Hawkeye (comics)

Publication history

Hawkeye was introduced as a reluctant villain in Tales of Suspense #57 (September 1964). After two more appearances as a villain in Tales of Suspense #60 and #64 (December 1964 and April 1965), Hawkeye joined the ranks of the Avengers in Avengers Vol.1 #16 (May 1965). He 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), Vol. 5 (2013–present) including specials and annuals), as well as in The Ultimates. Hawkeye was also part of the Avengers in Secret Wars #1–12 (1984–1985).

Hawkeye featured prominently in the limited series West Coast Avengers #1–4 (September 1984–December 1984), before appearing in the ongoing title, which ran for 102 issues (including eight annuals) from October 1985–January 1994. The title was renamed Avengers West Coast from #46 (Aug. 1989). Hawkeye also starred concurrently in almost every issue of Solo Avengers which ran for 40 issues from December 1987–January 1991 (the title was renamed Avengers Spotlight from #21, the August 1989 issue).

From 1998 to 2002, Hawkeye featured significantly in issues #20–75 and Annual #2000 of the title Thunderbolts, written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza. He appeared as a supporting character in Avengers Academy from issue #21 (Jan 2012) through its final issue #39 (Jan 2013) and as team leader in Secret Avengers from issue #22 (Feb 2012) through its final issue, #37 (Feb 2013). Hawkeye appeared in Vol. 2 (2013) of Secret Avengers by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross. Hawkeye appeared as a regular character in the 2010-2013 Secret Avengers series, from issue #21.1 (March 2012) through its final issue #37 (March 2013).

Hawkeye featured in the Marvel crossover event House of M (2005). He later appeared (as Ronin) in the New Avengers series from issues #26–64 (2007–2010) plus New Avengers Annual #2 (2008) and Annual #3 (2010). Continuing as Ronin, the character played an important part in the crossover event Secret Invasion #1–8 (2008). The company wide crossover event Dark Reign saw Hawkeye feature prominently in New Avengers: The Reunion #1–4 (2009) and Dark Reign: The List - New Avengers #1 (2009). He later went on to feature in the Siege #1–4 (2010) crossover event.

Hawkeye has appeared in numerous solo adventures over the years. He appeared in Hawkeye Vol. 1 #1–4 (1983), written by Mark Gruenwald (which was the character's first encounter with Mockingbird and the villain Crossfire). Hawkeye then appeared in Hawkeye Vol.2 #1–4 (1994) and Hawkeye: Earth's Mightiest Marksman #1 (1998). In 2003, Hawkeye had a short lived on-going series, Hawkeye Vol. 3, #1–8, which was soon cancelled. Writer Jim McCann and artist David Lopez had another unsuccessful attempt at an ongoing series with Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1–6 (2010). The series did however spin into two limited series, beginning with Widowmaker #1–4 (2010–2011) and then Hawkeye: Blindspot #1–4 (2011). A fourth volume of Hawkeye began in August 2012 by the creative team of writer Matt Fraction and artist David Aja, which features a partnership with his protege, Kate Bishop, which was met with critical acclaim. A fifth volume, entitled All-New Hawkeye, began in March 2015, written by Jeff Lemire with art by Ramon Perez.

Over the years, Hawkeye has made guest appearances in numerous Marvel titles, the most notable being Daredevil Vol.1 #99 (1973), Incredible Hulk Vol.1 #166 (1973), Marvel Team-Up #22 (1974), Ghost Rider #27 (1977), Marvel Team-Up #92 (1980), Marvel Fanfare #3 (1982), Captain America #317 (1986), Contest of Champions II #3-5 (1999), Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #3 (2008), War Machine Vol.2 #8-10 (2009), Young Avengers Presents #6 (2008) and Captain America: Reborn #3-6 (2009–2010).

Hawkeye will star in the upcoming Occupy Avengers book by David Walker.

