Review # 36: "Hawkeye - Volume 2: Little Hits"

"Hawkeye" is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It's uplifting, then depressing. It makes you laugh, then stomps on your soul. I find myself not having much to say about it, though. Why? Because it speaks for itself. There's a unique feel that you just can't properly quantify.

Matt Fraction and David Aja's acclaimed series doesn't lose a step as it transitions from volume one to volume two. In fact, it ups the ante. This trade opens out-of-sequence with a powerful Superstorm Sandy split story between Clint "Hawkeye/Hawkguy" Barton and Kate "Hawkeye" Bishop. The former - who in volume one bought an apartment building to drive out Polish gangsters - helps a tenant and his father who end up over the heads in the storm. Bishop, meanwhile, makes a drug run. The good kind. Arguably the highlight is an argument about what's better (or worse): Brooklyn or Jersey. Both sides win.

Showing how this book can change moods at the drop of a hat, we go into a black comedy as the girl with the red car from volume one returns desperately seeking help from Hawkeye at Avengers Mansion. The two lock lips... just as Black Widow ("The Work Wife,") Mockingbird ("The Ex-Wife,") and Spider-Woman ("The Friend/Girl") walk into the foyer. We're treated to a couple of issues that spotlight how each character deals with the situation. The consensus: Hawkguy is a scumbag. Though, dammit, he's trying not to be.

Finally, after a depressing murder, we're treated to what's being hailed as an instant classic: the "Pizza Dog" issue. Told from the perspective of the mutt Hawkeye rescued in the first issue, we discover how the pooch is able to determine the murder culprit. On the way, we interpret his vision of the world including how he hears words and how he identifies people by their smell. It is an amazing piece of work.

That can be said about the entire trade. "Hawkeye" remains a fascinating read and a unique take on the superhero genre. This series cannot be missed.

Rating: 9.5/10