Clint Barton: Hawkeye Appreciation 2020

[Matternativ]

It was always a page that really resonated with me, because I do a lot of physical training and sometimes get the comments, "you train too much," "you're always working out," "why don't you rest," and the way Clint explained his mentality to Peter really hit home.

I'm curious: As a sporty af person how do you think about Clint going from athlete guy to constantly pizza and coffee consuming "normal sized" kind of dude? (It still depends on the artist if course)

I do miss his showman side a lot. Maybe it goes with the costume lol

You kid but I am convinced there's some truth to that.
I feel like drawing/writing a fully Spandex clad masked character will always turn out differently than with a casually dressed person even if it's happening on a subconscious level.

I remember that scene in EMH where he's about to make an impossible shot and all the Avengers keep making bets on whether he can pull it off .

That was a great episode in general featuring Nat, Antman Arrow riding and Nazis being punched a lot.

[Frontier]

I'm curious: As a sporty af person how do you think about Clint going from athlete guy to constantly pizza and coffee consuming "normal sized" kind of dude? (It still depends on the artist if course)

You kid but I am convinced there's some truth to that.
I feel like drawing/writing a fully Spandex clad masked character will always turn out differently than with a casually dressed person even if it's happening on a subconscious level.

Clint feels so low-effort these days. Not that he doesn't bring his all to something but in some respects it feels like he doesn't even really try anymore.

[tliscord]

Great comments here. I feel out of sorts liking the Fraction take. I never saw it as characterizing him as a hot mess, just giving him some humanity that I never could appreciate whether it was his initial Avengers stint or following his WCA run. Love him as a team member of the Avengers, “pretending we need him keeps the team together” more vibe would be good.

Of course I’m a fan of both Matt Fraction and KSD. My first inclination would be to have KSD be the main writer for the Avengers. Wouldn’t mind seeing Carol, Jessica, and Bobbi on the team with Clint all written by Kelly.

[Frontier]

Great comments here. I feel out of sorts liking the Fraction take. I never saw it as characterizing him as a hot mess, just giving him some humanity that I never could appreciate whether it was his initial Avengers stint or following his WCA run. Love him as a team member of the Avengers, “pretending we need him keeps the team together” more vibe would be good.

Of course I’m a fan of both Matt Fraction and KSD. My first inclination would be to have KSD be the main writer for the Avengers. Wouldn’t mind seeing Carol, Jessica, and Bobbi on the team with Clint all written by Kelly.

Even before Fraction I felt like Clint was one of the most human of the Avengers, at least to me.

[cc008]

I'm curious: As a sporty af person how do you think about Clint going from athlete guy to constantly pizza and coffee consuming "normal sized" kind of dude? (It still depends on the artist if course)

Honestly I think it's super believable lol. I consider myself an endurance athlete.. so running, swimming, biking, with a heavy influence of crossfit workouts as well as traditional weight lifting. By the time I'm finished with everything, I'm STARVING. I could literally eat all day and not have a care in the world. So with the amount of time Clint spends training, I completely believe he'll want to woof down a pizza any chance he gets. And I'm sure he needs a kick in the butt to stay alert, so the caffeine is a must. Especially when you're trying to keep up with the people he's keeping up with.

[K7P5V]

Yeah that would be a great term to describe him in the past but it isn't all that accurate anymore as others have stated.

Completely understandable and you're absolutely correct.
Being a showman means attracting attention & having a flair for the dramatic,
and I'm sure he has to suppress those urges since his "level-up" to a leadership role...

[stingray]

Clint to me has always been the colorfully dressed swashbuckler and showman. It's just who he is. The guy who will always complain about everything, but when push comes to shove, he will always have your back. I kind of wish he was back in his classic costume and with the Avengers, but I guess things change. I really don't like him very much now.

[Matternativ]

Great comments here. I feel out of sorts liking the Fraction take. I never saw it as characterizing him as a hot mess, just giving him some humanity that I never could appreciate whether it was his initial Avengers stint or following his WCA run. Love him as a team member of the Avengers, “pretending we need him keeps the team together” more vibe would be good.

