“All-New Hawkeye” #1 – 10 out of 10 – Marvel; Written by Jeff Lemire (“Sweet Tooth”); Drawn by Ramón Pérez (“Amazing Spider-Man: Learning to Crawl”); Art by Ramón Pérez and Ian Herring (“Spider-Man & the X-Men”); Lettering by Joe Sabino (“Deadpool Kills”); In Stores 3/4/2015.
Most comic book fans shudder when a new direction is announced for their favorite series. Everyone (including the honorable-fake internet judge, John Hodgman) has recognized the brilliance, beauty and influence that Matt Fraction and David Aja’s “Hawkeye” brought to the world of tights and capes. At New York Comic Con in October, Marvel announced Jeff Lemire would be writing a new Hawkeye series picking up where Fraction’s would eventually end, and Pizza Dog fans everywhere felt the familiar chill and shudder of creative change (see “Hawkeye” #11 for Pizza Dog).
Lemire, who has had a long tenure at DC, comes to “All-New Hawkeye” after completing a run on the New 52’s “Green Arrow.”
“I have no fondness for archers per se,” Lemire told the New York Daily News. “It’s just kind of a coincidence that I was coming off that book and this book was offered.”
What was not a coincidence was editor Sana Amanat choosing Ramón Pérez and Ian Herring as the talent to pick up the reigns after such a monumental run by Aja and his team. In fact, Amanat acknowledges the difficulty of following in the wake of such a trend-setting comic book series in “All-New Hawkeye” #1’s letter page:
“How do you dare to follow a first act like Fraction and Aja? You tell your own story. You weave a new adventure with the heart, humor and soul of Hawkeye—and we’re not just talking about Clint.”
“All-New Hawkeye” #1 contains two stories: one of Clint Barong and his older brother Barney’s early years in foster care, and the continuing story of Hawkeye (Clint Barton) and Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) in the employment of S.H.I.E.L.D. The early-years story is told through dreamy, water-color inspired art that has a Hawkeye-pastel inspired color palette. The Clint-Kate story is told through panels that would have David Aja or Steve Lieber doing double takes for style infringement.
The creative team does an A+ job showing readers rather than telling them. The issue uses no omniscient or first-person internal narration. The dialogue used in the early-years panels is reminiscent of the flashbacks in the preceding “Hawkeye” series and truly sets a tone for what will sure to be a heart-wrenching Hawkeye origin story. The Clint-Kate dialogue feels much like the Fraction-scribed banter that made readers fall in love with Kate Bishop.
The two narratives eventually bleed into each other. Normally, two stories with such different art styles would clash when blended, or when mixed, both would lose their uniqueness in the convergence. However, Pérez and Herring pull it off.
“All-New Hawkeye” #1 earns (my first to be given) 10 out of 10. Fans of the previous “Hawkeye” series will love this book. New readers will be introduced to a beautiful story that hints and an ocean of sadness just below the surface. Call your local comic shop and get this series on your pull list.
Click for PDF preview of “All-New Hawkeye” #1.
Trent Hunsaker is a podcaster and popculturalist. Podcasting for Kevin Smith’s SModcast Internet Radio and the A Part of Him Podcast Network, he also operates Death Ray Comics, sweats, and reads comics – but mostly just sweats.