Overview
Hawkeye (Clinton Francis "Clint" Barton) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck, the character first appeared as a supervillain in Tales of Suspense #57 (September 1964) and later joined the Avengers as a superhero in The Avengers #16 (May 1965). He has since been a prominent member of several Avengers teams, founding the West Coast Avengers, briefly marrying and subsequently divorcing Bobbi Morse / Mockingbird, adopting the Ronin alias after his death and resurrection before mentoring Kate Bishop as his successor as Hawkeye. He was also ranked at #44 on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes list.
Jeremy Renner plays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Endgame (2019), the animated series What If...? (2021), and the television miniseries Hawkeye (2021).
Creation
When asked what inspired his creation of Hawkeye, Heck said the character "was almost like a Robin Hood–type character and I saw him as that."
Publication history
Hawkeye was introduced as a reluctant villain in Tales of Suspense #57 (Sept. 1964). After two more appearances as a villain in Tales of Suspense #60 and #64 (Dec. 1964 and April 1965), Hawkeye joined the ranks of the Avengers in The Avengers #16 (May 1965).
Hawkeye became a perennial member of the team and has made numerous appearances in all five volumes ((vol. 1) (1963–1996), (vol. 2) (1997), (vol. 3) (1999–2004), (vol. 4) (2010–2013), and (vol. 5) (2013–present)), including special issues and Annuals, as well as in The Ultimates. However, Hawkeye's presence in the Avengers—both the team and the series—was sporadic for nearly a decade starting in early 1973. Steve Englehart, the Avengers writer at the time of Hawkeye's departure, explained, "When I had Hawkeye quit the Avengers, I liked him, but I wanted to try a different approach, so his leaving fit in with what I was trying to do."
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