2. Hawkeye #16 by Matt Fraction and Annie Wu (Marvel)
For those of you keeping count, yes the series has skipped an issue Hawkeye #15 is still being worked on by David Aja so Marvel jumped ahead and brought us #16 this month instead. Still, it's David Aja so you know it's going to be worth the wait, the man did win 2 Eisners last year! So instead of a Clint Barton issue, it's Kate Bishop this month, the West Coast Hawkeye. Kate encounters a crazy old guy blocking traffic on the expressway and finds out he's Will Bryson, one half of the Bryson Brothers, a famous '60s duo of songwriters. Bryson is a Brian Wilson-esque figure, a musical genius whose mind was broken through drug abuse and madness, but who's still creating wonderful music. His lost masterpiece, years in the making Wish is slowly being leaked through the internet by his brother, and he doesn't know how to stop it. Kate Bishop to the rescue! Annie Wu is one of the art discoveries of the last year. I've never seen her work before Hawkeye but it's so good I can't believe this is the first time I've seen it. The lines seem fragile but are assured and create the most exceptional images her Kate Bishop is extraordinary from her facial expressions to her body language and her outfits, it's all perfect. The fight scene as well is really nicely drawn and spread out on the page. Matt Hollingsworth's colours continue to make comic one of the best looking titles Marvel has the limited colour palette giving the series a unique and stylised look. Fraction's script is as fast-moving and entertaining as ever, and his ability to create convincing new characters in the space of a single issue is remarkable. I think his approach to Hawkeye, of having issue-length episodes in the vein of Murder, She Wrote/The Rockford Files, is an inspired choice and works really well with the tone of the series too. It makes the series very accessible so new readers can pick up and enjoy practically any issue in itself. Hawkeye remains Marvel's best title and Hawkeye #16 is another fine addition to the series. Fraction/Wu/Hollingsworth/Bishop make for a formidable team!