Of course I’m a fan of both Matt Fraction and KSD. My first inclination would be to have KSD be the main writer for the Avengers. Wouldn’t mind seeing Carol, Jessica, and Bobbi on the team with Clint all written by Kelly.

There's a pretty great article that deals in part with what kind of seems to be this threads consensus, the first two paragraphs mostly.

Other than that: Here's some instances of a very human pre-fraction Hawkeye.

spoilers: end of spoilers

Honestly I think it's super believable lol. I consider myself an endurance athlete.. so running, swimming, biking, with a heavy influence of crossfit workouts as well as traditional weight lifting. By the time I'm finished with everything, I'm STARVING. I could literally eat all day and not have a care in the world. So with the amount of time Clint spends training, I completely believe he'll want to woof down a pizza any chance he gets. And I'm sure he needs a kick in the butt to stay alert, so the caffeine is a must. Especially when you're trying to keep up with the people he's keeping up with.

Ha! Fair enough, I forgot that most of my more sporty friends, many of which suffer from carb-phobia, are more into lifting rather than HIIT or Endurance sports.

[center]Completely understandable and you're absolutely correct.
Being a showman means attracting attention & having a flair for the dramatic,
and I'm sure he has to suppress those urges since he's "leveled-up" to a leadership role...

Funny I just reread the Secret Avengers issue where Cap tests whether he can lead a covert squad!

[cc008]

There's a pretty great article that deals in part with what kind of seems to be this threads consensus, the first two paragraphs mostly.

Other than that: Here's some instances of a very human pre-fraction Hawkeye.

Ha! Fair enough, I forgot that most of my more sporty friends, many of which suffer from carb-phobia, are more into lifting rather than HIIT or Endurance sports.

Really really great examples, and yes lol, I can definitely understand why Clint would needs both carbs and caffeine. Veryyyy reasonable with how he tries to live his life.

[Ruby Quartz Diamond]

I agree. This run by Fraction was so unique, such a tangential different look at Clint, I couldn't help but love it. For what it's worth, I found Clint fairly annoying until Fraction, wincing at most tales on him. He was always portrayed with a bit of the spoiled idiot, constantly complaining. I know what authors were trying to going after but it never set well with me. Fraction gave him a humanity, with a huge heart that I loved. Funny but that is the side I see Mockingbird falling fall, not the 2 dimensional angry white boy depicted for so long.

That said, kudos to Brubaker for his depiction in Cap of Clint. Especially his outrage at Osborne, snarked by Cage's comment about having to listen to Simon and Garfunkel, "white boys singing folk songs" in issue 600. Just lovely writing there.

While I enjoyed Fraction's run of Hawkeye, I wasn't a fan of some aspects of Clint's character like his gross incompetence like during the Madame Masque's arc and his tendency to run away from his problems. I feel like the former made his character goofy and comedic in a way that makes people not take his character seriously. But I guess the Madame Masque's arc wasn't a big serious event in the entire run like the climax against the Clown and Tracksuit Draculas. I like that even with his sudden hearing disability, Fraction didn't go to the route with Clint being recklessly in denial with his new disability and sink into his self-destructive streak even deeper, waiting till Barney or Kate to save him from the sinking hole. I was honestly quite surprised that Fraction dedicated one entire volume to Kate Bishop though I felt that it was too dragged on but it was nice to know more about Kate's character. It turns out that she's no different than Clint Barton - a little too trusting and very impulsive and brash and poking their noses into problems that are too much for them to handle.

By the by, suggestion time:

Hawkeye: Blindspot
Avengers the Reunion/Hawkeye & Mockingbird /Widowmaker
Hawkeye (2003) by Nicieza

All these stories happen between his time with the Thunderbolts (which I have to admit I still haven't read) and the Fraction run and are outside Bendis's New Avengers and all the events that came with it, Clint's most in depth stories during that time.

And if the Fraction tone was your jam I suggest not skipping Kot's run on the aforementioned Secret Avengers and maybe checking Hawkeye Vs Deadpool too.

