New Comics! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Hawkeye #1:  A few things to know before I get into this review:

I've been pretty disappointed by Hawkeye's treatment over the last two or three years at the hands of Marvel.  The last really good go that Marvel gave Hawkeye in that time was the "Hawkeye and Mockingbird" mini-series, where Hawkeye helped Mockingbird run her boutique intelligence squad while they tried to figure out their romantic status.  However, Marvel pulled the plug before it was really able to find its footing.  Jim McCann kept the fires burning with "Widowmaker" and "Hawkeye:  Blindspot."  Both mini-series were decent, but, because they couldn't guarantee that readers of one necessarily read the other, McCann was forced to tell Hawkeye's origin story over and over again, making me feel like I was going to poke out an eye if I read the word "carnie" one more time.  But, McCann had a good sense of Clint, so I still enjoyed both series.

Then everything went downhill.

First, we had to suffer through the "Avengers:  Solo" mini-series, one of the worst comics that I've ever read.  Honestly, if you want to know more about it, you can read my review, but, seriously, I still think that you'd be wasting your time.  The less said about it, the better.  Then, we've had a series of appearances with other Marvel characters that also focused too much on expository and too little on fun.  In "Captain America and Hawkeye" #629 and "Secret Avengers" #21.1, we see Bunn and Remender, respectively, plumb the depths of Hawkeye's authority figure problems, creating a much more adversarial father/son relationship for Cap and Hawkeye than they've ever had.  In both issues, Cap treats Hawkeye like a rebellious teenager rather than a grown-ass man who lead both the Avengers West Coast and Thunderbolts teams.  It was even worse in "Avenging Spider-Man" #4, where Hawkeye's mostly fun appearance was overshadowed by the fact that Wells felt the need to have Clint constantly monologue about his need to train because he doesn't have super strength.  Between these three issues, you got the sense that Clint walked through the day fighting authority because he was on the verge of tears over his abandonment issues and feeling out-classed because he's just a regular guy.  It just wasn't the Clint Barton that I recognize.  Are those sentiments present in him?  Sure.  But, they're present in him just like the death of Batman's parents' or Spider-Man's uncle is present with him.  They're mentioned occasionally, but we don't hear about them constantly.  They're part of who they are, but they've moved past it (mostly, in the part of Bruce).  But, Marvel suddenly wanted us to believe that Clint hadn't moved past these issues, and it made him a weaker character for it.  It's OK to focus on flaws, but you also have to focus on strengths.

I hoped, when I heard this series was announced, that the author would manage to strike a better balance.  He would keep in mind Clint's flaws, but he'd remember what made Clint Clint.  The charm.  The soft touch.  The sexy.  If s/he hit those points 70 percent of the time and the flaws 30 percent of time (rather than the other authors, who inversed that equation), I'd be happy.

Then, I heard Matt Fraction was writing it.

If you were here for "Fear Itself," you know I fucking HATE Matt Fraction.  I hated everything about "Fear Itself."  To me, it's the low point of Marvel Comics.  Period.  It was a blatant money grab timed for the movie based on a shoddy plot.  It was disrespectful to readers while it was happening and even more disrespectful after it happened, given that they immediately ret-conned all the consequences.  Matt Fraction gave us that.  I did not want Matt Fraction anywhere NEAR Clint Barton.

But, I bought it anyway. 

You guys?  I love this issue.  I love this issue SO MUCH.  I love this issue SO MUCH that I'm tempted never to buy another issue of this series and just call it a day because it is the perfect Hawkeye story and I just don't think anyone could do better ever.  The charm.  The soft touch.  The sexy.  It's all there.

I'm at a loss where to begin.  Fraction has the best read on Clint that I've ever read.  He's the softy who buys a building from a mobster so that his neighbors can pay affordable rent and who tells a veterinarian that he has to fix "pizza dog."  (I'm assuming that he used the money from Baron Zemo at the end of "Hawkeye:  Blindspot.")  He's also the guy who tells said mobster that Captain America might inspire everyone around him to be good, but, unfortunately for the mobster, Captain America isn't there.  Only Hawkeye could somehow use Captain America to amplify a threat of imminent violence.  This guy.  This guy who feeds a dog pizza on the street and beats up the mobsters who hurt him.  This guy is Clint Barton.

Beyond just getting Clint, Fraction also convey a strong voice for Hawkeye.  You can really hear him in the narration.  I loved on the second page, when, in response to the orderly telling him that he can't leave the wheelchair, Clint comments, "God.  This guy."  Awesome.  You could totally hear him say that.

Most importantly, Fraction avoids what I mentioned above:  he doesn't linger on Clint's past or his insecurities.  In fact, he mentions them -- and moves past them -- on the first page, as Clint's falling off a building.  Raised by carnies.  Just a guy.  BAM.  First page.  Moving along.  All I needed to know about this series, I got right there in that moment.

Let's talk about Aya and Hollingsworth.  I don't think that I've ever seen a better looking Clint.  Seriously.  I've read A LOT of Hawkeye stories, and, most of the time, it's hard to distinguish him from Steve Rogers.  He's just another random blond guy.  But, Aya and Hollingsworth manage, with their minimalist style, to make him into his own man, visually.  I loved him at the start of the issue walking in the sun with the bandages and bruises and a smile.  In contrast, I also loved him at the end of the issue in the rain leaning into the cab with a scowl on his face.  Those two scenes show us everything we need to know about Clint.  He's a guy who really just wants to be in the sun or on a rooftop deck knocking over bottles with a quarter with his neighbors, but sometimes he has too big of a heart and he winds up fighting Chinese gangsters in an underground casino or threatening a Russian mobster as he puts them in a cab to the airport.  He's our guy.

Returning to Fraction, the Bed-Stuy location obviously sets up Clint as that neighborhood's Daredevil.  I'm guessing that we're going to veer between Hawk fighting off terrorists somewhere and helping little old ladies get back their retirement savings.  In fact, I'd love for it to be a New York-based "Burn Notice."  (I'm hoping Spider-Woman makes her way into the series soon, a la Black Widow in "Winter Soldier.")  But, based on some clues, I'm guessing that it's going to be more little old ladies than terrorists.  Rather than using Clint's status as a regular guy as some sort of negative, Fraction puts it front and center and focuses on the day-to-day problems of a superhero.  I mean, how often have you seen Cap wonder whether lying will get his Avengers HMO membership canceled?  Plus, the way that Hawk tells the crowd in the vet clinic not to worry because he's an Avenger?  I mean, it's not like he's screaming "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" as he takes on the God of Fear.  He's just a guy telling everyone around him to trust him.

Fraction manages to weave all this together in a dizzying issue.  It's perfect.  Issue of the year contender.  Matt Fraction, you and I are OK.  "Fear Itself" officially forgiven.  We're bros now.