With awards, acclaim and high sales to its credit, Marvel Comics' "Hawkeye" was the last series many readers wanted to see take an extended hiatus. But after months away from stores, the critical darling will make a quiet return at the end of this month.

Today, a story on the NY Times' Arts Beat blog revealed that "Hawkeye" #19 will finally ship on July 30, explaining that the cause of the long delay was the labor-intensive task of artist David Aja drawing the issue's sign language-based story.

"There's so much subtlety and expression on the page," editor Sana Amanat said of the results of Aja's work. "You can understand what's going on even without the balloons."

"If nothing else, it's an opportunity for hearing people to get a taste of what it might be like to be deaf," series writer Matt Fraction said of the resulting story, which features lead Avenger Clint Barton struggling with sudden hearing loss.