I’m not actually doing anything for Halloween this year. I’m sick and don’t really want to spread germs to the rest of my city, as thematically-appropriate as “plague-bearer” would be for the holiday. However, I couldn’t just let Halloween go by unmarked. So I threw on some closet costumes for errands (and to confuse the new cat, who *really* doesn’t like wigs, apparently). To do this, I decided to go with the casual Hawkeye outfits from the Matt Fraction, David Aja and Annie Wu’s fantastic 2012 run of Hawkeye, the comic series which, along with The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is now the standard to which I hold all other superhero comics. (Sorry, all other superhero comics.) All of the art in this post is by David Aja, since the costumes I did today are specifically inspired by one of his issues, but Annie Wu’s Kate Bishop-centered books are just as great. Go read the whole series. You absolutely won’t regret it, just for the visual experience alone.
This comic is great for closet/newbie costumers because most of the time, Kate and Clint are wearing pretty normal clothes. In fact, Clint’s uniform in this is usually a t-shirt and black pants. Kate wears a variety of purple and black clothing that range from full Emma Peel-inspired cat suits, through adorable mod dresses to t-shirt and jeans. Kate is the most stylish and best Hawkeye ever. I mean, seriously. Look at this woman:
No, really. If you own any clothing in purple at all, you can do a Kate Bishop costume.
So, first up, Kate. Because Kate is perfect. I used her I <3 Hawkeye shirt from the cover of Hawkeye Issue 9. (Available for purchase at We Love Fine) and added the net arrow from one of my favorite sequences in the comic.
Clint: Aw, Kate, c’mon. That’s my net arrow. You gotta respect the gear there, Hawkeye. (Art by David Aja, Dialogue by Matt Fraction.)
I mean, everyone needs a fishnet arrow, right?
I successfully ran my errands, confused a barista with my hair change and came back home. And then, because I don’t do well with free time,, I decided to do a Clint version.
Unfortunately, I don’t have Clint’s trademark black t-shirt with purple arrow, so I made do with a purple long sleeved shirt, a black t-shirt, jeans and chucks. (Unfortunately, mine are red. But you can’t see them in the picture, so we’ll pretend they’re purple.) Important props: Coffee pot, bandaids. Clint may be great at arrows and boats, but he is really bad at skin structural integrity and caffeine-delivery devices.
So, in summary, here’s your checklist for your last-minute Hawkguy costumes:
Kate Bishop Checklist:
- Purple clothing
- Fantastic bangs
- Arrow and fishnet.
- Frustration with white men who are not living up to the potential you know they have.
Clint Barton Checklist:
- Purple and black clothing
- Purple chucks
- Coffee pot.
- Bandaids and/or bruise makeup
- Denial about being a human garbage fire
And a bonus costume guide, because I can’t talk about Hawkeye without talking about the single best issue of a comic I’ve ever read, which is told entirely from the perspective of Clint’s dog. No, that’s not hyperbole. It’s that good. It will give you more feelings than you ever realized a comic book told by a dog could give you. Think Red Wedding level of feelings.
Pizza Dog Checklist
- Dog
- Pizza
- Remarkable sleuthing skills
- Unwavering moral compass
- Intense personal charisma.
Now it’s your turn! Show me your Hawkeye, Hawkguy, Hawkdog, Madame Masque, Bro and Grills costumes, no matter how elaborate or last-minute they are! I’ll be doing a second Hawkguy post about my convention Kate Bishop costume, and would love to include everyone else’s versions as well!
