Hawkeye #17 is way outside the norm, and that's exactly why I love it. But even when the series is on task, and telling the story of Clint Barton's battle with the Tracksuit Mafia, it is still the best comic book on the stands these days. I'm going to keep talking about it, and I hope you're reading it, because Hawkeye is everything I want from comics. Now if only Fraction and Aja would team up for a Multiple Man comic" Read Full Review

David Aja's pencils are an essential element to this book, and while he isn't the main artist featured in this issue, he bookends the contributions of guest-artist, Chris Eliopoulos. He helps to "animate" the Winter Friends cartoon special. It's completely adorable in its evocation of Calvin and Hobbes, and it's appropriately disarming to the character study at the center of this quirky issue. Read Full Review

This issue gets a 9, for Fraction's story which makes us sympathize with Clint's yearning to be the one to save the day, Eliopoulos' fun illustration, and one of the most surprisingly enjoyable, risk-taking storytelling methods we've seen in comics. Eliopoulos establishes himself among the ranks of David Aja and Annie Wu as a great illustrator who brings Clint, Kate, and their world to life. Read Full Review

"Hawkeye" #17 is successful in its formal experimentation, and the results serve characterization and suspense. "Winter Friends" is light and absurd and doesn't take itself too seriously, but nevertheless another dog story and Eliopoulos' art further expand the series' emotional and formal range. It's great that Fraction is able to make style into substance this way in offshoot stories, adding to the richness of the world he has built. Read Full Review

Another strong and poignant issue, just as weve come to expect. For such a stark digression from the current arc, #17 may very well be the most Hawkeye issue of Hawkeye yet, right down to the talking dogs. Highly enjoyable overall and definitely worth the post-holiday wait. Read Full Review

Overall the story was cute and entertaining, along with the art"the three dogs that bear quite the resemblance to Clint's exes are a personal favourite. But ultimately it's the issue's timing that works against it, with the momentum of that type of storytelling not quite matching up entirely to what readers might be feeling. I'd say save the issue for a snow storming day when you're curled in front of a fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate, and in need of a story that'll warm your heart just a little too. Read Full Review

Although DC tried running with the "WTF" theme, it's Hawkeye #17 that wins this distinction. It's an oddball holiday story that focuses on a television special Clint watches with his neighbor's children. Read Full Review

This was fun. I enjoyed the parallels between this wacky children's story and Clint's insecurities about being among the Avengers.

Cute issue

It's not so much that this was a bad issue, it's just not the issue we needed right now. We need Clint's story to move forward. Waiting on Aja to finish his issues makes for a long, drawn out serialized experience. I rather enjoy the Kate issues, but this story seemed like last-minute filler just to give Aja even more time to get his work done. This might have worked well as an Annual or xmas special. Looking at the little TV cartoon story as a metaphor, I'm not sure it told us anything about Clint that we didn't already understand. It just spelled it out in a simple, cartoonish manner. While sort of clever, it also seemed sort of unnecessary. Particularly so when we're longing for the thing that is necessary: the next chapter in Clint's story. more

The emperor has no clothes. This issue stinks.