A New Hawkeye Series for People Who Really Like Hawkeye
Personally, I’ve never cared for Hawkeye, so I doubt I’ll have any interest in this comic. But holy hot damn does it have some amazing covers!
I just love a stylish comic book cover
The new series was announced Saturday at C2E2, the comic book convention going on this weekend in Chicago. That cover, and it’s partner that I’ll post in a minute, are drawn by superstar artist David Aja. The comic is going to be a reteaming of Aja and writer Matt Fraction, who last collaborated on the incredible Iron Fist series from a few years ago. That comic was so good that it even got me interested in Iron Fist! And the Iron Fist covers were equally as awesome.
So this series is already building a lot of hype. It’s due out in August.
Free archery lesson!
Wow those are awesome covers.
Anyway, a new Hawkeye series is a great idea from Marvel. Hawkeye is never going to be more exposed than when he appears in next month’s The Avengers movie. This will be the most high profile he has ever been. So capitalizing on that success with a new comic is a good idea.
On a personal note, I’m getting a good giggle from the very swift evolution of Hawkeye’s costume in the past year to coincide with the movie. Marvel has found themselves in a bit of a pickle, because the movie costume is based on the Ultimate Universe costume, but they can’t exactly have one of their normal universe characters just switch to an identical Ultimate costume.
This is Hawkeye’s classic costume:
All purples and blues, with a full face mask, loin cloth and other superhero tropes. He’s worn a variation of this costume since he debuted. It’s one of those classic costumes. But in anything other than comic books, it could look a little silly. So when Marvel put Hawkeye in The Ultimates, they gave him a much more realistic looking leather costume. As was the style in that book.
I’m a huge fan of The Ultimates, and of Ultimate Hawkeye’s costume. It’s a great look for the character, and is not adorned with all the silly purple decorations of the classic costume.
So it’s no surprise that when Marvel decided to add Hawkeye to The Avengers movie, they picked his sensible Ultimate costume over his flamboyant classic costume.
But then getting back to the topic of Hawkeye’s new high profile, Marvel has to capitalize. There has been no great proof that the movies actually get people to buy more comics, but there is always the chance that somebody is going to see the movie and then want to read more about Hawkeye. But when they go to the comic shop, as recent as last year they would see Hawkeye in his purple costume. Visual continuity is important. If the fan is looking on the shelves for movie Hawkeye, give them something similar. So in recent months, Marvel has given Hawkeye a new costume.
Though based on those new comic book covers, he might be reducing his costume to just a T-shirt soon enough. Still, it’s an awesome design that draws heavily from the Ultimate and movie versions, while retaining some of its classic roots. I’m definitely a fan of the new look. Real men wear purple.
So hopefully Hawkeye fans are excited at this news.
Posted on April 15, 2012, in Avengers, Comics, Marvel and tagged Hawkeye. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
Henchman-4-Hire 
Dude, look at Renner’s left arm in that picture you posted of him. He has this enormous vein just popping out of it. It looks kinda disturbing, like he just injected himself with Venom.
Also I may be interested in this book. Think about it:
1. I didn’t care about Iron Fist.
2. Fraction and Aja make an Iron Fist comic
3. I care about Iron Fist.
If this works again and I end up liking Hawkeye (which admittedly would be no easy task) then that should be enough proof that these two comic bookers can make any character worthwhile. And boy have I got a list of characters to hand over to them. Like Spider-Woman, Moon Knight, Elektra, etc. I really want to like Spider-Woman as much as everyone else does. It would go a long way to make Avengers more palatable.
You do make a good point about the power of the creative team in changing our perception of Iron Fist. But then they left after only two stories and the book was soon cancelled. I can’t imagine Fraction and Aja will stay on this Hawkeye title for very long. But I suppose we’d get a few good Hawkeye comics out of it.
The pair also made me realize that the only reason I didn’t like Iron Fist was his crappy costume with the giant collar and the exposed chest. And the little footsies. When they gave Iron Fist a new, modern costume, I was all for it. And I’m absolutely loving this new Hawkeye costume.
So maybe you’re on to something…
Sabretooth’s seal of approval.