"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

            The following is a review of the NOVEL “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by J.K. Rowling. It is NOT a review of the FILMS of the same title. I advise you not to read this review unless you have already read or watched the first six stories in the series as this review contains details from the first six stories that you might consider “spoilers.”

            Harry Potter is a seventeen-year-old wizard. As a baby, he was targeted for death by the evil wizard Voldemort, who wished to kill Harry due to a prophecy predicting that Harry is the only one who will be able to destroy Voldemort. Due to the power of love from his mother, a power Voldemort never understood because he was an orphan, Harry was protected from Voldemort’s killing curse, which rebounded and hit Voldemort, robbing Voldemort of his powers, but not killing the dark wizard. Voldemort fled and was believed finished off for good. Harry was left with his magic-hating Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley Dursley, who wished to keep Harry from knowing that there were witches and wizards.

            Growing up, Harry’s Aunt, Uncle and cousin treated Harry like garbage, hoping for him to never know he was a wizard. However, when Harry was eleven, he received a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry inviting him to attend and learn magic. Harry was unaware that he was famous in the wizarding world, and was expected to do great things. He became best friends with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. He made enemies with Draco Malfoy, a fellow student. He was antagonized by Professor Severus Snape, who had bad history with Harry’s father, James. Harry, Ron and Hermione skirted around the rules in their six prior years at Hogwarts, going on many fantastic and dangerous adventures. They were closely watched by Hogwarts’ Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore.

            In Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry witnessed Voldemort’s return to power, but was believed to be a crazy liar by many who fervently wished for this not to be true, particularly by the Ministry of Magic.

            In Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts, the wizarding world discovered that Voldemort had, indeed, regained his former power and began and was now attacking both the magic and non-magic communities.

            In Harry’s sixth year, Harry had now become believed to be “The Chosen One” who would be able to defeat Voldemort for all time. Dumbledore revealed Voldemort’s past as Tom Riddle to Harry before Dumbledore was murdered by Professor Snape.

            Wizards and witches are considered to be of age at seventeen years old. The Dursley house had been protected by magic as long as Harry was underage, and now the Dursleys had to leave their home for safety and would never see Harry again. The Order of the Phoenix, a group of witches and wizards dedicated to battle Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, were to bring Harry to safety, but Snape relayed these plans to Voldemort, resulting in the Death of Mad-Eye Moody, a former Auror (Dark Wizard catchers), and injury to George Weasley, one of Ron’s twin older brothers. Harry and Ron’s younger sister Ginny had fallen in love.

            Harry had now been given the mission by Dumbledore to defeat Voldemort by destroying Voldemort’s seven Horcruxes, items that held pieces of Voldemort’s soul that prevent Voldemort’s death. Voldemort was somewhat of a sentimental collector, and most of the Horcruxes are items to do with the founders of the Hogwarts Houses or his family. To find the Horcruxes, Harry, Ron and Hermione had decided not to return to Hogwarts for their seventh year and were now to complete the mission left by Dumbledore after his death. The new Headmaster of Hogwarts was not Professor Snape, and several of Voldemort’s Death Eaters had been instated as members of Hogwarts staff. Dumbledore’s will contained several odd items left behind for Harry, Ron and Hermione.

            The three set off after the wedding of Ron’s older brother Bill to complete their mission. Voldemort’s Death Eater Pius Thicknesse was now Minister of Magic. Harry was now Undesirable Number One, and the Muggle born were now considered thefts of pureblood wizards are locked up and denied the use of magic. Harry, Ron and Hermione infiltrated the Ministry of Magic to obtain a Horcrux.

            After a conflict between Harry and Ron, Ron left Harry and Hermione behind. Harry and Hermione decided to travel to the birthplace of Harry, Godric’s Hollow, barely escaping with their lives. They also peruse a tell-all book by journalist Rita Skeeter, “The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore,” revealing to Harry some of the darker and unflattering points of Dumbledore’s life that damaged Harry’s perception of the man he considered his hero.

