Eye on Hawkeye #16

Or a roundup of things I find cool about Hawkeye #16
by Matt Fraction, Annie Wu, and Matt Hollingsworth; Marvel Comics

I really like it when I can read a comic, find some particular aspect of it that is exceptional or cool, and then write a focused post about it that sounds halfway intelligent. Sometimes, though, a comic is pretty great in a bunch of ways that maybe don't lend themselves to a lengthy post and so the temptation exists to just do a comics roundup. Hawkeye #16 is totally one of those latter comics. So this here is going to be a hacky comics roundup of some of the things I really liked about Hawkeye #16

There will, as always, be *SPOILERS* for Hawkeye #16

The story of Hawkeye #16 revolves around an aging and mentally unstable recording artist, Wil Bryson, being distraught that the tapes of his incomplete, lost 1960s masterpiece album are being leaked into the world against his wishes. Hawkeye (Kate-Hawkeye) springs into action to save him somehow. At first, because I have very poor general pop culture knowledge, I thought it was just kind of a fun story with an understandable problem. But the internet has made it clear that this is all a thinly veiled meditation on Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, his lost incomplete album SMiLE, and his troubled history of mental illness and substance abuse. Which is pretty cool. I mean, this is a comic from a Mainstream Superhero comics publisher that is about a really fascinating chunk of music history I had no idea existed. I learned some things. Beyond this though, it's pretty obvious that SMiLE is a thing that Team Hawkeye (or at least Matt Fraction) is pretty passionate about and this really translates into the comic. There is something immediately obvious and great when creators are extra-invested in the themes of a work. 

(This is perhaps why Creator-Ownderish comics feel so dynamic: if you can write literally any story than it is likely the story chosen will be one you're exceptionally into. Maybe there is something in giving people working at Mainstream comics publishers that extra degree of freedom to explore whatever they want to in their Superhero comics...)

One of the things I kind of love about Hawkeye #16 are these single-moments-split-over-multiple-panels constructions. Taking a single image like this, and chopping it into pieces, just adds so much drama and weight to the moment depicted. It's like those instants that, due to the emotional weight of the moment, just seem to stretch on and on. Which is basically what this composition does: the single image and lack of words suggests the brief nature of the depicted moment, while the multiple panels convey that this moment occupies multiple panel-units of time. It is, like the moment depicted, simultaneously instantaneous and expansive. It's simple but a really great demonstration of the power of the panel in comics.

I absolutely love this page of comics. Annie Wu is a master at acting: at drawing just the perfect expression on a face to sell the emotion of a moment. I think everyone who has seen any of her comics appreciates this. What I maybe didn't appreciate as much is that she is also a really great storyteller in action sequences. This page here is perfect evidence of layout skills and is absolutely full of nifty tricks and choices that make every moment of the page kinetic and impactful.

This page makes great use of panel transitions, shapes, and guides to move the audience through the page in a way that really enhances the story. The composition takes advantage of the top-right panel to second row carriage return to swing the readers eye along the path of the headbutt to maximize impact. Following the impact, the next panel does a really brilliant job showing where all of the players are spatially, which sets the stage for the following motion (Kate's bow swing, and the diving tackle). This panel here is like a map legend of all of the fisticuffs in the rest of the page and is just agogglingly good comics. The next three panels are all about emphasizing the swing of the bow. The elements of the panels are designed to lead us along the arc of the swing, with super simple backgrounds, so that readers quickly progress along the page quickly, with force. This is emphasized even more by the shape of these panels which expand, making each subsequent interval of the swing feel bigger and weightier. Which of course culminates with the hand blocking the swing in a really great and surprising way (we really expected the forceful arc to end in collision). The page then takes advantage of another carriage return that brings us to the next panel and is SUDDENLY deflected by the unexpected diving tackle of the other thug which steers us right into the next panel and the splash that sprays into the page gutters. This sequence completely manages to capture the surprise and impact of the tackle, since it clobbers our eye motion as readers. It also manages to capture the kinetics of Kate's fall after the tackle as the eye motion is shunted into the next panel. It is absolutely great comics.

