Hawkeye #3

"Cherry"
written by Matt Fraction
art by David Aja
colors by Matt Hollingsworth

"Cherry" is Hawkeye's homage to classic chase movies—Vantage Point and The Italian Job, in particular—and earlier Hawkeye incarnations.  That it doesn't miss a beat between issues is a testament to the flexibility of tone in the series and the unwavering cool of Fraction's Barton.

Like each of Hawkeye's issues so far, the chronology is fractured.  The reader enters in media res, in the middle of a Bullitt-style car chase with a maybe-hostage, four Cooper Minis, and a Barton wielding a bow and hanging out the window of a 1970 Dodge Challenger.  Structured as a "dumb idea" countdown—nine total—Barton recounts the somewhat unlikely events of the day.  The issue's nostalgia is initiated by Barton's own dumb decision to organize and label his stash of trick arrows, gimmicks both clever and unwieldy from earlier Hawkeye stories, and Kate, Clint's younger protégé, is less than impressed by the collection.  The collection:  (1) net arrow, (2) bola arrow, (3) acid arrow, (4) tracer arrow, (5) putty arrow, (6) sonic arrow, (7) explosive-tip arrow, (8) cable arrow, (9) smoke bomb arrow, (10) rocket arrow, (11) suction-tip arrow, (12) electro-arrow, and (13) boomerang arrow, because Fraction really believes in Chekhov's guns.

To Clint Barton's credit and frequent confusion, he surrounds himself with women who are much cooler than he is.  Kate Bishop is, as Barton himself expressed it, "perfect".  She shares his talent and his wit, and is far less prone to common stupidity and bad luck.  She is, though not the original, in many ways as much Hawkeye as Barton, and by the end of "Cherry" the hero of the issue, and Barton doesn't let her or himself forget it, a superhero equal and a good friend.  She doesn't hide her attraction to Clint, but it doesn't—at least for now—interfere with their friendship or partnership.  Though she's much more likely to articulate their partnership—such as shared coffee stashes—Clint seems continually flattered and happy that she would do so.  Hawkeye #3's new girl is the titular Cherry, a mysterious redhead with a classic Detroit muscle car and an equally classic leather jacket, part fatale part action badass.  Best of all, at the conclusion of the episode, she remains as mysterious as ever, and the reasons behind her pursuit by the "tracksuit Draculas" remains unexplained.

[December 2012]

As collected in Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon (ISBN 978-0785165620)