            Harry and Hermione reunited with Ron to visit Xenophilius Lovegood, editor of the Quibbler, a magazine that strongly supported Harry, who tells the three “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” a wizarding fairy tale about the Deathly Hallows, three items that when all collected could make it’s holders the Master of Death. They learn of the Hallow the unbeatable Elder Wand, an item which Voldemort deeply wants. They also learn that Harry’s Invisibility Cloak may be a Hallow itself. The third Hallow is the Resurrection Stone, an item that returns the dead to life. The three again escaped the Death Eaters twice more, and resumed their mission to destroy the Horcruxes.

            When Voldemort discovered the trio’s mission to destroy his Horcruxes, he returns to Hogwarts, the resting place of a Horcrux and Harry and Voldemort battle at Hogwarts with the fate of the entire wizarding world hanging in the balance.

 

            As far as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” goes, it was the most different of all the books. The primary reason behind that was the fact that Harry, Ron and Hermione didn’t go to Hogwarts as students. But if you were to read the book having read the other six, you might see my reasoning as to why I think that is important. I honestly don’t think it would have worked otherwise. In my opinion, Harry, Ron and Hermione attending Hogwarts with Professor Snape as Headmaster and Death Eaters on staff just wouldn’t have worked. I just can’t imagine that. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite book in the series. It has nothing to do with the conclusion, rather than just the fact that I felt like there were just too many deaths that made this rather depressing. That is also not to say that I disliked the book. I rather enjoyed it. But if I just had to say that I had a least favorite “Harry Potter” novel, this was it. I did not feel like there was a lot of time wasted on trivialities. The pace felt right to me. There were almost no parts that bored me or I felt dragged on too long, but there were also moments I just wanted a little more details. I appreciated the humor, and Mrs. Weasley had my absolute favorite “Harry Potter” quote. I enjoyed how Rowling ended the series, but there were a few things more at the ending I’d like to know, the fates of several characters. All-in-all, I enjoyed it.

            As for if I actually recommend this book to others, that is a definite yes. If you enjoy fantasy novels and magic, I recommend you to read the series. And don’t say that “Harry Potter” is just a kids’ book. There was some rather heavy profanity at points that I wouldn’t let my kids read until they’d be about eleven, Harry’s age at the start of the series (and I don’t have kids at the moment). And my grandmother started reading “Harry Potter” when she was in her eighties and rather preferred romance novels about things we are not going to talk about on a G-rated blog, so this was a different genre than what she usually enjoyed. I personally grew up with Harry and in my school if you didn’t read “Harry Potter” you weren’t cool, and a writer writing an 800 page book that can get middle-schoolers to read anxiously isn’t common anymore these days. But to say that “Harry Potter” are kids’ books I’d say would be an insult to Rowling.

            Okay, I’ve been going on for quite a while, so let’s get to business: my numeric score. I score on a scale of one-to-ten. One is horrible, don’t read; ten is read this book right now. I’m usually very hard to please as my prior readers will know, so a good score from me is a very good recommendation. That said, this book falls a little short. So unfortunately, for me, I rank it at seven. I enjoyed the book, but giving it any higher just doesn’t feel right to me. But I will state, this review is all my opinion. You can take or leave my view, you’re more than welcome to disagree with me, and if you want to, feel free to respond to this post to tell me how you feel about “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” or just anything “Harry Potter,” I’d love to hear from you.

            So, as we bring this to a close, I’ll just say I’ve done dozens of book reviews (mostly Marvel comics), and I write short fiction and nonfiction, free-verse poetry, essays, editorials, and plenty of other content, feel free to check anything I post. I post on a common enough basis, so you can keep checking back for more content from me, and ‘til next time, Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

 

            The following is a review of the NOVEL “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by J.K. Rowling. It is NOT a review of the MOVIE.

            Harry Potter is a sixteen-year-old boy, who also happens to be a wizard. He lives with his magic hating family Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley Dursley after his parents were murdered by the most evil dark wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort. He attends the magic school Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is going into his sixth year. His best friends are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. His worst enemies are fellow student Draco Malfoy and Professor Severus Snape.

            Lord Voldemort was diminished of his power after attempting to kill Harry and having his spell bounced back at him. He has since returned to his full strength. Harry was witness to Voldemort returning to power, but for the past year been accused of lying and possibly insanity. Now the Ministry of Magic has seen the restored Voldemort, and Harry is now believed to be “The Chosen One” who will end Voldemort once and for all.

