Hawkeye: Kate Bishop #3 The Story Kicks Butt All Around

Marieke Nijkamp continues to prove that she understands not only Kate Bishop. But Hawkeye lore as well. She crafts a strong, capable, and intelligent superhero who kicks butt by pulling from every inch of Kate Bishop’s history. She tackles Kate’s mixed feelings about superheroes and family and keeps the readers engaged. Kate’s got some unresolved family issues, and this is the team to tackle them.

Kate’s relationship with her sister continues to be a two-step-forward, one-step-back type of dynamic, which fits well given their history. It is good to see that despite the fighting, and bad guys, at the core of the story is the relationship between two sisters, trying to figure out how to talk to each other. Take away the caped crusader and brainwashing resort people, and you have two sisters on opposite ends trying to figure out if and how to have a relationship again. I love how Njkamp can take a simple concept and run with it. I hope we continue to get more details about the relationship between Kate and Susan, and we learn more about Susan’s husband as well.

Njkamp further crafts the story so that those who have not previously read Kate Bishop can learn about the character, and this issue is an excellent testament to that ability.

The story didn’t need a huge scary bad guy, and it didn’t need a lot of endless fight scenes. Instead, the story has a solid balance of action, feel-good moments, and comic book shenanigans.

The only misstep, albeit mild, is how Cassie, who is herself a strong and capable hero, is viewed within the scope of text messages as lesser capable than America or simply not as close to Kate as America. Cassie Lang, aka Stinger, has known Kate the longest, and the two started as heroes together. Hopefully, that is just me overthinking, and it will come into play later on.

Although the art style took some getting used to, the action sequences are impressive. The reader feels every moment as if they are a part of it. Kudos to clever panel organization and “camera angles.” Every moment is carefully drawn, and you feel Kate’s emotions in the fight, and you appreciate the scale of the fight. Balam’s action panels delight to see whether Kate wins or loses.