There is also some really cool colouring going on in this sequence which adds an additional layer of emotion and impact to the composition. Specifically, I want to point out how red is used as an impact colour here. In the non-collision panels, we see normal background colours, like the retro-walls in the first panel, or the blue of the pool in the third. But in panels with collisions, like the the headbutt or tackle, the panel flashes RED with the violence of the impact. Which of course adds a certain emotional blast to the panels. What's even cooler, is that in the swinging bow panels, the red of collision disappears as the impending impact is blocked by the goon. It's like a subliminal message that things are not going Kate's way, even before the image of the hand nabbing her swing is shown. It's more really great comics.

Seriously, this page here is the kind of comics people should study and take notes about.

Okay, bigger *SPOILERS* coming, so bail out now if you haven't read the issue!

Another thing that I really liked about Hawkeye #16 is this heeby-jeeby inducing bit here. Hawkeye #16, despite a pretty dark moment with a pair of thugs beating up a teenage woman, is a fairly light comic. (Yes, that was a weird statement to write.) I mean, it's exciting and full of stakes, but it wraps up on a pretty happy note with Wil Bryson performing some of his secret opus before an enthusiastic crowd. And then, out of seemingly nowhere, an unmasked Madame Masque pops in to threaten Kate. The sheer, emotional dissonance between the majority of this issue and this sequence, (and the startling and effective switch to red) really made this sequence hit me like a stiletto blade and kicked the cathartic triumph of the moment right out from under me as a reader. Which is so fucking great. I mean, on the one hand it manages to make me feel the exact emotional beats of Kate (triumph turning to unease) and on the other it completely ambushes the sense of safety we were developing in the Kate story arc. It's like a Grills killing moment: awful but essential for changing the stakes of the story. Which is simultaneously terrible and great.

Previously:
Eye on Hawkeye #14: Repetitive panels as a device.

Eye on Hawkeye #13: The shattered timeline of Hawkeye

Eye on Hawkeye # Annual Pt. 2: Remixing Hawkeye #3 with Annual thought captions.

Eye on Hawkeye # Annual Pt. 1: Using silhouettes in arguments
Eye on Hawkeye #12: Setting up the perfect splash page

Eye on Hawkeye #11 pt. 3: Action packed layouts!

Eye on Hawkeye #11 pt. 2: Lucky & Clint, Narrative Similarities
Eye on Hawkeye #11 pt. 1: A Dog's Perspective
Eye on Hawkeye #10: Colours and Mood

Eye on Hawkeye #9: Layout and Eye Guiding

Eye on Hawkeye #8: Art and Information

Eye on Hawkeye #7: Setting as Character and Steve Lieber

Eye on Hawkeye #6 pt. 2: Great Writing

Eye on Hawkeye #6 pt. 1: Clever Layouts

Eye on Hawkeye #3: Motion in a Static Medium

Eye on Hawkeye #2: Sock Holes and Characterization

Deep Sequencing: Food Freaks

Or an on-going tabulation of the various food powers in Chew
by John Layman and Rob Guillory, Image Comics

Part of the fun of Chew is how regosh-darn bizarre a comic it is. The premise of people with strange food powers living in a society with a strictly enforced poultry ban is just delightfully strange and wonderful. The thing is though, Chew, as crazy as it is, is manufactured in this really thoughtful, systemic way where each weird idea builds on the last so that entire nuthouse is constructed in this alt-logical, internally consistent way. It's pretty cool and a sign that we should be wary of John Layman and Rob Guillory eventually starting a cult-religion. (I am on to you, gentlemen.)

Anyway, in celebration of the weird world of Chew and it's intensely well constructed madness... and because I like to make info-graphics, here is my new recurring chart of all of the wacky food powers in Chew. Specifically in the Chew collections volumes 1-7.

There will be *SPOILERS* for Chew Vol. 1-7, so proceed with all due caution.

So I Read Chew: Bad Apples

A 250 word (or less) review of Chew Volume 7
By John Layman and Rob Guillory; Image Comics

This short review could have *SPOILERS* for Chew 1-6. Click here for a clean review.