            The Wizarding World and the Muggle World have been separated, and the muggles are unaware of the true existence of witches and wizards. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has been replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour. However, Voldemort’s follower, the Death Eaters, have been attacking the muggles, and Britain’s Prime Minister has been made aware of this, after the mysterious occurrences.

            Draco Malfoy has been given a task by Voldemort. Draco’s father Lucius has been arrested for being a Death Eater and now resides at Azkaban, the wizards’ prison. Draco’s mother Narcissa makes the Unbreakable Vow with Snape for Snape to protect Draco and make sure Draco succeeds in his mission.

            Hogwarts’ Headmaster Albus Dumbledore arrives at Harry’s home of Number 4 Privet Drive to take Harry from the Dursleys to spend the rest of the summer before the Hogwarts term begins with the Weasley family’s house, the Burrow. Dumbledore takes Harry on a mission along the way to convince Horace Slughorn, a former teacher at Hogwarts, to return to his post. Harry succeeds. Dumbledore also tells Harry that Harry will be having special lessons with Dumbledore, but for what exactly they will be, Dumbledore has not disclosed.

            At the Burrow, Ron’s older brother Bill is preparing to marry witch Fleur Delacour, a fact that many of the other Weasleys are less than thrilled about. Harry also realizes he is developing romantic feelings for Ron’s younger sister Ginny.

            While shopping for school supplies at Diagon Alley, Harry, Ron and Hermione observe Malfoy entering the dark magic shop Borgin and Burkes and making an unsavory deal, what it is, they are not sure.

            While returning to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express train, Harry finds Slughorn developing interest in several students who have famous ancestors and inducting them into the “Slug Club,” and Harry, Hermione and Ginny are all brought into it.

            Harry has expected Slughorn to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, a post that seems to be jinxed as the past five Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors have never lasted more than a year. However, Slughorn is the new potions Professor, and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor is Snape. Snape has been a Death Eater, and claims to be reformed, something Dumbledore has forgiven and has placed his trust in Snape. Because of his past history, Snape had been placed as Potions Master, despite wanting the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position.

            The first five years at Hogwarts prepares students for their O.W.L.s exams. After the O.W.L.s, students move on the N.E.W.T.s level to prepare for their desired career. Harry wants to be an Auror, a dark wizard catcher, but his potions grade was not enough for Snape to accept him as a N.E.W.T. student, so Harry’s dream seems like it will not happen. However, Slughorn accepts Harry’s Potions grade and accepts him as a N.E.W.T.s student. Not having expected to be taking Potions, Harry had not purchased the new Potions textbook. Harry takes one from storage, a book which has been marked with notes on potion making by a person who called themselves the Half-Blood Prince. Harry follows these directions and becomes the top Potions student, Slughorn believing Harry to have inherited Harry’s mother’s talent.

            Harry starts his private lessons with Dumbledore. Dumbledore uses a device called a Penseive to show Harry memories pertaining to the history of Tom Riddle, the boy who would become Lord Voldemort.

            Harry has been promoted to be captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a team which he must now assemble. Harry accepts Ron as Keeper, but Ron suffers from nerves and his performance is often spotty.

            While visiting the wizard village Hogsmeade, student Katie Bell comes into contact with a cursed necklace and almost loses her life, ending up in the wizard hospital St. Mungo’s.

            As Harry’s lessons with Dumbledore progress, Dumbledore shows Harry an incomplete and altered memory from Professor Slughorn, and Dumbledore tasks Harry with obtaining the true and complete memory from Professor Slughorn, a task that proves to be more difficult than Harry expected it will be. This memory may be the key to defeating Lord Voldemort.

            Despite Hermione’s objections, Harry keeps the Half-Blood Prince’s book, which ends up saving Ron’s life. It also contains spells that turn out to be rather dangerous.

            Dumbledore locates an object that is essential to defeating Lord Voldemort, a task that turns out deadlier than anyone would ever expect, and in the process, Harry discovers the true and shocking identity of the Half-Blood Prince.

