Hawkeye

The archer, one of the most underrated Avengers, Hawkeye. We’ve seen him on the big screen and we will soon see him pass the torch in his own mini series on Disney+, but how many of us actually know his comic book origins?

Created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, Hawkeye’s first appearance was in Tales of Suspense #57 in September of 1964. He joined the Avengers in the 16th issue of their solo title in May of 1965. Hawkeye actually started as a reluctant villain for his first 3 appearances, he then became a key member of the Avengers in all 5 volumes, running from 1963 to now. Hawkeye also acted as the founder and team leader of the West Coast Avengers, he was front and center in issues #1-#4 from September to December in 1984. The Avengers spin offs initial run went for 102 issues starting in October of 1985 to January 1994. Hawkeye also started in almost every issue of Solo Avengers which ran for 40 issues in December 1987 to January of 1991.

Hawkeye also played a major role in several mini series including; the Marvel Annual 2000, Avengers Academy, Secret Avengers, and he took on the identity of Ronin in New Avengers from issues #26-#64 started it's run in 2007 and concluded in 2010. Haweye’s appearance in the Secret Invasion crossover even was also as Romin.

Haweye’s first solo title ran for 4 issues in 1983 and was given a second volume in 1994. He had a new title, Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman in 1998, his short but ongoing series, Volume 3, started in 2003 and was cancelled after 8 issues. There was another unsuccessful attempt at an ongoing series by writer Jim McCann and artist David Lopez that turned into 2 limited series, Widowmaker which ran for 4 issues from 2010 to 2011, Hawkeye: Blindspot which ran for 4 issues in 2011. Writer Matt Fraction and artist David Aja launched a 4th volume of Hawkeye in August of 2012, a volume that also features his protege, Kate Bishop.

Clint Barton was orphaned at a young age and he spent 6 years in an orphanage before he and his brother Barney Barton ran away to join Carson Carnival of traveling wonders. It was there that Swordsman and Trick Shot trained him in archery. Clint found out that one of his mentors, Swordsman, was embezzling money from the carnival. Before Clint could turn him over to the authorities, he was beaten and left for dead allowing Swordsman to escape, after this Clint’s relationship with Trickshot and his brother Barney fell apart. Clint then adapted his archery skills to become a carnival attraction, he was a member of Tiboldts Circus, before joining the Coney Island Circus. He was inspired to be a costumed hero after seeing Iron Man in action.

On his first “hero” outing, Clint was mistaken for a thief and was forced to run, while on the run he met Black Widow and fell in love with her instantly. He would follow her and aid her in her attempts to steal technology developed by Tony Stark. Hawkeye rescues Jarvis and his mother and as a thank you Jarvis invites Clint to the Avengers mansion, Iron Man pushes for him to become part of the team and under the guidance of Captain America Hawkeye joins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as members of the second incarnation of the Avengers. The clashes with his fellow Avengers almost immediately, when he reveals romantic intentions towards Scarlet Witch, he also rebels against Captain America due to the established problems he has for authority figures, but over time she comes to respect him as a mentor and friend and learns to fall in line with a team. After a battle where Clint’s bow breaks in the climax of combat he decides to adopt the Goliath costume and identity after Hank Pym. At the end of the Kree-Skrull war Clint resumes his identity as Hawkeye. He and Vision have a bitter streak due to their mutual affection for Scarlet Witch eventually causing Hawkeye to leave the Avengers in one of his main storylines Hawkeye returned to the Avengers because some of his team members have disappeared with the help of the remaining Avengers they discovered that it was due to the Collector, Hawkeye single-handedly defeated him saving the ream, this act of heroics was thanked by Henry Peter Gyrich the Avengers Government liason by limiting the roster of the ream and replacing Hawkeye with the Falcon. After leaving the Avengers, Hawkeye goes to work for Cross Technological Enterprises where he meets Barbara Morse, or mockingbird after Crossfire attempts to destroy the superhero community using an aggression inducing sonic weapon. Clint loses 80% of his hearing and he and Mockingbird get married. Hawkeye and Mockingbird move to LA and start the West Coast Avengers together. He has died several times, once flying into a Kree ship aiding in an explosion in House of M when he shoots my Wanda in the back with an arrow one of her children wipes Hawkeye from existence and he is presumed dead even when Scarlet Witch’s reality is undone. In the Dark Reign plotline Clint adopts the identity Ronin, a much darker counterpart to his normal Hawkeye persona.

Clint also plays important roles in the Fear Itself, Civil War 2, and Secret Empire storylines. I look forward to seeing how they handle Clint as a solo character and a mentor in the Disney+ Series.