Chew is certainly one elaborate and lengthy comic for being so completely insane. Over it's many chapters it has grown from a comic about a psychic cannibal detective enforcing a poultry ban to a much larger story with a cast of dozens of weirdoes pursuing a kaleidoscope of crazy storylines. Chew is very much a mountain of madness built on a surprisingly meticulous foundation of characterization, story structure and pacing. Chew: Bad Apples is a Chew comic that is about maintaining the rigorous narrative logistics of this gloriously goofy comic. Chew has, in recent issues, diffracted into some pretty separate storylines, and Bad Apples is about touching base with all of these diverse elements. It's a comic that is about keeping all of the plates, piled high with their bizarre and gruesome deserts, spinning. But! Chew: Bad Apples is still a Chew comic! The stories the comic is touching base with include the psychic cannibal cop hunting a vampire that murdered a loved one, his cyborg partner discovering a secret betrayal, and well, a bunch of other Chew family madness. It's a great, funny, mad comic that really feels like its gearing up to go somewhere interesting with its wild premise. I’m excited to see the madness that is coming!

Word count: 210

Previously:
So I Read Chew Vol 1-5
So I Read Chew Vol 6: Space Cakes

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a Good Book

Or why you should read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is the story of a legendary pair of comic book creators and their amazing adventures in the Golden Age of comics. It's the story of Joe Kavalier, a young Jewish artist and refugee, burdened with saving his family also from the Nazi menace. It's also the story of Sam Clay, a plucky Jewish kid from Brooklyn with big dreams and a plan to help his cousin bring his family to America. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay follows the pair as they form a partnership and create The Escapist, a comic book hero who frees people from the shackles of injustice. Their hero proves popular and the pair find success and a kind of fame, meeting the beautiful debutante Rosa Saks (herself inspiration for the comic hero Luna Moth), Tracy Bacon, star actor of The Escapist Radio Show, and many of the creative forces of their day. The novel asks if Kavalier and Clay can leverage their notoriety and wealth to save Joe's family, whether they can maintain their Golden Age in the face of global tragedy, and if they can escape when things fall apart.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is very much about the history of comic books. Through the lens of Sam Clay and Joe Kavalier the novel explores the larger than life, amazing story of the kind of young dreamers who created our most enduring and beloved superhero creations. We see the escapist and vaudeville cultural roots of the caped crusader, the crappy business deals, and the genesis of a new American artform. We see comics evolve from their earliest experiments to a mature art while also developing as a business and cultural force. Basically, as we read the very engaging, beautifully written story of Kavalier and Clay, we get to learn all about comics in this very researched, very organic way. It's really great.

Thematically The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay deals with Escapism in all kinds of literal and metaphorical ways. The real dramatic drivers of the novel are the bonds, subterfuges, and lengths the characters of the book will go to escape. From Joe Kavaliers incredible escape from Czechoslovakia, to the bonds of his obligation to free his loved ones. From the escape of comic book fiction, to the bonds of financial success, and the misdirection of the significance of that success. It's the bonds of family and love and desire and revenge. It's the misdirection of the lies characters tell themselves and the lies they tell the world to hide their bonds or intentions. And it's the escape, both good and bad, that characters enact for their freedom. It's beautiful and tragic and a magic worthy of the comic book Escapist.

This is a book that I think anyone could enjoy. It's literary and beautifully written, but still full of action and genre conventions. The story inside of it is universal and funny, exciting, tragic, sad, and wonderful. It's the kind of book I can hand to my mother who like's nice, emotionally involving stories, and my brother who reads books with axes on the cover. But I think more than anything it's a book that I can recommend to anyone who visits this website that loves novels and comics: this is a novel that builds a really incredible story out of the history of superhero comics. And in doing so it becomes this great new thing constructed out of a thing I love. If you like my taste in novels and my taste in comics this book is almost certainly something you will enjoy.

Previously:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Deep Sequencing: Widescreen Action in Stumptown Vol. 2

Or a look at the ballsiest comics car chase in Stumptown: The Case of The Baby in The Velvet Case
By Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth, and Rico Renzi; Oni Press

In the hallowed days before digital special effects made movies lazy and terrible, there was a glorious halcyon age of stunts in action films that climaxed in dramatic, beautifully shot car chases. These car chases were high octane spectacles, meticulously crafted acts of stunt driving, grounded in the plausibility of having to actually have happened. And yet, these film segments were somehow larger than life, shot with the widest of angles in dynamic, kinetic styles that are so much bigger than the static, tighter angles of the more conversational story sections. These car chases are awesome, and special, and completely an artifact of a certain kind of film.

