Hawkeye 20, Captain Marvel 7

Hopefully there aren't many but please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors, particularly today. I wrote a slew of reviews (today's and tomorrow's) on my phone away from the comics and autocorrect REALLY hates comics, I tell you what. Nearly as much as I hate proofreading. So we're all to blame.

Hawkeye 20

Harold H. Harold has been killed and one of Kate's arrows is responsible. She's brought in for questioning but talks her way out of it with Caudle, who still doesn't like her but realizes she couldn't have done it. With the help of her LA friends, the flower shop owner who she helped in her first solo adventure, and the suddenly not-dead Harold, she sneaks into Masque's complex, finding herself suddenly on the losing end of a battle with her henchmen, though not before she manages to steal some really important client files of Masque's, including her father's. She escapes but returns to torch Masque's home as payback for her own torched trailer, which puts her back in the grasp of some more LMD henchmen (for, of course, that is what Masque's business dealing in bodies is and explains the lives of the rich that Harold stumbled on so long ago and Harold's own death and reappearance) and of Masque herself. She manages to walk away from the fight thanks to a timely rescue by SHIELD, who interrogates her but has no ground on which to stand in their interrogation, particularly when Kate questions their involvement, given the LMDs. She settles things up, borrows money from Marcus and Finch (who she refers to as "the best family a girl could have," d'awwwww), and heads home, calling her father and vowing to stop him.

The series is ready to merge into one story once more with Kate headed back east and it leaves me torn. I really love this book and obviously the first 15 or so issues with both Hawkeyes together were excellent but it's a testament to the strength of this series and the strength of Annie Wu that I don't want this to end just as much as I want Kate and Clint reunited. Fraction's Kate, in her first solo arc, has definitely proven she has the ability to stand on her own, showcasing skills and charisma at every turn. It's been tons of fun; credit to Marvel for trusting Fraction with this and for bringing in relative unknown Annie Wu to absolutely kill with a big spotlight on her. This book doesn't land nearly as well, even despite Fraction's writing, with any other artist. As far as this issue goes, fantastic work all around, Kate continues to be one of the most fun characters to read out there and her energy and excitement bursts off the page. There are great long-jokes, great quick-jokes, great references snuck in (the old cranky Hallmark card lady gets referenced! There's a "It's Chinatown" reference too but the cranky old Hallmark card lady is that funny that I'm not even going to mention the Chinatown one), and overall an excellent book.

Total Score: 5/5


Captain Marvel 20

Captain Marvel has returned from her first arc successful, but it hasn't stopped the nightmares she's plagued by, namely a nightmare wherein she cannot protect the people she loves and fails them when they need her most. In perhaps happier news, she's found herself traveling with Tic, who stowed away after their first adventure, and the pair of them return to Carol's ship, currently being grudgingly watched by Rocket Raccoon, who immediately begins fighting with Carol again about the possible alien nature of her cat. Their fight is interrupted by a spaceship latching on to and breaching Carol's. Matters are made worse when Tic finds Chewie the cat sitting on a host of apparent offspring, perhaps confirming Rocket's assessment that a very dangerous Flerkin has made its way onboard.

Despite the nightmare to kick this one off and the tension by the end of the issue, this one is certainly more light-hearted than any of the first arc of this CAPTAIN MARVEL volume. Just about everything both Tic and Rocket say is played for laughs, some hitting well and some missing the mark a bit. It also feels a bit like we're missing a scene here as Carol sees Rocket and IMMEDIATELY tears into him for...watching over her ship and cat for her. Granted, Rocket changes some things on her ship and hates the cat, but there's nothing wrong with Chewie as Carol returns and the changes to the ship aren't cited as problems, which makes Carol just come off as aggressive and ungrateful. As I said, I think there are grounds for a fight present but those grounds never feel like the reason she attacks. It's not an awful issue and certainly guest artist Takara does a very good job filling in, but it never feels fully together the way DeConnick has made us accustomed. Such is the price of repeated success.

Total Score: 3/5