Fictional character biography

Clint Barton was born in Waverly, Iowa. At a young age he lost both of his parents in a car accident. After six years in an orphanage, Clint and his brother Barney ran away to join the Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders. Clint soon caught the eye of the Swordsman, who took the young boy on as his assistant. Along with the help of Trick Shot, the Swordsman trained Clint to become a master archer. Clint later found the Swordsman embezzling money from the carnival. Before he could turn his mentor over to the authorities, Clint was beaten and left for dead, allowing the Swordsman to escape town. Clint's relationship with his brother Barney and Trick Shot soon deteriorated as well.

Clint adapted his archery skills to become a star carnival attraction, a master archer called "Hawkeye", otherwise known as “The World’s Greatest Marksman”. He spent some time as a member of Tiboldt's Circus, before joining the Coney Island Circus. He witnessed Iron Man in action and was inspired to become a costumed hero. However, after a misunderstanding on his first outing, Hawkeye was accused of theft and believed to be a criminal. On the run, the naive Hawkeye met the Black Widow, a spy for the Soviet Union, with whom he fell in love. Blindly following the Black Widow, Hawkeye aided her attempts to steal technology developed by Tony Stark. In one of their battles with Iron Man, the Black Widow was seriously injured. Hawkeye rescued her and fled the battle to save her life. But before Hawkeye could take her to a hospital, the Black Widow disappeared. Hawkeye decided to be a "straight-shooter" from then on.

Avengers

Hawkeye later rescues Edwin Jarvis and his mother from a mugger. In gratitude, Jarvis invites Hawkeye to Avengers Mansion and stages a confrontation to allow the archer to clear his name and gain the trust of the Avengers. Hawkeye is then sponsored by his former enemy Iron Man, who sees that he is serious about becoming a hero. Led by Captain America, Hawkeye joins the team along with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch to form the second incarnation of the Avengers. Almost straight away, Hawkeye clashes with his fellow Avengers. His romantic intentions towards the Scarlet Witch are met with hostility from her brother, Quicksilver. Hawkeye rebels against Captain America’s leadership (due to his past problems with authority figures), but over time comes to respect him as a mentor and a friend. When the Swordsman attempted to join the Avengers, Hawkeye warned them of his previous history with the villain.

Hawkeye enjoys many adventures with the Avengers and proves himself a hero on numerous occasions. However, when his bow breaks during a crucial moment in a battle, Clint decides to adopt a new costume and identity by succeeding Hank Pym as the new Goliath. Hawkeye (as Goliath) was later approached by his brother Barney, who had become a big-time racketeer. Barney had learned of Egghead's plans to construct an orbiting laser death-ray to extort money from the United States and came to the Avengers for help. The Avengers confronted Egghead and his allies, the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master. Tragically, Barney died in the ensuing battle. (It was later revealed that Barney Barton was actually an undercover FBI agent.) Soon after this encounter, Egghead hires the Swordsman to capture Goliath (thinking him to be Hank Pym instead of Clint). Clint defeats and captures both criminals, finding justice for his brother at last. At the conclusion of the Kree-Skrull War Clint resumes the identity of Hawkeye with a new costume. After several adventures, Hawkeye quits the Avengers after a bitter rift with the Vision over the affections of the Scarlet Witch. Hawkeye returns to his original costume and strikes out on his own.

For a time, Hawkeye drifts from one adventure to the next. He attempts to return to the Black Widow and briefly battles her current love, Daredevil. Hawkeye later assists the Hulk against the monster Zzzax. He then follows the Hulk back to the mansion of Doctor Strange, where after a skirmish, Hawkeye joins the "non-team" the Defenders for a short period. He returns briefly to the Avengers to attend the wedding of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. Together with the Two-Gun Kid and Ghost Rider, Hawkeye defeats the monster the Manticore.

