Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I really, really disliked the art in issue ten.   The colors were weird, and discordant, and it was all too much.   It was also really odd because the rest of the series has fit perfectly for the stories Fraction is telling so this stood out as a really, really bad choice to me.   I normally don't knock off a half star, even, for really horrid art just in one issue in a graphic novel but this was so distracting that I literally put the book down for a week and groaned when I picked it back up today.  

I want to return a whole bunch of books from the library and there was only half of issue ten and eleven to get through, so...

What can I say?  I love Fraction's writing and in general the art is pitch perfect, even when bringing in artists other than Aja to specialize in comic covers.   (One of the stories involves comics and there was an artist brought in specifically to do the fake covers for this issue.)   Fraction is amazing at taking Hakweye - or Clint Barton - out of the Avengers and making him a normal guy.   And it's his normalcy, it's his lack of superpowers, and his ability to blend into the city that make him attractive to a reader.   It's the familiar problems and conflicts, intensified by his occupation, that draw you to him.   

He's a smart ass and so is Kate, and their continued interplay is just wonderful to watch.   They both attract and repel each other, and it's a complex relationship that gets richer the more you read of this particular series.   

Oh, yeah, and issue eleven?   Told from Clint's dog's point of view.   It's charming, and relies mostly on images.   There are some words, but much 'mumbling' as the dog doesn't understand all the words.   If you're a dog lover, I'd say this volume is worth it for the one issue.   Even if you aren't, though, this volume offers a lot of insight into the normal guy on the Avengers team.