10 Best Comic Books Of The Decade

1. Hawkeye - Matt Fraction, David Aja Et Al.

Hawkeye is... kind of the best? On his own, perhaps Clint Barton isn't the greatest Avenger, but with the talents of Matt Fraction, David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth behind him, it's difficult to argue otherwise - especially with Kate Bishop waiting in the wings too.

It's genuinely impossible to overstate just how great the 2012 Hawkeye series was. Fraction was hot on the heels of a barnstorming stint on Iron Fist alongside Ed Brubaker and Aja, but I don't think anyone could've predicted just how smart, funny and genuinely heartwarming the writer's stint on Hawkeye would end up being.

All that said, with the basic premise of focusing on Barton while he wasn't out being an Avenger in hand, Fraction and Aja set about telling one of the best stories of the decade.

There is just too much to admire about this book. Aja and Hollingsworth combine perfectly together, while Steve Leiber and Javier Pulido's contributions shouldn't go unnoticed too. Fraction nails a voice for Clint and hones in on his everyman qualities to great effect, gifting the repeat divorcee with a Pizza Dog called Lucky, and readers with an issue told entirely from the pooch's perspective. Fraction also reaffirms the importance of Kate Bishop, who co-leads the comic alongside Clint, and who has since gone on to star in a brilliant series courtesy of Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero.

In short, Hawkeye was never short of surprises. It was laugh-out-loud funny, but there was always a clear emotional throughline from start to end. Most important of all, though, was that it won our hearts and our laughter. Who'd have thought Clint Barton would be the one to do it?