Hawkeye returns to the Avengers when the current members of the team begin to mysteriously disappear. The remaining Avengers discover it to be the work of the Collector of the Elders of the Universe. After his teammates were all defeated, Hawkeye single-handedly defeats the Collector, and joins the team for the final battle against Korvac. Afterwards, Hawkeye's victory is dashed when the Avengers new government liaison Henry Peter Gyrich, limits the roster and replaces him with the Falcon, in an attempt to make the team more "politically acceptable". After initially failing to find work in his civilian identity, Hawkeye gains employment with Cross Technological Enterprises as the Head of Security. He defends the company against the Shi'ar villain Deathbird, Mister Fear, and sabotages a plot by C.T.E. employee Ambrose Connors. Hawkeye then returns to Avengers mansion several months later for a brief visit "induced" by the heroine Moondragon before rejoining for a sustained period. Hawkeye returns to Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders to aid Marcella Carson, the owner’s daughter, against the Taskmaster. He defeats the villain with the help of Ant-Man. Later, Hawkeye inadvertently avenges the death of his brother. The villain Egghead, having been exposed for framing Henry Pym, attempts to shoot Pym but Hawkeye jams the barrel of the weapon with an arrow. The weapon is an energy pistol and explodes, killing Egghead instantly.

Marriage to Mockingbird

Returning to work for Cross Technological Enterprises as Head of Security, Hawkeye meets the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Barbara "Bobbi" Morse, also known as the hero Mockingbird. Together, they discover that Crossfire, cousin of the company’s original owner, was hatching a plot to destroy the superhero community via an aggression-inducing sonic weapon. Hawkeye and Mockingbird manage to defeat him (although Hawkeye is rendered deaf when he uses a sonic arrow to counter Crossfire's weapon) and the two heroes get married shortly afterwards. At the direction of then-Avengers chair the Vision, Hawkeye (now using a hearing aid) and Mockingbird travel to Los Angeles to establish a west coast branch of the Avengers, known as the West Coast Avengers. While searching for a base of operations, Hawkeye and Mockingbird battle a vengeful Crossfire, who had recently broken out of prison. They manage to defeat the supervillain, aided by former actress Moira Brandon, who later allows her mansion to become the new Avengers Compound. On one of the West Coast Avengers adventures, when the team was lost in time, Mockingbird was kidnapped by an Old Western hero called Lincoln Slade, the Phantom Rider. The Phantom Rider drugs Mockingbird, convinces her that they are in love, and forces her to engage in a sexual relationship. Mockingbird soon regains her senses. In the resulting battle between the two, Mockingbird allows the Phantom Rider to fall to his death. Afterwards, when Mockingbird confesses what she did, Hawkeye is stunned that his wife would allow a man to die instead of facing justice. Their relationship becomes frayed as Mockingbird leaves the West Coast Avengers and separates from Hawkeye.

Hawkeye is challenged to a duel to the death by his former mentor Trick Shot. Hawkeye reluctantly accepts the challenge and wins. Trick Shot reveals that he is dying of cancer and wants to die honorably in battle. Hawkeye, instead of granting his former mentor’s wish, promises to fund his medical care. Later, when Crossfire places a bounty on Hawkeye’s right arm, Trick Shot (whose cancer had gone into remission) returns to aid his former pupil. Along with Mockingbird, the two archers defeat an army of supervillains looking to lay claim to the bounty. After this altercation with Crossfire, Hawkeye tells Mockingbird that he was wrong to blame her for what happened with the Phantom Rider. The pair soon reconcile. After being shot while confronting criminals, Hawkeye adopts an armoured version of his costume to battle the gangs of Los Angeles.

The West Coast Avengers are then caught in the middle of a supernatural battle between Mephisto and Satannish. The team are able to defeat the two demons and force them back to their own realms. However, Mephisto retaliates by firing energy blasts at the escaping West Coast Avengers. Mockingbird sacrifices herself to save Hawkeye and dies in her husband's arms. Embittered by Mockingbird's death, Hawkeye leaves the team, which is disbanded almost immediately afterwards. Hawkeye isolates himself in the Canadian Rockies to separate himself from the world. He is soon forced to battle the Secret Empire. He manages to defeat Viper, the leader of the Secret Empire, and her hired supervillains, Javelynn and his old mentor Trick Shot.

Hawkeye returns to the Avengers just prior to the battle with the entity Onslaught, in which the Avengers (including Hawkeye) are apparently killed. Franklin Richards, however, transported them all to a pocket universe where the heroes led altered lives. The heroes eventually learned the truth and they were returned to their own universe. Hawkeye's hearing was fully restored because, when Franklin Richards recreated the heroes in the new universe, he based them on how he remembered them.

