Writer: Kelly Thompson / Artist: Leonardo Romero / Marvel Comics

Kelly Thompson continues to have me waiting for her to say something problematic so I’ll finally have something negative to point out in the review since her pen game is too good to be true as the voice behind Kate Bishop. *Kurt Angle voice* “Oh, but it’s true. It’s damn true.” Bishop wakes up in a cage at the low-budget fight club and comes to find out she has found the father she was hired to retrieve. Hooray! Even when she’s knocked out, Bishop is still a better detective than most. Meanwhile her friends are worried about her and the entire supporting cast finally meet one another face to face.

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If that isn’t the perfect description for Kate Bishop, I don’t know what is. Look at that supporting cast, man. Now look at Quinn’s gorgeous-ass hair! Now back at the entire cast. Now me. Grhmmm. This book stay looking good and diverse. Anyhow, Kate winds up back on the main stage of the fight club having to face another enemy. You would think a regular hero would be nervous as they’re on enemy territory, facing odds (literally written in front of them) stacked against their survival, and an enemy with unknown abilities and skills. Yeah, a regular hero would be shook; however, we’re talking about Kate “Bows Before Bros” Bishop.

Thompson continues to make Kate Bishop wonderous on the mic. I’m talking WWE promo worthy (shout out to Sasha Banks, Kevin Owens, Alexa Bliss, and the Usos [is anyone even getting these wasslin’ references?) every time she starts out with her quips and one liners. This is my favorite part of the book outside of the quiet moments of reflection and inner worry Bishop goes through. “Fuck that happy-to-be-here shit they want me on” Kate Bishop is my favorite Kate Bishop, and Thompson must know that about her audience because it shows.

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Leonardo Romero, man. Leonardo Romero is my fucking guy time in and time out. He drew Kate Bishop giving someone a fame-asser last month and this month Kate Bishop is going Street Fighter II Vega on the track in Thunderdome. I love the quips, but when we see them visualized with Kate ducking and dodging? Jumping around and fighting? The the hawk vision? Come on man, you not fucking with Romero on art, I promise you. I’ll say it again, if Kelly Thompson is the perfect successor for Matt Fraction (which she is), then Romero is the perfect tag in for David Aja. Romero’s work has this look that just seems so simple but is full of intricacies when you look closely at the character detail.

As much fun as we got in this issue, there’s a good look at how Kate Bishop can sink into herself in moments and hold off on stepping up to the plate when things revert back to her father and her family. Family is becoming a big echo in this series as well, which I appreciate. You don’t realize that’s an underlying theme until later, and seeing the cast that Kate Bishop has now puts all of that front and center.

Look man, one of these days I’m just going to copy and paste an old Hawkeye review, update the wording, and pass it off as the review for the latest issue because Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero are consistent. They’re consistently giving us compelling story and character development. *Diddy voice this time* So what am I critique now, huh? What am I supposed to critique now? It’s all fucked up now.

9.6 Steel Cage Match References out of 10

Reading Hawkeye? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.

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  • Omar Holmon is a content editor that is here to make .gifs, obscure references, and find the correlation between everything Black and Nerdy.

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