Talking about Hawkeye, because it's fun...

Pizza is my business.

I've been reading some articles and commentaries online about Hawkeye vol. 4 #11, the Pizza Dog story.  Now, I'd see a lot of good things in that comic - obviously - people are bringing up points I overlooked.

Maybe that's the thing about the really good comics: different readers see different points and bring new insights too them.  Comics are extraordinary enough as solitary entertainment, but shared among fans: they can be amazing.

Looking at a few sites:

Rachel Ededin at Comics Alliance - she says "Hawkeye vol. 4 #11-- which could be the best single issue of comics you’ve ever read."

 She tries to trace the influences on the Fraction/Aja Hawkeye and concludes: "There’s some flavor recognizably borrowed off Chris Ware... and a little Jason Lutes and a taste of Howard Chaykin and maybe a tiny touch of Starman-era James Robinson, but for the most part, Hawkguy is Hawkguy, and Hawkeye is Hawkeye, and you should pause a moment before the next paragraph and think about how rare that kind of incomparability is in a big-two superhero book...

"Hawkeye #11 is from Pizza Dog's point of view, and it's pretty damn close to perfect. ...Man, you will never care this hard about another story. And while you're caring, it'll sneak up on you that Matt Fraction and David Aja are doing things with comics that you didn't know could be done.

"At some point you realize that, without noticing, you've started to think like Pizza Dog."

Maybe because we haven't seen it done before; or, more accurately, haven't seen it so successfully done.  Or so ambitiously, but I don't think Fraction and Aja are trying to be ambitious. They're trying to make the comic as good as they can, and their success is spectacular.

There's another interesting review from The A.V. Club, where Oliver Sava asks: "Is Hawkeye's Pizza Dog issue the future of superhero comics?"  Which I think is an absurd - though eye-catching - and then he annoys me even more with the initial statement: "Superhero comics are predictable and repetitive."  I can't say it is entirely untrue; but I've heard it too often to take it seriously.   Yes, most superhero comics are formulaic. Television, novels, and all mass-market entertainment are by their nature predictable and repetitive, but in every medium and in every genre, the quality material manages to become unpredicable and original. Superhero comics are not, by nature, inferior any more than "war comics" or "romance comics" are inferior. This sounds to me like the snobbery of the critics who extol mainstream novels and scorn genre fiction. When the comics creators succeed in producing outstanding originality, it is not because they are transcending the genre, but because they have fresh ideas and high creativity.

Oliver Sava looses me entirely by listing the current Captain America as a 'must-read' book, while I think it is as close to unreadable, and by far the worst work I have ever seen from John Romita, Jr.

But Sava has an interesting take on the Pizza Dog story: "The story doesn't break from the detective mold too heavily --  Lucky meets a beautiful bitch that leads him to a case, he tries to solve it, sleeps with the female, then discovers and fights the perpetrators -- but the execution is incredibly imaginative and visually striking."  And he calls the use of icons "a wonderfully immersive reading experience" - which it is.  He speculates that the vagrant in the alley might be Clint's brother Barney.

"It takes a while for a new issue of Hawkeye to hit the stands," says Sava, "but the wait is always worth it."  There, we agree.  And I applaud his statement that "any character can be a captivating lead with the right creative team."  Lucky Kate: She has two sets of creators at present, the Kieron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie team on Young Avengers, and Fraction and Aja on Hawkeye.  The best of the best.

I note that many reviewers have used this comic as incentive to talk about their own dogs.

I liked the one-sentence review of fourteenacross on tumblr:  "What is this devil magic that fuels the brains of Fraction and Aja and where can I get some?"
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The best of the best...

Every once in a while there is a comic so good that I find myself thinking about it in the weeks after it comes out, anticipating the next issue.  Rereading it.  Speculating about the story.

These series, or runs, or stories are rare.  They don't happen every year.  They usually don't last as long as I'd wish - which would be forever.

The best comic of the year is Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja. It's the story of what Clint Barton, the archer Hawkeye in The Avengers, does when he's not doing things with the Avengers. It's about his friendship with Kate Bishop (the other Hawkeye) and his interactions his neighbours.  Because David Aja is the best of the best and genius can't keep to a tight monthly schedule, some issues are drawn by other artists - intrinsically inferior, because they aren't David Aja, but chosen for their abilities to do work comparable to his, and not dissimilar.

And it's about Hawkeye's dog.  Lucky is the dog's name, but everyone thinks of him as Pizza Dog. In similar manner, we think of Clint Barton as Hawkguy, to distinguish him for Kate as Hawkeye; a name given to him by Matt Fraction's four year old.  Who says families don't collaborate?

This month's issue, vol. 4 #11, was called "Pizza Dog in Pizza Is My Business".  It was written from the point of view of Pizza Dog, who became part of Clint's life back in issue #1, when he saved Clint's life - and Clint saved his.  Pizza Dog had belonged to some unsavory types who wanted rid of Hawkeye.

Sounds silly, no?  Like the old stories of the 1960s in which Krypto would save Superboy from Kryptonite, and the Legion of Super-Pets would have word balloons full of words.  And wear capes.

Pizza Dog does not wear a cape, though he has a collar.  He thinks, as dogs would, in terms of images and smells and sounds.  He's very responsible: when Clint tells him to keep an eye on the place while he's out. Pizza Dog does.

Seeing the world through Pizza Dog's eyes, we get insight into what is going on, including things which relate to Pizza Dog's unsavory past, and details of Clint's neighbours' lives.  Besides the charm and intelligence of the story itself, there's the viewpoint that isn't from a dog who thinks like a human, or has human concerns: he's a dog.  A dog ready to do what a dog's gotta do.

I can't claim Pizza Dog isn't cute, with his missing eye and his floppy ears.  But he's more than cute: he's a personality.

But, more... This issue makes clear that things in the previous ten issues which seemed unrelated to each other were all part of a bigger picture.  The story coalesces.  We don't have all the details, but this issue - though happily complete on its own - gives us a few "ahah!" moments.

Loved the scene of the cops coming to ask Clint questions about a murder:

The intelligence and artistry that goes into this comic has me in awe.  If it doesn't win the comics awards this year, it should.  Despite some stiff competition.

How many days till the next issue?

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Rich Johnson posted a good review of this same comic on Bleeding Cool.

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