Review: Hawkeye Vol. 2- Little Hits

Quick Summary

Pros: The action and humor are both still well-executed. The narrative, as a whole, sees an increase in emotions and suspense. Increased drama is particularly noticeable in the exploration into Hawkeye’s character. Both the storytelling and the artwork feel more creative than before and help set this comic apart in a positive way.

Cons: There is a bit less humor in this volume.

Overall: A plethora of positives allow this already solid Hawkeye series to get even better. This comic takes the already enjoyable features of its predecessor and enhances them. This leads to a book with more tension, suspense, and emotion that still manages to find time for some action and comedy. Plus, the comic continues to take risks and do things that most other comics would not do. Anyone who enjoyed the previous volume or who is looking for a great Hawkeye book should read this comic.

Story

Hawkeye Vol. 2: Little Hits, by Matt Fraction, feels like a more evolved form of its predecessor (Review). It brings back the same charm and wit that the series had from the start. However, it focuses slightly less on humor and slightly more on drama. This leads to Hawkeye challenging more intense conspiracies and dealing with more emotional personal issues. It is a captivating story that builds as it goes along, concluding in a way that gives readers even more reasons to keep coming back. The entire comic is still just as appealing as before, albeit in a slightly different way.

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The highs in Little Hits mostly come from the same places as the highs in My Life as a Weapon (Review). The comic still sees Hawkeye pull off several impressive stunts while fighting for the common man. In addition, the humor is still present through witty banter, mostly between Clint and Kate, and through comedic situations, such as the fake-bomb defusal in the comic’s opening chapter. There are less jokes in this volume than in the previous one but, in my opinion, the volume wasn’t negatively impacted by this change.

This is mostly because the narrative in Little Hits is more serious than it was in My Life as a Weapon (Review). The threat from the gang is more present, the woman from before admits she is in real danger, and, at the volume’s conclusion, a man is even killed. All of this creates tension and excitement but also creates some personal drama, as Hawkeye has to grapple with his responsibility in all of these events.

It is this personal drama that ends up being the best evolution of the collection. Readers witness Hawkeye disappoint the people he loves, struggle with his commitment issues, and even become partially responsible for the death of a civilian caught in a hero/villain war. It feels like the narrative is moving Hawkeye to a point where he may hit rock bottom and will, thus, leave the door open for self-improvement. Either way, it is interesting to see this hero react to these intense events happening all around him.

Alongside increased suspense and drama, Little Hits also gets more creative in the way it chooses to tell its stories. It tells stories from different characters to emphasize different perspectives, occasionally changes around the flow of time, uses fake comic books to build a theme, and, at the end of the book, depicts an entire chapter from a dog’s point of view. These factors set this comic apart from almost all of its contemporaries and lead to a wonderfully unique reading experience.

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Art

Like the story, the artwork in Little Hits also feels like a positive evolution for the series. David Aja’s minimalist visual stylings continue to pair perfectly with Matt Hollingsworth’s colors. This combination produces some of the best looking chapters thus far, with Hawkeye #8 being one of my favorites. In addition, a single chapter from Francesco Francavilla helps capture the dark and mysterious mood of the story it is telling.

However, my favorite part about the artwork in Little Hits is the increased level of visual creativity. The atypical page structures in Hawkeye #6 highlight that issue’s non-linear approach to time. The prominent splash pages in Hawkeye #8, by Annie Wu, help punctuate themes from that chapter in an unusual way. And, in what may be the comic’s most impressive achievement, the artwork in the final chapter manages to tell an incredibly compelling and emotional story with a very minimal amount of dialogue. The artwork is what allows this series to be as unique as it is and is a big part of why this comic is as good as it is.

Continuity

Hawkeye Vol. 2: Little Hits continues the story from Hawkeye Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon (Review).

The story here continues in Hawkeye Vol. 3: L.A. Woman.

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• The paperwork behind Hawkeye and Mockingbird’s divorce was revealed to have been started back in New Avengers: The Reunion #2, collected in New Avengers: The Reunion.
• Hawkeye and Spider-Woman’s relationship began in Avengers Vol. 4 #17, collected in Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Vol. 2.