Found it hard to judge this issue on its own and not take away points for not being absolutely ground-breakingly wonderful like much of the rest of Fraction and Aja’s, mainly, run. Javier Pulido’s visuals fit right in with the excellent house style this book has developed for itself via David Aja, Javier himself, Steve Lieber, Jesse Hamm, Annie Wu, Francesco Francavilla, and, of course the integral colorist, Matt Hollingsworth. Loved the more cartoony and pop-art style art aside from the odd seemingly random silhouettes (as pointed out by others). This is the sort of rendering seen more often in the character driven personal everyday stories of indie and European comics.

An annual is a perfect place to devote a whole issue to the book’s co-star Kate Bishop and still the male Hawkeye/Clint appears in the early pages in a non-token way. It doesn’t seem like a stretch to fill up an extra length issue to exploit the now popular and critically acclaimed Hawkeye book brand. Hawkeye Annual #1 is an engaging half-lighthearted adventure ride while also accomplishing the task of fleshing out backstory that informs Kate’s rocky path towards adulthood.

So, all around, a solid and non-throwaway issue with some neat graphic quirks that I choose to view as endearing and special. That’s actually the perfect sum up. This story is endearing and special.