#CBR5 Review #42: Hawkeye, vol.2 - Little Hits by Matt Fraction

[With art by David Aja, Javier Pulido, Steve Lieber, Francesco Francavilla, and Jesse Hamm]

 Hawkeye might be a bit of a doofus and not really know what he’s doing with himself at any given moment, but there is still something so likeable about him; you can tell that he genuinely cares about people, despite his often confused and public “I couldn’t care less about anything” nature. Hawkeye wants to do the right thing, he’s just not always sure what that is.

Once again focusing on the life of Clint Barton when he’s not acting as a part of The Avengers, Little Hits collects issues 6 to 11 of the Hawkeye series. Each issue acts like it’s own little episode in Clint’s life, though some are connected with recurring characters, such as Kate Bishop (the Young Avenger’s Hawkeye), and Cherry (the girl who is always in with the wrong people) who first appeared in My Life as a Weapon.

The stories seem to progress much slower in Little Hits than they did in the previous volume, and I also found some of them to be a bit confusing in their jumping back and forth in little sections. And yet, it was still enjoyable, much due to the fact that Matt Fraction has written Hawkeye as such an interestingly human character. Unlike some superheroes in comic books who just seem to be so different that no one can relate to them, Hawkeye is just such a regular guy that you just can’t help but feel connected with him (at least, I feel as much). Plus, there is one issue within Little Hits that is told through the eyes of Clint’s dog, Lucky, often known as “pizza dog”, which is particularly amusing and fun to read, I only wish it went on for longer.

And as always, the minimalist artwork in this series is absolutely stunning. The lines, angles, and small palettes of color allow for the story to be told visually without being overwhelming or distracting, yet still have a huge impact. I know this kind of art style isn’t for everyone, but I absolutely love it.

So even though I didn’t love Little Hits as much as I loved the first Hawkeye volume (My Life as a Weapon) I still found it to be a good read, and am excited to follow this series some more to see where exactly it goes from here. There doesn’t yet seem to be one strict course of action or conflict as of yet, but the formations of one are definitely starting to line up and look quite promising.

[Be sure to check out more reviews on the Cannonball Read group blog]

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