 

            I do have to say that this ranks up there as one of my favorite novels. I know a lot of people that think “oh, Harry Potter’s a kid’s book.” In all honestly, I disagree. My Grandma (Rest in peace) started reading the “Harry Potter” series when she was in her eighties. (Sadly she passed away after only four books were published.) I knew teachers and staff when I was in college who were older and read Harry Potter. (Doctor Lutz, I DO NOT want to hear your take on Quidditch, thank you very much.) I will say that I grew up with Harry. I was in elementary school when “Philosopher’s Stone” came out, didn’t start reading until “Prisoner of Azkaban” came out, and by then, if you didn’t read “Harry Potter,” you were not cool. And Rowling is one of the few authors who can get kids to read a 600 page book. But I can look back on these books as a thirty-four-year-old and still heartily enjoy them. On top of that, there were a few words here and there that a little kid SHOULD NOT be repeating, but we won’t go there, this blog is G-Rated. Yes, these books are books kids can enjoy, but they appeal to adults as well. Rowling never dumbed “Harry Potter” down, she didn’t talk to the readers like we’re idiots, didn’t use little kiddie words as substitutes for adult words. I just think she wrote “Harry Potter” as high-quality, fun, exciting, interesting, and compelling books, each with their own mystery which unravels as you read the books, with surprise twist endings. The identity of the Half-Blood Prince rather surprised me, and I’m a writer myself who writes twists and turns, and I feel like I probably won’t rank anywhere near the popularity Rowling gets. But to me, to call “Harry Potter” kid’s books is just not accurate. I get also that certain religions and beliefs find these books to be sacrilege and blasphemous (I’m Catholic and I don’t feel that way), but if a person enjoys fantasy books, these are good reads. Honestly, if you’ve seen the movies and enjoy them, I feel like the books are so much better and worth the long hours to put into reading them. I always felt the books went at a perfect pace, didn’t linger too much on unimportant aspects but contained all I needed to know. I’ve honestly read “Deathly Hallows” at least eight times and still return to these books every once and a while, I enjoy the books that much. Not every writer can do that for me. I will say that if you want to read “Half-Blood Prince,” read the first five books in order or you will have no idea what you’re reading, Rowling didn’t repeat too much out of the first five books, so it’s essential to read all of them. And in all honesty, I feel like this review does not do the book justice. So if you’ve been reading my “Harry Potter” reviews and never read the books and enjoyed my reviews, you should totally be reading the books. And totally read “Deathly Hallows” if you’ve read “Half-Blood Prince.” (I can’t possibly see why you wouldn’t.) But, if you want to disregard me, feel free to. This review is all my opinion and I totally accept that you may not agree with me, and I totally think that’s fine. We all have our own opinions that we are allowed to have, so please, and I totally mean this, feel free to disagree with me, and you can even Tweet or comment or whatever you can do to let me know how you feel about “Harry Potter.” (No one’s done that yet and I really wish somebody would.)

            Now, I’ve been going on for over 1,500 words and you may be getting bored with me if you’re still here (and if you are still reading this, you are THE BEST!), so I’ll get down to the nitty-gritty: my numeric score! Every book review I do, I give the book a numeric score. I score out of one-to-ten. One means if you actually read this whole review, I think you wasted your time reading this and don’t even look at the cover. Ten means that if you’re reading this review and are interested in this book, buy it, ask for a friend to lend it to you, go to a library, just get your hands on the book and read it ASAP. As you can probably tell, this is not getting a low score as I’ve had nothing bad to say about this book. BUT! I just can’t quite give it a ten. I give it a nine. There’s just something, je ne se quoi, holding me back. I would honestly love to give it a ten, but I just can’t. I just don’t think it’s perfect.

            So, I’ve been babbling enough about this now, I’ve been typing for over an hour-and-a-half (these reviews literally take hours), my wrists are griping, I can’t feel my fingers, so let’s wrap this up, shall we? Okay, so, you’re here at the end with me. If you liked this review, keep coming back for more. I have literally done dozens of reviews of books on this blog (mostly Marvel Comics related) and have much more planned. I’ve already written reviews of the first five “Harry Potter” books (if you haven’t read them and liked this review, just go on back), and in a couple of weeks I’ll be reviewing “Deathly Hallows” so keep checking back for that. I also write short fiction and nonfiction from time-to-time, I write poetry, I have B’ings (if you don’t know what they are, just read one and you’ll totally hate me), I write essays and editorials (being a certified journalist but not actually working in the field), and other stuff. I post pretty frequently, I have two other projects sitting on my desk right now, expect them in the next three or four days, keep looking for that, you can probably find something else to like on this blog, so stay tuned, and as always, ‘til next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Hawkeye: The Avenging Archer"

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “Hawkeye: The Avenging Archer” as presented in Epic Collection format.

