Comics Review: TALES OF SUSPENSE: Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier

TALES OF SUSPENSE FEATURING HAWKEYE AND THE WINTER SOLDIER by Matthew Rosenberg, writer and Travel Foreman, artist. (Marvel Comics, June 2018) Trade paperback, 112 pages. ISBN # 1302911899 / 9781302911898  

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

A glorious title from classic Marvel history returns, for a suitably suspenseful tale springing from the pages of Secret Empire! 

The Black Widow is dead...but someone out there is killing her old enemies one by one. With a broken heart and a bloody trail to follow, Clint Barton - the Avenger known as Hawkeye - is looking for answers. And the only person alive who may have them is another of Natasha Romanoff 's ex-boyfriends - Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier! 

Can Clint and Bucky trust each other long enough to honor the Black Widow's legacy, and unravel the web of mysteries that Natasha Romanoff left behind?

COLLECTING: TALES OF SUSPENSE 100-104 

My review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     As the cover blurb says "The dynamic between Winter Soldier and Hawkeye is excellent" . . AIPTI. Indeed. I love the way that Rosenberg writes Hawkeye. This is a fast-paced action tale with Black Widow involved as well. 

     There is a little bit of mystery involving whether or not The Black Widow is still alive following the events of Secret Empire. Fortunately, you won't need to have read that epic overblown crossover event in order to understand and appreciate what is offered here. This is a self-contained, fast moving action-adventure story as both Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier follow the clues that lead to Black Widow and are constantly too late to prevent each murder of a key Russian or American agent (Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.) linked to her. 

     In addition to a compelling story and nicely detailed art there are plenty of fun exchanges between Hawkeye and Winter Solider that make this book more entertaining than it should be. It's a love/hate, trading of insults and barbs that fit perfectly. 

     In Rosenberg's hands, Hawkeye is a wise-cracking bungler whose actions continually perturb Winter Soldier, who is played as more serious and intensive. There are some neat and surprising twists near the end that put ice cream on the cake here. It also explains the reappearance of Black Widow who was "killed" in the events of Secret Empire.

     The current Hawkeye: Freefall mini-series, also written by Rosenberg, was interrupted in its monthly installments by the coronavirus shut-down. It continues the exploration of Hawkeye as a funny bungler (like a more mature Deadpool) in another intriguing storyline. If you liked this story, it's definitely worth a look once comics publishing resumes -- or wait for the trade paperback.