his characters introduction in the Avengers film.
I know personally I didn’t care much for Hawkeye, or at the very least was ambivalent to his character (what’s with the original design’s mask??) but since Avengers Marvel has done a decent job making him seem relevant while maintaining the fact that he is a non-powered hero. I particularly enjoy that the majority of this title takes place at the ‘street’ level, with almost no involvement of S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers.
From the start the of trade, writer Matt Fraction (FF, Fear Itself) does a convincing job of showing how Clint Barton – Hawkeye – is truly a stand up guy looking to do the right thing, despite the hardened ‘I don’t care’ front he displays. The art and character design throughout is phenomenal, in particular I love the simplistic cover art for each issue displayed throughout the trade paper back.Honestly I couldn’t get enough of the Russian Mafia “Bro, listen, Bro” track suit thugs, and I hope they continue to make reoccurring appearances.
By far my favorite moment, however, occurs during the shenanigans of having to use his case of Trick Arrows to get out of a sticky situation, when all Clint really wanted was some tape to label the things.
If I have one complaint it is in the Young Avengers tie in issue at the end of the trade. I appreciate the effort to include Katie’s – Katherine Bishop/Hawkeye – background and introduction, however I was truly uninterested during this story, and would have preferred another Clint Barton issue even if it was a stand alone one shot. Hopefully later volumes refrain from this.
With that said, I’d highly recommend you pick this trade up. While I cant speak toward future issues personally, I’ve heard nothing but good things so far. Speaking of this, I’d like to give my ol’buddy Phil a nudge and see if he plans on reading ‘Hawkeye Volume 2: Little Hits’ any time soon so I can have a shot at it. Maybe he will even write a review for that trade!
Bonus Content!
Going forward, some of the content I am looking to produce includes action figure and toy reviews. This will be a work in progress as I acquire new equipment and learn what the heck I am doing, however I thought this bonus section would be the perfect spot to try out one new toy, my Logitech C920 webcam. My first target happens to be a figure I picked up on clearance, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble Sniper Bow Hawkeye.
Typically I stray away from figures of this 3.75″-4″ scale, especially ones obviously this cheap, but I stumbled upon him right int he middle of reading the above trade paper back and seeing as how he was on clearance grabbed him up. Now, Mr. Barton here is the epitome of the saying “You get what you pay for.” The packaging is pretty plain, with a decent picture of current comic stylized Hawkeye and a short Bio. I especially love his Status; “Deadly Accurate!”
Sniper Bow Hawkeye indeed comes with a Bow, his only accessory. Mine was a little bent in the packaging but fit perfectly in his molded left hand, which is comic accurate. Ironically movie Hawkeye hold’s his bow in his right hand! As far as articulation goes, Clint is pretty short on it. His head swivels 360 degrees with an almost unnoticeable up and down head pivot.Legs move both forward and back, as do both arms. Outside of that he has no other articulation which makes his poseability (and play factor!) quite low.
His paint application is fairly dull, but I don’t see any glaring errors other than being incredibly limited in detail. I do appreciate the fact that he reflects his current comic costume, however. At the end of the day, would I recommend you pick this figure up? Unless you find him dirt cheap or are hurting for a Hawkeye, no I’d stay far away. Personally I’m a fan of the 6″ scale which offers a wider variety of detail and articulation depending on what company you are buying from. In that regard I could be tempted to pick up the Marvel Legends Hawkeye if I could find him at the right price.
Let me know what you think in the comments below, I’m planning on doing both written and eventually video reviews, if there is something specific you’d like to see I’ll try and make it happen.
Dunce cap of the week goes to Jeremy for “Clint Barker”