            Clinton Barton and his brother Barney Barton were orphaned at a young age. They were put in the foster system together, and bounced from home to home. Finally, after being placed with an abusive foster father, Clint and Barney ran away. On the run, Clint and Barney found a travelling circus led by the swindling Swordsman. Clint was picked to be trained to amaze and amuse the audiences as an archer, while Barney was picked to steal from the audiences. Clint trained so well and became such an expert marksman that he did not miss. He was billed as “Hawkeye.” Eventually, Clint and Barney were disheartened by the Swordsman and moved on with their lives. Clint stayed as a carnival attraction while Barney got involved with the mob.

            One night at Coney Island, New York, Tony Stark (secretly the superhero the Invincible Iron Man) and his secretary Virginia “Pepper” Potts go on a date. The date was supposed to be for Tony’s friend Harold “Happy” Hogan, but Pepper misread the signals and went with Tony. Hawkeye was a performer there, but really was not impressing the audience. Suddenly, the Flying Pinwheel went out of control, and Tony ran off, switched to Iron Man, and saved the day. Dismayed by this turn of events, with Iron Man stealing his thunder, Clint decided he wanted the attention the same way Iron Man did and to become a superhero himself. He devises a series of trick arrows with different functions and creates a costume. Unfortunately on his first night out, he stops a jewel thief but is misinterpreted as the criminal himself. As he goes on the run, he meets Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow. The two fall in love. The Black Widow riles Clint up, and Clint decides he wants fame, and what better way to do that than to defeat Iron Man? The battle comes to an end when the Black Widow is gravely injured, and Clint escapes with the Black Widow.

            Tony Stark later finds himself gravely injured and must remain in his Iron Man armor until he is recovered. However, Tony’s absence is not unnoticed and finds himself suspected in his own disappearance. Black Widow convinces Clint that this is the perfect time to raid Stark’s weapons plans to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. He is discovered, and in an escape attempt, Clint takes Pepper hostage. Iron Man battles Clint and rescues Pepper. Clint and the Black Widow are separated, but again both manage to escape.

            Black Widow designs a new costume with some new trick gadgets. When Clint and the Black Widow are reunited, the two kidnap Happy and Pepper while on a date to attract Iron Man’s attention. Black Widow and Iron Man battle, but when Black Widow is defeated, Clint and Black Widow again make their escape.

            Clint returns to appeal to join the Avengers (Hank Pym/Giant Man, Janet Van Dyne/Wasp, Tony Stark/Iron Man, and Steve Rogers/Captain America). The Avengers, believing Clint’s desire to reform himself, accept Clint’s application. However, Giant Man, Wasp and Iron Man decide to take a leave of absence from the team, leaving Captain America to pick replacements. Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, (both former of members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) apply, seeking redemption from their past crimes. Captain America accepts and the new Avengers are formed.

            Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch leave the Avengers, Hank Pym (now Yellowjacket) and Wasp (now Mrs. Pym) return, and T’Challa/Black Panther and Vision join the team. Black Widow is now an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-Enforcement Division). Black Widow is kidnapped by Egghead, the Mad Thinker, and the Puppet Master. The Avengers are sent by Nick Fury on a rescue mission, but Hawkeye, being too involved, is asked to stay behind. However, the Nick Fury who calls the Avengers to action is actually a Life Model Decoy, and the team is sent on a wild goose chase. Black Widow is able to contact Clint and is able to inform Hawkeye of her real location. Clint decides Hawkeye just isn’t enough and takes Hank Pym’s growth particles and takes on the mantle of Goliath. Goliath is able to rescue the Black Widow.

            The defeated villains don’t stop there. The Avengers then race to space, where Clint is reunited with his brother, Barney. The Avengers find themselves being manipulated by the Puppet Master’s dolls, and Barney pays a terrible price to save his brother and his teammates.

