Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

So, first of all, I realize I've been handing out five star reviews like they were candy recently.   I've been comfort reading, because shit has been going down off panel that I can't talk about here.   Thus, my picking books that I've already read, or series that I know I'll adore, on purpose to destress.   Thus the string of five star reads.   

Oh, yeah, I threw in some Primus-forsaken kraken sex for funsies, too.   

So, Hawkeye is another reread from the library.  I read it at the bookstore a long time ago when I had some time to kill, and adored it.   The art is stylized, gritty, and classy all at the same time, and it's just absolutely a perfect fit for this character.   Just about as rough around the edges as Agent Clint Barton is, and I, for one, wouldn't have it any other way.  

The stories are not necessarily Avengers stories, and even the one arc - the tape - that was?   It really only involved Hawkeye and Kate Bishop, another excellent archer, and a just general kick-ass woman.   He's her protege, and it's a solo mission with some cameos by some heavy hitters like Captain America.  It's also an action-adventrue story which, once again, startled me because Fraction does action and character interaction really well.  Kate just has to know something that Clint tells her to stay away form, and there's a sense of tension in the air when they finally get to talk about what really happened.   As Clint says, 'there are some things you can never unsee.'   (Kate's line about, 'there are some things you can never unreel,' is a great comeback to that, too.)

That, however, is the story arc, and the first couple issues are standalones that revolve around both Kate and Clint, and actually involve Clint trying to fit in with his neighbors.   Or at least not let them in on the fact that he's an Avenger so they don't become targets.   He's also kinda slumming it, possibly due to his childhood - he worked as a carny and thief, which comes into play during one of the standalone issues - and I find this kinda endearing.   

The last issue is the puzzler for me.  I understand why it's included - it's the Clint meets Kate issue, and is the foundation for their current relationship (not romantic.)   But it's odd to me that it isn't first; despite not being part of this series, it's background that we don't have if we haven't read that issue, and thus the placement at the end does read rather oddly.  

Despite this, five stars.   Especially since Kate's best friend, we find out in the Young Avengers issue, is dating a robot.   Mmmm.   The Vision.   Mmmmmmm.