Advanced Review: Ultimate Comics Hawkeye #1

Once again, our good friends at Marvel have slid an advanced copy of a book across my desk. This time it's the debut issue of Ultimate Comics Hawkeye, written by fan favorite — Jonathan Hickman! 

With all the hype DC is getting with their relaunch, people seem to forget that the Ultimate Universe is breathing some new air, as well! Peter Parker is dead, mutants were actually created by the government and S.H.I.E.L.D. is losing it's grip as the world's "big brother." Nothing will ever be the same, and it all begins with the Ultimate Comics Hawkeye mini-series!

A broad overview will have to satiate your hunger for answers until Wednesday, but I will give you as much as I can. Nick Fury has sent Hawkeye to tread on foreign soil to investigate an uprising and why two scientists have begged for sovereignty. While there, Hawkeye discovers the true horror of what has taken place, leaving him no choice but to do what he does best — take out the enemy using whatever he can! 

Though initially light on action, Hickman weaves a compelling tale about a country that will sacrifice it's very people in order to become the most powerful nation in the world. With a maliciousness that rivals that of actual history, Hickman has created a story that will set the stage for what is to come in the new Ultimate Universe. It has a deliberately slow paced opening, one that fills you with dread over what a dictator can conceive of in order to dominate another country. You despise these characters so much, that by book's end you are cheering at Fury's instructions to Hawkeye. As well you should! The Ultimates books have always seemed to be more cerebral than it's 616 brethren have, and this one is no different. Smart, tenacious and even some action thrown in for flavor, this is the book that will both begin the new era of Ultimate Comics and the Avengers franchise!

Before Jeremy Renner dons his costume on the big screen next summer, check out Jonathan Hickman's version in the pages of Ultimate Comics Hawkeye! Clint Barton never misses, and neither will you if you get this book!