A long time ago, way before cell phones, before beepers and even preceding push button telephones, adventurous children who wanted to escape the tyranny of parental rule dreamed of escaping away to the Circus. Today circuses are almost completely unknown, but up until about 1972, almost every young man in America knew that when things got tough, they had the option of running away to the circus. As you can see in the film Roustabout, even Elvis knew this.
Young Clint Barton lost his parents in a car crash. All he had left was his brother Bernard. After the crash the two orphans were sent to children’s home. It wasn’t the best place in the world to be, so when the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders caught their eye, they took the chance to escape. When it comes to comic book origin stories, this is certainly something different than an alien sending his son to Earth as his planet exploded around him, or possibly being gifted with a power ring by a dying interplanetary policeman.
In the sixties Marvel had revolutionized comics by introducing concepts and origins that might established a very deep and quick connection to a new generation of readers. Marvel had already given super spider powers to a teenage geek, exposed a mild mannered scientist to radiation that gave him a second personality that emerged when he experienced fits of temper and they had introduced a super-smart scientist who built an amazing suit of robot armor. These heroes argued, they doubted themselves, they had girl troubles. In general the heroes behaved like people in the real world.
Clint Barton joined the circus as a roustabout. He and his brother worked hard. As time went on other performers began to train him for a lifetime under the big top. Barton was taken in by the great Swordsman. The Swordsman saw to it that young Barton received training in as many aspects of the circus as possible. Most notably, Clint learned how to handle a bow and arrow from the amazing archer Trickshot. The young escapee from the children's home was now pointed towards the big time.
Then one day Barton happened to interrupt the Swordsman when he was counting out the loot from a recent robbery. Naturally Swordsman did what any good mentor would do; he offered the young man a chance to grow rich with him. Declining the invitation, Barton and The Swordsman ended up fighting, with Barton lying near death on the floor. Swordsman disappeared. When Clint's brother Barney found out that Clint had passed up such an opportunity Barney disappeared as well.
Left with no one to count on, Cliff was taken in by the performer Trickshot. The archer brought him back to life and when Cliff was healthy, gave him even more rigorous training in the skill of archery. Unfortunately Trickshot was also an extortionist. He talked Burton in going out on a job with him. The plan was to get money form the criminal Marko. In another unfortunate occurrence Trickster killed Marko during the visit and Cliff killed one of Marko's bodyguards.
That bodyguard was also the brother who had abandoned him, Barney Burton. Appalled at his actions, Cliff and Trickster end up in a fight. The Trickster walked away, but Cliff had some problems.
Over the course of the next few years Burton, who was now calling himself Hawkeye and appearing in costume, worked in various carnivals. One day he sees Iron Man at the circus. Inspired by Tony Stark's heroic deeds, Hawkeye decides to become a crime fighter. A these things seem to happen in Clint's life, even when he thought he was doing something good, he ends up paying for it. The very first night he goes out the police figure him to be a criminal. In one second he is a wanted man.
So what do we know about Clint Barton/Hawkeye now? He is a decent guy who is trying to do the right thing. He has a good heart but his temper and ego and obsessive nature can cause problems. He is easily influenced by the authority figure in his life but as soon as he finds out that the authority figure is criminal in nature; he will stand right up to that authority figure and get into a massive fight with them, usually getting beat to within an inch of his life (at least in his early adventures). Even when he is inspired to become heroic and serve justice, he is inexplicably branded a villain.
You would image that at some point, given his experience, that Hawkeye would stop trusting those around him. It doesn't happen He meets the beautiful and talented spy and villain Black Widow and somehow she manages to convince him to take on Iron Man.
Hawkeye's humble beginnings in the circus have given rise to one of the most complex and entertaining characters in the Marvel Universe. From his first appearance in Tales of Suspense # 57, (Sept 1964) he was a fan favorite and today he is one of the longest lasting heroes in the Marvel universe. Hawkeye is one of the mainstays in the Avengers and has served that team admirably over the years, both as a leader and as a troublemaker.
Like any long lasting comic hero his history has become complex. Over time he convinced the Black Widow to switch sides, made peace with iron Man, joined the Avengers, fought with Captain America, believed that he was in love with The Scarlet Witch, took on the identity of Goliath, returned to being Hawkeye, led the Avengers on the West Coast and developed other identities.
Why has Hawkeye managed to last so long? One of the biggest reasons is the most basic. The concept of a heroic archer is as old as Greek Mythology, maybe even older. The Greeks considered great skill with a bow and arrow to be one of the highest callings possible. There is something primal and yet simple about the thought of one man with only a bow and arrow fighting for what is right. That concept easily moves through centuries of story telling through the legends of King Arthur and into modern times with Robin Hood. Another recent example would be Legolas in Lord of the Rings.
Some people wonder why, when he was first introduced, Hawkeye wasn't just given a solo title of his own. After all, the concept was very fully developed and almost everyone loves an archer. Hadn't Green Arrow managed to survive the passage from the Golden Age into the Silver?
In 1964 new heroes at Marvel were being introduced with amazing frequency at Marvel. In fact the only thing really holding Marvel back from flooding the newsstands with new titles was their distribution deal with the exact same company that distributed DC, which also happened to be DC.
This meant Stan and the bullpen had to place any new heroes into the eight titles they could distribute a month. Ironically these real world restrictions helped solidify and unify the Marvel universe. Fans not only has a limited number of titles to pick up every month, which made it easier for them to buy each one, but the characters that populated the books were forced to interact with each other because very few of them had solo titles.
This led to Hawkeye's origin being inextricably linked in with Iron Man. Stan Lee had to put Hawkeye somewhere and Iron Man may have been the most logical fit at the time. By the end of the decade Marvel had arranged to get much better distribution which led to a new explosion of Marvel on the stands.
Today Hawkeye is one of the most consistent and interesting characters in the Marvel Universe. Others may be more popular or be cool among the super-hip, Hawkeye transcends it all. His loyalty to the Avengers pays off this spring with his appearance in the new Avengers film.
Hawkeyes future was set in stone when he stood up to The Swordsman. In his heart he is good. And nothing can keep a good man down. Not even a communist wench like The Black Widow.