What I would NOT suggest is reading All New Hawkeye which is a pale imitation of Fractions book with questionable characterisations.

I'll definitely avoid All-New Hawkeye. There's something about the covers alone that made me skeptical of its quality.

I don't really dig Fraction's characterisation of Clint tbh. Tbf the only Clint-related comics I fully read were Fraction's Hawkeye and Rosenberg's Tale of Suspense: Hawkeye and Winter Soldier and between the two writers, I prefer Rosenberg's Clint. He's sassy and sarcastic and doesn't go down without a fight and his banter with Bucky was amazing. I read a bit of Avengers from Busiek's run and I like his Clint too. That's why I'm starting from the beginning to read more about Clint (Tales of Suspense, Avengers (1963), West Coast, Solo etc) but I don't mind going out of order and read about his Ronin run, his time with Deadpool etc for example.

I'm reading the Hawkeye TPB by Gruenwald next.

6624695.jpg

What would you guys say Clint's defining personality features are? It seems his overall perception has changed a little bit since Fraction's run. I appreciate the "every man" angle at times, but not really into the incompetence (which is a big gripe I have with Deadpool writing as well). I forget the issue, but one of my favorite Clint panels will always be when he explains to Spider-Man that he "CAN'T" miss, not because he's bragging, but because his life as a superhero with the Avengers basically depends on him never missing a shot. He explains why he's always training and I really related to that and latched on to it.

I haven't read much about Clint but I think what strikes to me most about his personality is how he is willing to go the extra mile for the little people because he's also a regular person but at the same time, he's really not. I like that he's a former criminal but he reformed and actively tries his best to be a decent person and works hard to sharpen and broaden his skill sets. He was also abused during his childhood but he never let his past hold him back. He embraced all the mistreatment that he endured in his past and became a stronger person because of that. And that is one of the reasons why I'm attracted to Clint Barton. Oh, and he also takes his status as an Avenger really seriously.

[cc008]

By the by, suggestion time:

Hawkeye: Blindspot
Avengers the Reunion/Hawkeye & Mockingbird /Widowmaker
Hawkeye (2003) by Nicieza

All these stories happen between his time with the Thunderbolts (which I have to admit I still haven't read) and the Fraction run and are outside Bendis's New Avengers and all the events that came with it, Clint's most in depth stories during that time.

And if the Fraction tone was your jam I suggest not skipping Kot's run on the aforementioned Secret Avengers and maybe checking Hawkeye Vs Deadpool too.

What I would NOT suggest is reading All New Hawkeye which is a pale imitation of Fractions book with questionable characterisations.

What's great about the bolded, is they're all collected together in one paperback, like a complete collection size, called "Hawkeye: Avenging Archer." It's perfect.

Definitely recommend Duggan's Hawkeye Vs. Deadpool (Vs. Crime). Very very fun mini series.

[Matternativ]

What's great about the bolded, is they're all collected together in one paperback, like a complete collection size, called "Hawkeye: Avenging Archer." It's perfect.

Definitely recommend Duggan's Hawkeye Vs. Deadpool (Vs. Crime). Very very fun mini series.

Oh I didn't even know that!

And yeah Hawkeye Vs Deadpool was fun.

I also really liked how Wade tried to spring him after CW2 (and of course everything about their Secret Avengers bromance).

[Matternativ]

Kate's DLC for Marvel's Avengers (you know, the vidya-game) has been pushed back and out of October in favour of game quality/stability upgrades.

I don't remember if they spilled the beans or just eluded to it since it's been a couple of dayes since I saw the patch notes/ news but that likely means Clint won't show up in November as previously stated either.

[cc008]

Oh I didn't even know that!

And yeah Hawkeye Vs Deadpool was fun.

I also really liked how Wade tried to spring him after CW2 (and of course everything about their Secret Avengers bromance).

Yeah they have a really fun back and forth with each other. Wouldn't mind them landing on the same squad at some point.

[Matternativ]

Yeah they have a really fun back and forth with each other. Wouldn't mind them landing on the same squad at some point.

Throw Bucky in and you have a ver uhm... unique dynamic.