Or so I thought.

Because Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case somehow pulls this off in a static, comics form. It is magnificent.

This post will contain *SPOILERS* for Stumptown: Vol. 2. Do yourself a favour and read the comic first; it's really, really great.

So part of the magic of the car chase scene is how it contrasts to the more conventionally drawn portions of the comic. The majority of Stumptown: Vol. 2 is drawn beautifully and atmospherically in the standard mode of comics with panels progressing from the top left of the page to the bottom right. It's the comics equivalent of tight angled dramatic shooting.

The brilliant choice, that makes the entire car chase scene feel huge and cinematographic is that they took the page....

...and turned it on its side.

And the result is pure comics widescreen magic.

By turning the page on its side, Team Stumptown changes the entire feel of the comic. The unorthodox page orientation instantly makes the car chase sequence feel special, like its not comics as usual. But it's so much more than a simple gimmick, because altering the page orientation also changes the page into a series of short, wide panels that emphasize horizontal space and movement which enhances the feeling of speed throughout the chase. Add in some really clever, cinematic angles, stylish blurring, and really great use of the speedometer and street signs and team Stumptown completely catches the giant, amazing feeling of a true movie car chase in a comic. It couldnt get much better...

...until...

They jump the fucking bridge!

How amazing is this double page spread? Everything about this moment is perfect: the bridge decks peeking into either side of the spread to set boundaries, the tiny car hanging in the void, angled toward the apex of the leap. Perfect.  By maintaining the widescreen page orientation, the double page spread manages to emphasize both the height and the tremendous distance of the jump. The relative simplicty of the page also helps punch up the moment: the single colour background and the minimalist elements all help make the jump feel exceptionally fast, and yet due to its iconic simplicity, somehow timeless. It perfectly captures that sense of a super short moment, that due to the tension and insanity of it, just seems to stretch on and on. It's perfect comics.

Stumptown is a comic that I cannot recommend enough.

Previously
Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case
Stumptown: The Case of The Girl Who Took Her Shampoo (But Left Her Mini)
A Fistful of Rain
Deep Sequencing: Making an entrance in Stumptown

So I Read Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case

A 250 word (or less) review of Stumptown Volume 2
By Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth, and Rico Renzi; Oni Press

This comic, you guys. This comic. Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case continues the tradition of being outrageously good comics. This installment of the series follows perpetually down-on-her-luck private investigator Dex Parios as she hunts for Baby, the prized guitar of Mim Bracca, the lead guitarist of rock sensation Tailhook. When the investigation runs afoul of skinhead drug dealers and the DEA it becomes apparent that more than the guitar is missing and that Dex might just be in over her head. And it's all kind of perfect. The story is exciting, the mystery is satisfying, and this volume of Stumptown swaggers with all of its trademark charm, smarm, and humour. It's an endlessly engaging, infectious read. It's also a really ballsy comic: there is a sequence in this comic that is both technically brilliant and just gonads to the wind, rock and roll, brave. It's a sequence that absolutely HAS to be seen. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of Mim and Tailhook, the stars of Rucka's novel A Fistful of Rain (probably my favourite Rucka novel). While The Case of The Baby in the Velvet Case contains all the narrative information you need, it was fun to see Mim and to view her through the lens of her prose depiction. Stumptown Vol. 2 is a fantastic comic and I still have absolutely no idea how this series isn't a much, much bigger deal than it is.

Word count: 242

Previously:
Stumptown: The Case of The Girl Who Took Her Shampoo (But Left Her Mini)
A Fistful of Rain
Deep Sequencing: Making an entrance in Stumptown

Atoll Comics Round 10

Or changes to my top-ten

Due to poverty and an urge to buy better comics, I have decided to be super-selective about which superhero comics I read. Harnessing the Awesome Power of Maths, I have determined that I can afford to read 10 ongoing titles. So I get to read 10, and only 10, titles published by either Marvel or DC as well as one trade paperback a week of my choosing.