            But blasts from Clint’s past don’t end there. The Swordsman also returns, teaming up with Egghead and forces Clint to make a difficult decision.

            Clint returns to his Hawkeye identity and teams up with Spider-Man against the cyborg Quasimodo.

            Clint also teams up with Two-Gun Kid against Zebadiah Killgrave/Purple Man.

            The Avengers continue to expand and they even receive government sponsorship. Their liaison Henry Peter Gyrich decides that the team is too big and forces Clint off the team. Clint finds employment with Cross Technological Enterprises as head of security. One of his first opponents to protect CTE is the Shi’ar alien, Deathbird.

            Spider-Man and Clint team up once again against the villainous Mister Fear.

            Clint’s next opponent is El Aguila.

            Next Clint goes to the circus and teams up with Scott Lang/Ant-Man against the Taskmaster.

            Bobbi Morse goes from being the Huntress to becoming Mockingbird, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

            Mockingbird then teams up with Spider-Man to save S.H.I.E.L.D. from an inside threat that could destroy the agency’s reputation.

            While on a date, Clint meets Mockingbird when she breaks into CTE. Their encounter does not go very smoothly at first, but after mutual rescues engaged by both parties, Clint and Bobbi form a partnership that quickly turns into romance. The team-up leads them against villains such as Bombshell and Oddball. Clint and Bobbi are defeated and brought to the true mastermind behind this plot, Crossfire, who tries to turn Clint and Bobbi aggressively against each other. After their daring escape, Crossfire tries to beat Clint at his own game, with bow and arrow, to permanently take Bobbi out of the picture.

            Darren Cross is kidnapped by Hawkeye and Mockingbird’s enemies, who use a juggling act taken to a violent level, and Steve Rogers/Captain America and Clint team up once again to save Clint’s boss.

            Clint goes on a solo retreat after losing confidence in himself and his abilities as an archer and must regain his skills during a mystic encounter.

 

            Okay, I know that’s a lot to take in, but my prior Epic Collection review readers know the length by now, containing several related storylines in one massive graphic novel volume. Now, some of my prior readers probably think I pick Epic Collections at random considering my portfolio, but I do have a process in my selection, but I won’t bore you with that as this review has already been lengthy enough, but I do have my reasons. Almost no one knew this before, but Hawkeye is my favorite male Avenger, due to the fact that he has no true super powers, but still proves invaluable to those with powers and rightfully proves he belongs on the team. That said, though, this book was seriously flawed. First off, the selection of issues in this book. This just went all over the place, with seemingly random selections ranging from 1964-1988 and marketed as Volume 1. This included several key points in Hawkeye’s early history, but there was a major lack of consistency. Yes, for a Volume 1, you need choices such as a first appearance, but the gaps in the choices was just too extensive. I’ve talked about this exact sort of thing in my review of “Moon Knight: Bad Moon Rising.” Hawkeye has been an on-and-off member of the Avengers since 1965, so he has a lot of history, but most of the issues highlighted were not in any true continuation. There were actually only two storylines in this book that were sequential, meaning more than one consecutive issue in a row. No, the stories contained in this book were appealing and enjoyable to me, I actually liked most of the content, so I didn’t dislike it per se, but if this wasn’t so jumbled, it might have been more enjoyable. It should be noted, however, that up to this point, Hawkeye had actually never had a solo series, which explains the mess, just like the aforementioned “Moon Knight: Bad Moon Rising.” In fact, the only series that was a Hawkeye solo series was a four issue limited series from 1983, with no other issues of that year contained in this volume, including a significant gap between the times of these storylines. The biggest difference between the two volumes I reviewed were the selective options. Moon Knight had considerably less appearances in the years contained in that volume than Hawkeye did in this volume, so Moon Knight’s selections that seemed random was more cohesive than Hawkeye’s Epic Collection. Also, Hawkeye has been on several teams with continuous storylines, several of them having Epic Collections. I think this would have worked better if it focused on just solo Hawkeye series rather than highlight stories. I will say that I reviewed another Epic Collection that had no solo series, “Carnage: Born in Blood.” The big difference there is that the two major stories in that volume were continuous and not just random highlights. Also, the two Mockingbird stories seemed superfluous. They had absolutely nothing to do with Hawkeye and as I read them, I internally questioned their validity in a Hawkeye Epic Collection. Again, I liked most of the stories contained in this volume, it was just a hot mess. Now, lest we forget, this was a “graphic novel,” which means that I also have to weigh in on the artwork. Now, comic book art has varied in style over the years, and having a book that spanned 24 years totally showcased that. So I honestly cannot critique the artwork in this book due to different art styles from the time. There are a few things that seem inappropriate to mention, so I’ll avoid those. What I will critique was Hawkeye’s costume. First off, in the first issue in this book, it looked like Hawkeye was wearing a tutu. Highly embarrassing. Even later, it looked like he was wearing a loincloth over his costume, which I know is classic, but I always thought it was dumb, so I totally have to blame the artists at the time that created, what I considered to be, an atrocity. And why purple and blue? I’m not much for fashion, but I still feel that the colorist made the costume colors clash, it just wasn’t aesthetically pleasing to me. And yes, I know this is his iconic look, so I’m not blaming contemporary artists, they just have to keep true to the history, but I still disliked what the original artists created for Hawkeye. And Black Widow then looked nothing like the contemporary Black Widow looks like, a look I did not enjoy. And my regular Epic Collection review readers will know that I say if I felt that the art was good or if it was just good for the time. It’s very rare for me to say this, but I felt that the art was good for the time due to the creation of what I felt was a horrendous crime of a costume. Maybe back then a purple and blue costume was cool, but today? Not so much. And there was a black-and-white issue that just didn’t appeal to me. If you think I dislike black-and-white, not that I have reviewed manga and love old black-and-white movies, so that is not the case. So, all around, this book disappointed me. Just how disappointed, we’ll get to that in a couple of paragraphs.

