What's the deal with Hawkeye?

Question

So with my limited comic book knowledge, I know him as my very favoritest of Iron Man villains.

But at walmart the other day, I saw a pack of little marvel action figures that came with Hawkeye and Captain America. Though the combinations of characters seemed to be fairly arbitrary, I couldn't help but think he wasn't that huge of a villian to earn an action figure (especially given the only other villain I saw was Magneto).

But then, I've only read the first maybe 30 or so Iron Mans. So does Hawkeye go on to do something else later? Does he show up in Captain America books or something?

Answer 1

Hawkeye (Clint Barton) is one of my favorite characters. He's always been a hero except for his first 3 appearances in the early 60s (Tales of Suspence #57, 60 and 64 1964-65). If you remember the story, Hawkeye originally put on the costume intending to be a hero, but there was a mix up and he ended up being mistaken for a villain. On the run, the Black Widow rescues him and tricks him into helping her with some crimes (Black Widow is another character who started out as a villain in the 60s and then became a hero). He then decides he needs to go straight, and joins the Avengers in Avengers #16 (1965). He was always known for being the hot head, and often bickered with Captain America, although the two became best friends. Since then, he's appeared in something like 400 issues of the Avengers, including leading the West Coast team. Eventually he married his team mate Mockingbird, who was later killed.

For a time, he left and became the leader of the Thunderbolts, a team of super villains who were posing as superheroes. When the previous Thunderbolts leader Baron Zemo prepared to unleash his master plan, the other T-Bolts rebelled against him, preferring to be heroes. Hawkeye showed up shortly after this, believing they needed a second chance just like he'd been given one so many years ago. He eventually re joined the Avengers when the T-Bolts became a government run organization.

He was killed by the Scarlet Witch, and then brought back to life by her later (she'd gone insane and her reality altering powers were running amuck). In the time that he'd been dead, a band of teenage heroes formed called the Young Avengers. Captain America gave Hawkeye's name, bow and arrows to a girl on the team named Kate Bishop. After he came back from the dead (and Captain America had died) Clint was offered to take up the mantle of Captain America, but turned it down. He now goes by the identity Ronin and is on the New Avengers.

You can read all about this and more on his wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkeye_%28...

And if you want a pretty good Hawkeye read, I suggest Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes vol 1 and 2. He's primarily a supporting character, albeit a major one, in just about every comic he's in. The ones where he's the lead character (like when he led the Thunderbolts or West Coast Avengers) aren't available in trade, and you'd have have to track down individual issues. But Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is a fun read, available in trade (at the Amazon at the link below) and it's an origin story of the Avengers so it will pick up almost directly after the Essential Iron Man book you read

http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Earths-Mi...

http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Earths-Mi...

Answer 2

Despite the fact that Hawkeye first appeared as a reluctant villain in the "Iron Man" series in "Tales of Suspense," most comics readers known him as a hero and, arguably, the second most popular member of the Avengers (Captain America is the hero most associated with the Avengers).

Hawkeye was introduced in "Tales of Suspense" #57; as an archer who worked for a carnival, Hawkeye saw Iron Man in action and decided to become a masked mystery-man, using his skills as an archer to make a name for himself. He designed a costume, made some prototype "special" arrows, and broke up a robbery on his first case as a masked hero, but was mistaken for a villain by the police, and then meet Natasha Romanoff, a spy from the USSR who was better known as the Black Widow. The Black Widow involved Hawkeye in her manipulations to try to gain revenge for a previous failure against Iron Man; Hawkeye fought Iron Man three times and barely escaped each time, actually doing surprisingly well against the much more powerful Iron Man. In "Avengers" #16, Hawkeye became the first "probationary Avenger," applying for membership in that group at a crucial time. He was able to explain his past to the satisfaction of Iron Man, who sponsored Hawkeye as a potential Avenger and a replacement for Iron Man (who had decided he didn't have enough time to remain with that team on a full time basis). Two former members of the "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants," Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch also joined the Avengers as probationary members at that time, and for just over a year the Avengers consisted of Captain America, who served as the leader, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye.

Frankly, Hawkeye did not initially appear to be Avengers material; he was arrogant, arguementative, and often question Captain America's orders. However, he also proved that he could pull his weight and his probationary status was soon lifted. Hawkeye remained on the team while new members and founding members came and went, and he became one of the most dependable members of the team. For a time, he became known as "Goliath II," when Henry Pym abandoned his heroic identity as Goliath and started operating as Yellowjacket; as Goliath, Hawkeye could become a giant and had super-strength; it looked like Goliath perished at the climax of the so-called "Kree/Skrull War," but Hawkeye turned out to have only been missing in action, and he returned in his own identity but wearing a new costume. A few months later, Hawkeye returned to his original costume but left the Avengers and became a member of a very loosely structured group known as The Defender. The Defenders clashed with the Avengers, then worked together and foiled a scheme by Loki that was calculated to destroy both groups. Hawkeye returned to the Avengers and was on the team more often than almost any other Avenger except Captain America over the next decade. Eventually, Hawkeye married a little known heroine, code named "Mockingbird," and was picked to lead a second team of Avengers who operated on the West Coast. Hawkeye lead the West Coast Avengers for a little over 100 issues, but the team was dismantled shortly after Mockingbird was killed in action.

Since 1965, Hawkeye has been a mainstay of the Avengers, although he was also briefly a member of the Defenders, and became the leader of two other groups: the Great Lakes Avengers (who actually had no status as Avengers) and the Thunderbolts, a group of criminals who wanted to reform. Hawkeye also appeared in two different four issue mini-series, appeared in his own series in "Solo Avengers" (which became "Avengers Spotlight" after three years and was cancelled before its fourth anniversary), and in his own short-lived eponymous title. His days as a minor villain are well behind him.

Answer 3

Hawkeye started out as a villain in Iron Man he wanted to be a hero but people mistook him as a villain.  Then he paired up with Black Widow for awhile before finally going straight and joining the Avengers.  

Answer 4

I've never seen Hawkeye portrayed as a villain. As long as i can remember, he's been either a solo good guy or a member of the Avengers.

Maybe in this "new universe", which I haven't seen much of, he's a bad guy. But for the last 25 years or so, he's been a good guy.

EDIT- I just remembered. He started out working for some kind of evil circus set-up if I remember right. You may be right. But he does become a good guy though.

Keep on reading, and I 'll bet you see when it happens. I don't recall the details, though.

Man, you got some old comics there. Take care of 'em! Some may be worth real money someday.

EDIT#2- Those are cool, too. I just got one with a ton of old horror comics from the 50's all way to the present. (Man, there goes my nerd flag flying high again! Oh ,well.)