Hawkeye #20

Author: Matt Fraction
Artists: Annie Wu and Matt Hollingsworth
Release Date: September 10, 2014
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Source: Bought and Owned
Genre(s): Action, Drama

Rating: ★★★★★
Review Spoilers: Low

Well, the “LA Woman” arc has come to an end, but good news everyone! Kate Bishop is coming home. And she’s bringing the Pizza Dog back with her!

Of course, by the way her time in LA ended, this is not exactly going to be a joyous homecoming.

Hawkeye #20 picks up shortly after the end of #18. Kate’s picking up odd jobs (and I do mean odd) and living in Marcus and Finch’s house since the trailer she was living in was burn to the ground. Of course, Madame Masque isn’t exactly letting her live in peace either.

Being a Matt Fraction comic though, the story isn’t 100 percent straightforward with the way the events come across. Instead, we get a series of flashfowards and flashbacks as Kate relives her last days in Los Angeles to a couple of mysterious figures that we don’t see until the last few pages of the comic.

Of course, it all comes together in the last page. If you thought the cliffhanger at the end of #19 was intense, wait until you see the mic drop Kate delivers. There were shivers down my spine and an intense need to start screaming “YES!” in a public place.

At the time I’m writing this, I’ve read this issue three times. One of those came at the end of a re-read of the entire arc. I’ve enjoyed the entire arc, but #20 really made me appreciate the story Fraction delivered and the art Annie Wu and Matt Hollingsworth created for it. I know a lot of people say that the switch to Wu’s art after Aja’s was disconcerting, but it was a perfect compliment to Kate and her hot and hazy summer in Los Angeles. Especially in the last arc where the little touches didn’t just bring the individual story together, but the entire arc. I’m sad to see her run end, but you can guarantee that I’ll be looking for her other projects from now on. And if she ever returned to Kate Bishop, I would not be upset in the slightest.

With two issues left in the series, it looks like we’re going to see a return of the Hawkeye duo. It’ll be bittersweet for sure, but I’m looking forward to seeing where the finale takes us now more than ever.

Final Thoughts: Just read the damn thing. Between this and #19, we’ve really gotten some of Fraction’s best work.