Marvel and Stealing

The Newest Marvel series: “hawkeye” sparks debate about proper credits and compensation.

Comparisons+of+hawkeye+promotional+art+throughout+the+series+existence.+

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Comparisons of “hawkeye” promotional art throughout the series’ existence.

Liliana Segovia, Managing & Design Editor

Marvel movies and series are rarely original. They are almost always based off of a previous story in the comics, with few changes. The newest series “hawkeye” debuted on November 24, 2021 to mixed reviews. Avid readers of the comics noticed that the series was heavily based off of the 2012 run of “hawkeye” written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by David Aja. Taking stories from comics is nothing new, Marvel has done it before for their other series “loki” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” but the opening and closing credits of “hawkeye” were very heavily inspired by the art style of Aja.

“I finally had the time to start watching Hawkeye and the choice to use lenses that create circular swirl bokeh to match the motif of the original art is both extremely fun and also a constant reminder that David Aja needs to be paid.” @ScottNiswander said on twitter.

“Here’s one of my fave pages of David Aja’s art from Hawkeye- w/ colours by Matt Hollingsworth, who needs to stop being forgotten during this conversation.” @ligerlillie said on twitter. Aja himself posted about this debate on Twitter: “Even better: Stop crediting, start paying, haha.” The debate also extends to more than just the artists but to all those involved in the process of making comics. Without the many parts, comics would not be possible.