Thunderbolts

Hawkeye remains with the Avengers for numerous adventures. He aids Avenger trainees Justice and Firestar to defeat the Taskmaster and Albino. Hawkeye later resigns the Avengers to assume leadership of the first generation of the Thunderbolts, who had broken away from the influence of Baron Helmut Zemo. Hawkeye trains the team in the fashion of former teammate Captain America, and shapes the team into a cohesive fighting unit. The Thunderbolts take on threats like the Masters of Evil, Graviton, and the Scourge of the Underworld. Hawkeye begins a romantic relationship with fellow Thunderbolts member Moonstone, who Hawkeye is proving to be a good influence on. Later, Hawkeye and the Thunderbolts travel to Hell to save the soul of Mockingbird. They defeat the demonic Mephisto, but Hawkeye is unable to find his wife. To ensure that his Thunderbolts are given full pardons, Hawkeye allows himself to be arrested in their place. The Thunderbolts' past crimes are erased on the condition that they retire from costumed heroics. The team reluctantly agrees. Later, when Hawkeye had gotten out of prison, the team comes back together to defeat Graviton once again. Convinced that they are ready to be heroes in their own right, Hawkeye hands leadership of the Thunderbolts to Citizen V (whose mind was actually under the control of Baron Helmut Zemo) and leaves the team.

Death and House of M

Hawkeye joins the Avengers once more, and begins a brief romantic relationship with team member the Wasp. He also embarks on some solo adventures where he uncovers a plot to steal an ancient artifact in Laos, and investigates the murder of a former Soviet colonel. The Scarlet Witch, driven mad by her powers, causes a Kree warship to appear over the skies of New York. The Avengers, surprised by the appearance of the spacecraft, spring into battle. During the battle, Hawkeye's quiver of arrows is set on fire. Knowing that the explosive arrows were going to blow faster than he could remove them, Hawkeye flies into the engines of the Kree warship, destroying the spacecraft and sacrificing himself to save his teammates. A past version of Hawkeye is also plucked from time by the Time Variance Authority to serve as a juror in a case involving former Avengers teammate She-Hulk. She-Hulk tries unsuccessfully to warn Hawkeye as to his future.

When the Scarlet Witch inadvertently alters reality, Hawkeye is resurrected with no memory of previous events. When a young mutant named Layla Miller gives several heroes (including Hawkeye) the ability to remember, he is horrified at the Scarlet Witch's actions. Hawkeye shoots Wanda in the back with an arrow. In retaliation, one of her recreated children wipes Hawkeye from existence, killing him once more. When the Scarlet Witch's reality is eventually undone, Hawkeye is still presumed dead. However, the recently formed New Avengers find his bow and arrows on the site of the old Avengers Mansion, pinning up an article about his death.

Return and New Avengers

Unknown to the New Avengers, Hawkeye is resurrected once reality was restored. He seeks out Doctor Strange, who offers Hawkeye shelter while he comes to terms with his new life. Against the advice of Dr. Strange, Hawkeye eventually travels to Wundagore Mountain and finds the Scarlet Witch living a normal life with no memory of her past and apparently without mutant abilities. The two become intimate and Hawkeye then leaves Wanda to her normal life. Returning to the United States, Hawkeye learns about the assassination of Captain America. He confronts Tony Stark, who then offers Hawkeye the Captain America shield and costume to continue the legacy. Hawkeye is later inspired by the words of Kate Bishop, whom he met while hiding his identity, and rejects Stark's offer.

Hawkeye returns to see Dr. Strange and meets the New Avengers. The team invites Hawkeye to join the team. Hawkeye accepts, and accompanies the team on a mission to Japan to rescue Echo. However, leaving behind his Hawkeye identity, Clint Barton takes on the disguise of Ronin. Echo, the original Ronin, later gives Barton her blessing to adopt her old identity. Clint later meets Kate Bishop again, but this time reveals his true identity, much to Kate's surprise. Impressed with Kate's skill with a bow, and the fact she reminds him of himself at her age, Clint blesses Kate to continue using the Hawkeye codename.

