HAWKEYE #16
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Annie Wu
Published by Marvel Comics
Release Date: January 22, 2014
You know, I was looking forward to checking in with the Hawkguy this month, but more Kate Bishop is never bad. If you don’t enjoy Kate, I’m not sure there’s anyone in the world that can help you. Matt Fraction and Annie Wu delivered another great issue of late teenage antics and beautiful pictures, and this time the adventure had a soundtrack!
The Joy of Kate is that she is likeable and relatable, even though she’s a spoiled rich girl and a superhero. She’s earnest, she’s sincere, and she’s determined to make her contentious relationship with Los Angeles work. Many of us can relate to relocating to a big new place at the start of adulthood (for me it was Washington, D.C.). I definitely remember having those moments of triumph where I felt I had always belonged there…and then those days of melancholy despair because it was all so different and awful and everything sucks forever. The resilience Kate shows when faced with the horrors of fame, old age, and apathy is such a massive contrast to Clint’s more, shall we say, pessimistic view of the world. Fraction is allowing Kate to thrive away from Clint, and it’s a great thing. She’s not all sunshine and roses – she takes her licks (some literal) and her life is hardly glamorous – but being can-do doesn’t mean being carefree.
I could have cared less about the case at the heart of the story – 60’s California sound isn’t my passion – but I did love how much Kate’s weird-ass supporting cast was able to contribute. No one makes it in this world alone, and she embraces that in a way Clint does not, which is of course part of the reason she left for the West Coast in the first place. To me this issue was a vehicle for celebrating what makes Kate different from Clint, some amazing jokes, and a farewell to peace time.
The other thing I have really loved about the Kate-centric stories is Annie Wu’s art. It’s so comfortable, and relaxed, like your favorite shirt. At the same time, every expression is precision locked to the story beats. There are reactions and feelings that don’t need words wasted on them because you see them, which is of course the way we as humans communicate. Give me mirthful whimsy with a few lines on a characters face over super detailed superhero anatomy every damn time. Matt Hollingsworth also deserves recognition for using colors that felt as light and airy as Wu’s comfy shirt lines. Kate Bishop has a distinct palette, and he nailed it.
It will be nice to see Clint Barton again next issue, but it’s been incredibly rewarding to watch Fraction flesh out Kate’s world and voice as fully as he has Clint’s. It proves that Hawkeye is every bit as compelling as the Hawkguy.
The Verdict: 9.0/10