NB of the Week

-I ONLY LIVE FOR TODAY. I'LL SHOW YOU JUST HOW SPOILED UP THAT CAN BE-

Hawkeye #22

Written by Matt Fraction

Drawn by David Aja

Almost three years age, I picked up Hawkeye #1 for the sole reason of Matt Fraction. I wasn't the biggest fan of his run on Uncanny X-Men but I loved his run on Immortal Iron Fist so as another solo character book started up, I rolled the dice and bought it and I have never been disappointed by it.

In this long awaited finale to the series, we get most everything tied up in terms of story threads (although with how delayed it had become, I can't guarantee that I even remember all the threads) and we even throw in a heartbreaking death, which considering the new Hawkeye series as already went three issues, is a big surprise. Kate and Lucky finally make their way back to Clint and the apartment just in time to help fight off the Tracksuit Mafia. As they get to Clint, we get the battle that's been building between him and Kazimier Kazimierczak. As she runs in and Lucky tries to attack, we get out death in the murder of Lucky. The dog Clint rescued from the Tracksuit Mafia back in issue one, died saving the man who saved him. Kate runs to his side as Clint unleashes the rage on Kaz. Before long, Kaz has the upper hand and Clint is staring down the barrel of a gun. Kate jumps back in but isn't enough to stop Kaz. She does however give Clint the time to live his namesake as he flings a wood splinter into the eye of Kaz, blinding him just long enough to pounce and finish him off. And after all that, we find that Clint's brother, Barney, is still alive and took off with the money. The series ends with some final pages that solidify the entirety of the theme and that's family. Clint and Kate, side by side, drawing their arrows and practicing as the pair.

This is a book that should never have worked. Haweye has had plenty of chances and his sales have just never been there. It's why they killed him off those years back. But Fraction along with the extraordinary art of Aja and Annie Wu created a character that we could connect to. It was a fight that anyone of us would have picked up arms and joined in. It wasn't about the Avengers or Gods or superpowers or any other science fiction element. It was about good people standing up to the bad people and fighting for what is right and when that's the connection you can so amazingly create, you've won. This is a series that I plan on rereading front to back very soon and already plan on doing it again soon after that.