A complication of this is that I am forced to drop an on-going title if I want to try reading a new on-going title, an act of very tough love. Being financially responsible is the worst.

I will be adding Black Widow and dropping The Movement.

Why Black Widow: I feel like Black Widow is one of the most under-utilized characters in the Marvel roster: she is a femme fatale super spy that exists in a universe with all kinds of weird and interesting spy-stuff in a epoch when real life espionage is growing ever more prominent. Add in a solid movie presence and its a no-brainer that there should be a Black Widow comic. And I want a good, ongoing Black Widow comic so badly. Black Widow by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto has the potential to be this. The first issue was pretty solid, with some fun spy action rendered with Phil Noto's excellent character acting and cinematic style. It also has an encouraging premise: that Black Widow is taking freelance jobs to fund her various penance projects. My one reservation is that it portrays a pretty mortal, chatty Widow.... which flies in contrast a bit with my idea of the hyper-efficient, quietly ruthless Black Widow that lives in my imagination. But, I'd like to see where the creative team will take things and give Black Widow a chance to win me over. If nothing else, it's a very well made comic.

Why not The Movement: The Movement suffers from too much movement, and not enough of The Movement. Let me explain: I feel like The Movement is trying to do waaaay too much too quickly in a way that is robbing the series of a lot of its potential impact. In just seven issues we have been thrown into a new, corrupt location where a never-before-seen protest/rebel movement with a diverse core group of misfit superhumans are fighting the authorities, some rich dude, a serial killer, and an anti-Movement superteam. There has also been a traitor from within, the addition of a new team member, and an internal ideological struggle within The Movement. In seven issues. While too much decompression is boring and urgency is usually good for comics, I feel like The Movement is failing to explore key series concepts, rushing through characterization, and triggering plot moments before they have had a chance to develop significance. Like, I still don't entirely understand why the setting of the The Movement is bad enough to justify kidnapping cops or how The Movement works. The traitor from within plot was wrapped up before we knew who all the characters even were. Or characters are dropping significant character points in narration boxes that don't organically fit their situations. (I also think the story would be better served by a different artist with a more realistic style and a greater ability to tie setting to story, since I feel like this story begs to feel more grounded and real.) And it kills me that I feel like this: I love the series premise, and I love the way Team Movement are interested in representing groups of people who are typically ignored by comics. I really want to like this comic, but the execution isn't there if I am only going to read ten comics.

Don't get me wrong, this is still a pretty good comic. It just isn't living up to my expectations. However, I could see that if you belong to the aforementioned typically-ignored-by-comics groups how this series might mean the world to you. So I hope it keeps going (and maybe improves a bit) and maybe I can give it another try someday.

(I understand that the comics market is ruthless and DC comics has a policy of dropping under-performing titles pretty quickly, so there is an impetus for creators to rapidly tell their story to try and win an audience and tell their story before the axe might drop. That said, I think The Movement would have been great if it say took a sane (as opposed to Burden) character... say, Misfit, and showed her in the corrupt setting and joining The Movement as an opening arc. Then taking the events of these first issues of The Movement and spreading them out over a few arcs to let the story breath. Maybe there is something to be said about giving creators the security to make longterm plans?)

Previously:

Atoll Comics Round 9: The Movement in and The Indestructible Hulk out

Atoll Comics Round 8: The Indestructible Hulk and FF in and Uncanny Avengers out
Atoll Comics Round 7: Young Avengers in and Winter Solider out
Atoll Comics Round 6: Either The Indestructible Hulk or FF in and Batwoman out
Atoll Comics Round 5: Avengers in and Fantastic Four/FF out
Atoll Comics Round 4: Avengers Assemble in and The Invincible Ironman out
Atoll Comics Round 3: Uncanny Avengers in and Ultimate Spider-Man out
Atoll Comics Round 2: Hawkeye in and The Flash out
Atoll Comics Round 1: Captain Marvel in and Thunderbots/Dark Avengers out
Atoll Comics Round 0: The originals