In the pantheon of cool, young Marvel characters, Kate Bishop sits at the very top. This is really saying something when you consider characters like Miles Morales, Gwen Stacey, Kamala Khan, Gwen Poole, America Chavez, Sam Alexander, Amadeus Cho, Riri Williams, and Viv Vision just to name a few. That said, she is the only one on that list to have her own TV show in the works. Kate’s swagger and confidence are truly infectious which will soon become apparent to everyone. In this article, I will talk about some books you need to be hunting before she inevitably blows up.

Young Avengers #1 – Director’s Cut

We need to touch on Young Avengers #1 briefly. This is her first appearance, but she is not yet the character we know and love. I like the Director’s Cut because it has a much smaller print run. There are just over 200 Director's Cuts on the census compared to nearly 1,400 for the first print. There are some much better picks on this list but if you are chasing Kate, make sure you have this one. I am going to skip the rest of Young Avengers comics as well as they are all painfully obvious. This includes Young Avengers Presents #6. Let us get to the good stuff.

Hawkeye (2013) #9 – Second Print

This is one of the top ten modern comic covers. I will say that again, this one of the TOP TEN modern comic covers. The simplicity of Aja’s art is just perfect in capturing Kate Bishop’s attitude and style. The first printing of this cover has red highlights, but the second print purple version just hits it out of the park. Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye run defines who Kate Bishop really is. If you have not read it, go do it now. There are no copies of this in the GoCollect database. Given the scarcity of this comic, I can see prices going through the roof on this one.

Hawkeye (2012) #2 – Third Print

Fraction’s run on Hawkeye will serve as inspiration for the upcoming Disney+ series. Kate Bishop does not appear in the series until issue #2 which is what I have here. The third printing of this book is beautiful in purple. All other prints are in white. This one is easily the most eye-catching. The third print of #1 is also in purple and a worthy addition to your collection as well.

Hawkeye (2016) #1

This is Kate’s first solo series and there are three, yes three versions of the cover you should be hunting. I have spoken about how perfect her Hip-Hop variant is in this article. It could be the coolest pick on the list and certainly the easiest to track down. The 1:25 Sauvage variant is extremely cool and not that easy to find anymore. The 1:25 Aja Variant is a throwback to Fraction’s Hawkeye #2 and I absolutely love how it connects the Hawkeye series from 2012 to her solo series. Come think of it, the 1:10 design variant is also a book you need to keep an eye open for. That makes four copies of this book to be hunting.

All New Hawkeye #2 – 1:25 Variant

This cover is unbelievably chill. Phil Noto does Kate perfectly here in a t-shirt, jeans, and purple Vans. It took me forever to track this book down but is easily one of her best cover appearances for me. Noto for me is one of the more underrated cover artists in the game today. This cover feels like Norman Rockwell doing Kate Bishop, how can you get better than that?

Conclusion

I was going to keep going but this is a good place to stop for now. I have several more Kate Bishop books I want to talk about. Marvel decided to give Kate her own show for the simple reason that she is the coolest. I would start grabbing these books now because when her show hits, awareness of her will spike, and these books could become ghosts. Thanks for reading.

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