SETH’S PICK :: HAWKEYE 22: Okay…this looks bad. I’m not entirely sure why Marvel supposedly held up the publication of the Matt Fraction/David Aja finale, or why they decided to start a new (or rather, All New) Hawkeye series before the acclaimed previous run finished. Whatever the reasons, this week we finally get the opportunity to celebrate the work of Fraction and Aja on this the last issue of their impressive series.

Heroes customers and readers of this blog know well that I’ve long championed Hawkeye. Until the Fraction/Aja run, the character was mostly a laughable everyman with seemingly little narrative or aesthetic value. For the past three years, that assumption has been proven wrong time and time again. Both creators exhibited a range of narrative and visual deft. Fraction wove non-linear plot lines, callbacks and deep character studies through Aja’s Mazzuchellian visual motifs and panel layouts. The pair took a fairly bland archetypal concept and elevated it to high comic art. They reminded us of the potential of comics, superhero or otherwise. 

I could write endlessly about why this series is so impressive, but this is, after all, simply a Staff Pick. If you want to enjoy a thorough and critical reading of this series, I’d encourage you to link HERE to the brilliant article on The Comics Journal by our friend and HeroesCon panelist, Craig Fischer. Craig digs into close detail about the many highs and occasional lows of this epic series, and will give you an even greater appreciation for just how unique a work it has been. Thanks, Matt and David, for a remarkable series. Hopefully we’ll see the two of you team up again before too long.

SETH’S PICK :: HAWKEYE #11: I’ve long extolled the virtues of Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye on this blog, in the store, and just about anywhere else I get the chance.  If any of you caught the Hawkeye panel at HeroesCon, you probably saw why I (and so many others) enjoy this book.  There’s something unabashedly joyous about how these two creators continue to push each other’s creativity.  That iron-sharpens-iron mentality is on full display in this week’s issue #11. [Here’s a condensed version of all you need to know to appreciate this issue.  Hawkeye is about the avenging archer Clint Barton on his days off, when he’s away from his world-saving exploits.  In the first issue, Clint fed a dog some pizza.  That dog later saved his life, and was nearly killed in the process.  Clint then saves the dog’s life, and adopts him.  The dog’s collar showed that his name was Arrow, but Clint thought that was a little hokey, so he changed it to Lucky.  Still, Clint and just about everyone else know Lucky as Pizza Dog.] Getting back to that display of creativity that I alluded to earlier, this issue is told entirely from the perspective of Pizza Dog.  That means all the language in the book will be seen as a dog hears it, with only words he commonly hears highlighted.  This issue also deals more with scent thanks to Pizza Dog’s status as – you know – a dog.  All these things alone should pique your interest for this particular issue, but even more, David Aja’s work on this one suggests he not only read Chris Ware’s acclaimed Building Stories, but decided to channel it into a Marvel comic.  Needless to say, this is not only entertaining, but maybe even a little envelope-pushing.  With storytelling like this, it’s no wonder Hawkeye received 5 Eisner Award nominations this year.  I’m betting they’ll bring at least a couple home.