REVIEW: Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon (graphic novel) written by Matt Fraction, art by David Aja (#1-3) and Javier Pulido (#4-5)

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon is a Marvel comics collection. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon collects Hawkeye (2012) #1-5 and Young Avengers Presents (2008) #6.

In this volume, Hawkeye deals with a rent increase, steals from thieves who steal from thieves, and has to do some work to get an incriminating tape back. There's also a flashback to Kate Bishop as Hawkeye trying to prove herself to the real Hawkeye.

I used to read a lot of Mavel and DC comics, but that was decades ago. I haven't even been keeping up with the Marvel movies very well. I don't think I've ever read or watched anything with Kate Bishop in it. Basically, I'm probably not the best person to be reviewing this. That said, I think I picked this up because I read somewhere that that Matt Fraction's writing was good and that this was a decent starting place for Hawkeye comics newbies mostly familiar with the Marvel movie universe.

I enjoyed the volume's flashes of humor, and I particularly liked David Aja's artwork. I felt a bit lost in terms of the timeline (the volume's events were shuffled some and I didn't immediately realize this), character relationships, and situation. There was no context/explanation given for the period of time that Kate apparently spent pretending to be Hawkeye. And who was Eli? 

Hawkeye spent a good chunk of this volume getting beaten up as he reminded readers that he has no superpowers, just skill (and some trick arrows). Still, he managed to get himself back up and functional pretty well considering some of what he went through. I appreciated the bit about the dog he desperately tried to save after it helped him.

The front and back covers include a guide telling readers which volumes to read after this one. I don't feel particularly compelled to continue on, but I appreciate the existence of the guide all the same.