Tag Archives: hawkeye

I just spent the last hour and a half filing my taxes at the last minute, so I’m a little brain dead. Therefore, this one’s going to be pretty simple. I’m going to spend the whole piece talking about one current comic book series.

I was skimming through the letters page of one of my comics the other day, and something caught my eye. One of the letter writers said that their favorite current Avengers title is Uncanny Avengers. Before I could even pause to ask myself what mine would be, the answer came to me without a hint of doubt. Young Avengers.

The current run by Kieron Gillen and Jaime McKelvie is so good. It’s innovative and exciting, and each issue is absolutely gorgeous. I think the only thing that is stopping it from being as big a deal as it deserves to be is that most people haven’t heard of any of these characters. There’s no Wolverine, Captain America, or Iron Man. There’s a Hawkeye, but probably not the one you’re thinking of.

The majority of these characters were first introduced in a title of the same name by Allen Heinberg and Jim Cheung. I think Marvel tried to keep these characters mainly for their creator’s use, so after the initial twelve issue run they didn’t pop up in much. The ones appearing in this series are Hawkeye, Wiccan, and Hulkling. Hawkeye is a rich girl who happens to be a pretty good archer. Wiccan is the reincarnation of one of the Scarlet Witch’s magic babies, and also happens to be a magician. Hulkling is a Skrull shapeshifter who is in a long term relationship with Wiccan.

The rest of the team are also all relatively new characters. Marvel Boy is a Kree from an alternate dimension and is the only member of the team who has also been an Avenger and a Dark Avenger. Miss America is so new that I know absolutely nothing about her, except that I think she’s also from an alternate dimension. Finally, there is young Loki. Yes, the Thor villain Loki. He may be the best character in the whole book.

Gillen really emphasizes the fact that he’s the god of mischief. He’s not a supervillain, or world destroying menace. He’s just kind of mischievous. Nobody trusts him, but they can’t help but be manipulated by him. The thing is, his heart seems to be in the right place. At least for now. I can’t wait to see what happens with him.

The other thing that makes this book so good is the beautiful art. Jamie McKelvie (with assists by Mike Norton) is doing some truly fascinating stuff. The art is so crisp and detailed it looks almost like a photograph from some beautiful, colourful world. Every month, he manages to do something new and exciting with panels too. For instance, in the most recent issue Marvel Boy rescues the team from some aliens. Over a two page spread, you see the floorplan of the room and you can follow the Kree’s path through the room. There are numbers on certain particularly dramatic moments that are numbered and correspond with panels that circle the floor plan and show more detail. I lingered on that image for a good long while soaking it all in.

So, like I said, we’re only four issues in. If my opinion means anything to you, you should go out and buy those issues ASAP. You will not regret it. In fact, you will probably send me a thank you note.

Graham Becksted will accept comments in lieu of thank you notes. He is also the author of Graham’s Grumbles, the second blog by that name that is listed in Google results when you search for Graham’s Grumbles. If you would like to be his 79^th follower (thank you, bots), he can be followed on Twitter @GrahamBecksted.