            First off, let’s talk accessibility. This means what I think you need to know to understand and enjoy this book. Can I saw, woof? This is just not a book for new readers just getting into Marvel comics. Most of these issues are not Hawkeye solo issues, he just guest starred, so the history of these characters will not be known to new readers. And again, the gaps between the release dates are too major. So if you read this book, it should be known that this is not just Hawkeye. Many of these characters have not appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or else the characters have different backgrounds than the movies. Hawkeye was not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and in fact, started as a villain. I just don’t think MCU fans who have never read comics before would find this book enjoyable. I’ve been reading Marvel Comics regularly for twenty-one years now, so my opinions are very different. I am knowledgeable in Marvel history at this point, but this book is probably not appealing to non or casual fans. I’m not saying not to read the book, I’m just saying knowledge of the Marvel Universe is required before reading this book, because I just don’t feel this is a jump-on point. I guess since we’re on the subject, it does not get my full recommendation, not even to Hawkeye fans like me. But this is all my opinion, I’m not forcing you to feel the same way with anything I post on this blog, in fact, I invite you to feel differently and let me know. The choice to read this is up to you. I just not personally endorse this book.

            Now, as I said, I’ll tell you just how I felt about this book by giving it a numeric score. I score on a scale of one-to-ten, one meaning I feel that this is garbage, ten meaning that this ranks up with one of the best books I’ve ever read. Obviously you can tell this is not getting a ten. When it comes down to it, taking in every single one of the 2,350 words I’ve already typed into consideration, soup to nuts, I have to rank it right in the middle and give this book a five. It just was not what I was expecting and my expectations were just not met.

            Okay, I think I’ve bored you long enough and I have actually been working on this review for almost five hours now and I want to stop with this, too. So, before we go, I have to tell you about this blog. Yes, I’ve written literally dozens of reviews, most of them Marvel, but I throw in a few different books here and there.  I also write short fiction and nonfiction, poetry, editorials, and essay and several other projects. I have another review idea sitting on my desk and will post this probably in two or three days, so keep a lookout for that. I usually post with frequency and have plenty of other ideas. I have a complaint series called B’ings, I’m not telling you what it’s about so you might actually consider reading it. I’m a certified, unemployed journalist and want to get my words out there, this is why I do this blog. So feel free to read what’s already here, expect lots more soon, and until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!