The following originally ran in the Weekly Planet 8/15/18.
The original Old Man Logan was a game changer. Not only was it the inspiration for perhaps the greatest comic book movie of all time, but it basically invented a new comic book language in just seven issues. No, it wasn’t the first story to look at a horrible future. Nor was Days of Future Past for that matter. That’s another instant classic storyline that has been endlessly ripped off but never duplicated. And just like DoFP, everything from Old Man Logan’s covers to its iconography to its premise has been canonized, all the way down to its title. The “Old Man” prefix has oft been used since this series and its presence instantly keys you in on exactly the kind of story you’ll be getting. And recently the time came for a spin-off for Old Man Logan’s partner in crime, Hawkeye. And it is absolutely fantastic.
OLD MAN HAWKEYE does complete and total justice to one of my very favorite characters in comics. Clint Barton is the everyman. In an avenging world of supersoldiers and Shi’ar hybrids and Hulks, Barton is us, albeit if we allocated all of our points to “ranged weapons” during character creation.
Barton has a richer history in the Marvel 616 than most would give him credit for. He was the original villain-turned-hero. He lead the West Coast Avengers. He was Ronin. He co-headlined the incredible “Hawkeye” series from Matt Fraction and David Aja (alongside Best Hawkeye Kate Bishop). He’s dated everyone from Black Widow and Scarlet Witch to Mockingbird and Spider-Woman. And he drove the Spidermobile right alongside Wolverine in one of the most famous comic stories of all time. He drove it right into a spinoff.
OLD MAN HAWKEYE is a 12 issue miniseries focusing entirely on the titular archer who is slowly losing his sight. What he’s not losing is his ability to make everything harder for those around him. After “the night the heroes fell,” Clint took to a life of crime. What else was he to do? The villains left Barton alive because he wasn’t worth the effort to kill. After taking out all of the “real heroes,” Hawkeye faces a world that tells him he’s worthless. It’s a story perfectly
paired to its title character.
Writer Ethan Sacks has plotted a thrilling tale. Every issue is a crucial piece of the story. Each month, the tension rises all the more. Hawkeye is on the run. Bullseye, as sharp as ever, won’t give him an inch. A legion of inbred Multiple Men wrapped in symbiote suits is an unstoppable wave lapping at his heels. Barton has so few allies.
And it’s all rendered beautifully by Marco Checchetto. This is some of the most consistently jaw-dropping work I’ve ever seen on a book. Quiet scenes of heartbreak or reunion are matched only by larger-than-life action sequences. It is so, so good.
Sacks and Checchetto have created one of my favorite comics of the last few years. I started reading OLD MAN HAWKEYE as a Clint Barton diehard but I’ve continued to read as an OLD MAN HAWKEYE diehard. The first volume of this phenomenal book is on shelves now and I honestly think you’re a fool if you don’t try it out. A fool.
Don’t do it for me. Do it for Clint.
Be the first to comment