Hawkeye: Little Hits

The second volume of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run contains the much lauded Pizza Dog story, an issue told entirely from the point of view of Clint Barton's dog. But that episode comes last, and it's so much sadder than I expected it to be.

The thing is, Barton is kind of a fuckup. He tries to do the right thing. He tries really hard. He's an avenger after all. But he has a tendency to get in over his head. And in this volume, some of his mistakes from the previous volume come back to haunt him. There's the gang he forcefully bought the apartment building from, to save the tenants' homes and the girl who he probably shouldn't have gotten involved with. Both show up again, bringing more trouble and leaving Barton with even more danger hanging over his head.

Even worse is the slow disintegration of his relationship with Kate Bishop, the other Hawkeye. Their relationship seemed rock solid in the first volume, but in this one cracks start to appear. He acts like an idiot, she gets angry, and they drift further and further apart.

The cliffhanger that this volume ends on is heartbreaking. I can only hope that the two Hawkeyes don't stay estranged for too long. Though the title of the next volume - LA Woman - indicates that they won't make up any time soon.

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