Well now that I've discovered I can look at comic books on the net I'm overloading. I've also discovered that apparently Hawkeye has one of the best series out right now. No idea how that happened but I'm about seven issues in and it's pretty fantastic. It's kind of hard to describe the vibe. It's low key stuff, no world threatening Great Foogles (I think that's the term used for those arbitrary uber-bosses that show up at the end of an rpg that have absolutely nothing to do with the overarching plot but somehow end being the focal point of the game, like the final boss in Chrono Trigger), no big super-powered baddies, and for the most part no Avengers, though he does have help from a young, female Hawkeye named Kate from the Young Avengers who gives him a charmingly hard time. For the most part it's just them going up against everything from crime bosses to douchey landlords. He even has a tough battle with his entertainment system at one point.
He's a fun character too, vaguely depressed, but without being broody. He kicks ass at times but others he's kind of a schlub of a superhero. The series certainly takes characterization seriously, but it's also playful. During one issue it mocks the idea of his endless series of trick arrows ("Boomerang arrow, Kate -- it comes back to you in the end. Boomerang. Respect it." "Why the hell do you need an arrow that comes back to you after you shoot it, Clint?" "Because... boomerangs.") while also showing him using them to awesome effect throughout the story.
But the most obvious star of the series is it's art. It kind of reminds me of the noir style of Batman's
The Long Halloween with it's muted and deceptively simple-looking color palette, but without being as dark. I don't know why, but it also gives me a vague kind of Calvin and Hobbes feel too. Makes it just gritty enough to look serious and non-campy, but fun and stylish at the same time. Combined with the clever layout of the panels it's one of the most visually unique and impressive comics I've ever seen. And the covers are just fantastic. I'm definitely going to be keeping up with this title and looking out for it in trade paperbacks. If I'm gonna be jacking comics off the net I gotta make sure to keep supporting the local comic shops at the same time after all.
