4.5 stars

Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye & The Winter Soldier was surprisingly delightful. as someone who read fanfiction about these two for half a decade i was blown away by how much this book read like fanfiction and trust me that is a compliment

the main draw of this series is bucky and clint's buddy cop dynamic. while the goof straight-man dynamic is nothing new the particular humour of these two characters is expertly rendered by Matthew  Rosenberg. there's a dry almost anti-joke quality two these two character dynamics that blends perfectly with the spy action setting.

anyone fond of clint bartons characterization in matt fraction and David Aja's will feel right at home here clint is similarly a bit of a fuck up with a spirit for heroism. his lackadaisical personality blends perfectly with bucky's harsher more stoic countenance 

the central mystery during them together, figuring out the mystery of black widow's return is a perfectly paced spy thriller with slick action rendered well by 

while this is a mostly action and humor-based series it does fantastic character work. it draws out the contrasts between its two leas and while Natasha is often an object in the series rather than its subject she gets plenty of standalone time that renders her character and her relationship to the red room in fascinating ways. One of the best character moments in the whole series is final moment wherein we see the letter ratha wrote to bucky and clint. both say so much about Natasha's relationship to them and their relationship to grey morality. it's so simple and some might say cliche but absolutely excellent


~Tales of Suspense is one of those comics that felt perfectly rendered specifically for me. everything about its sensibility speaks to what I love in storytelling and its interpretations of characters fit exactly with my perception of them. overall it was a stellar read.