Each day in November, I will read and review/discuss/whatever one comic taken from a box of some of my childhood comics. Today, it's Hawkeye #1.

The Nostalgia November archive can be found here.

Hawkeye #1 by Chuck Dixon and Scott Kolins was the beginning of the second solo mini-series dedicated to the character. Appearing shortly after Mockingbird died in Avengers West Coast #100, it has Clint up in the Canadian wilderness taking on hunters that aren't 'sporting' enough for his tastes. If that sounds more like a Wolverine story, it comes off as one in execution. A brooding loner finding solace in the Canadian wilderness, fighting off hunters that use snowmobiles and shotguns to hunt caribou? If that isn't a Wolverine story, I don't know what is. It also works for Hawkeye, thankfully. But barely. The fact that his wife just died gives Dixon the freedom to do whatever he wants because you can write off almost anything when a person is grieving.

The execution of the idea is okay. After his run-in with the hunters, Hawkeye discovers a secret base/institution of some kind and it's doing some freaky stuff involving wolfpeople... and it's security team is headed up by Trick Shot and Javelynn, a pair that are basically evil versions of Hawkeye and Mockingbird. A nice idea... apparently Trick Shot trained Hawkeye, too. There's some fighting and a helicopter blows up and it's revealed that Viper is the one in charge. Not too bad, not that good either.

Scott Kolins's art is quite different from where it is now. I kind of prefer it here. It's more striking, uses blacks well, kind of has a Jae Lee Lite feel going on. The figurework isn't always the best, nor is the storytelling, but the drawing itself is decent.

I never read the remaining three issues, but this one doesn't really make me want to. Anyone have fond memories of this comic?