Clint (as Ronin) was part of the New Avengers team that head to the Savage Land after a tip from Spider-Woman that a Skrull ship had crash landed there. Emerging from the crashed ship was a selection of heroes claiming to have been abducted, one of which was Mockingbird. Clint believes that she is the real Mockingbird until Mister Fantastic's invention proves that the heroes from the Skrull ship were all imposters. Later, after the war for Earth was won, Clint is reunited with the real Mockingbird, who was revealed to have been held captive by the Skrulls for years.

Dark Reign and Siege

Clint attempts to help Mockingbird as she tries to adapt to life back on Earth. He accompanies her to Zaragoza, Spain, to battle Monica Rappaccini and the hordes of A.I.M. in an effort to deactivate a "dirty bomb" designed by the evil scientific group. Despite their years apart, Clint and Mockingbird battle with comfort and understanding. They manage to defeat A.I.M. and foil their evil plot.

At the conclusion of the Skrull war, S.H.I.E.L.D. is dissolved and Norman Osborn is placed in power of national security. Osborn creates his own team of villainous Avengers by stealing the costumed identities of previous Avengers. The supervillain assassin Bullseye joins the team and takes on the mantle of Hawkeye. Watching the Avengers news coverage on television with the rest of the New Avengers, Clint is stunned to see the events taking place. Clint unmasked himself on network television and publicly denounces Norman Osborn and his regime. He is later elected as the leader of the New Avengers and makes toppling Osborn and the Hood from power his number one priority. Clint argues that the only way to beat Osborn is to kill him, although the rest of the team disagrees. Not backing down from his argument, Clint attempts to storm Avengers Tower single handedly to achieve his goal. He defeats the Dark Avengers, but is captured and arrested when, after failing to kill Norman Osborn, he is attacked from behind by Ares. Clint was imprisoned and tortured at the hands of Mentallo. He was later freed by his teammates, and apologized for his actions.

Clint aids Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow as they battle the Red Skull and his henchmen to rescue Sharon Carter and the time-displaced Steve Rogers. Captain America later leads the New Avengers (including Clint) against Norman Osborn's forces as they attempted to lay siege to Asgard.

Heroic Age

After the events of Siege, Steve Rogers puts together a new team of Avengers. Clint joins the team and returns to his Hawkeye identity (although he encourages Kate Bishop to keep the Hawkeye identity as well). He and Mockingbird are also members of the New Avengers, although Hawkeye later leaves the New Avengers when he receives an Avengers priority call from the main team, claiming that he was only there to spend time with his wife.

Hawkeye aids Mockingbird and her anti-terrorist organization, the World Counter-terrorism Agency. Together, they thwart Crossfire's illegal arms operation, and encounter Lincoln Slade's descendant, Jaime Slade, who later goes onto become the new Phantom Rider. Crossfire and the new Phantom Rider team-up to battle the heroes. This feud has its casualties with Mockingbird's mother being severely wounded and the death of Hamilton Slade, both at the hands of Crossfire. Hawkeye leaves the W.C.A. after it becomes clear that his relationship with Mockingbird has become too strained. However, he quickly rejoins after being informed by Steve Rogers that a kill list of international spies includes Mockingbird.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird team-up with the Black Widow to take on the mysterious new Ronin and the Dark Ocean Society. The new Ronin is later revealed to be Alexei Shostakov, the former Red Guardian and ex-husband of the Black Widow. During the final battle with the new Ronin, Hawkeye receives a strong blow to the head. When the battle is won, he assures Mockingbird and Black Widow that he suffered no ill effects from the blow. The blow to the head that Hawkeye received proves to be more serious than first thought. While battling the Lethal Legion with the Avengers, Hawkeye's aim is shown to be faltering. After the battle, Tony Stark, Donald Blake and Steve Rogers examine Hawkeye to discover what is causing it. Their diagnosis is that Hawkeye is steadily losing his sight and will soon go blind. Iron Man provides Hawkeye with technology that should stall the blindness. Later, Trick Shot arrives at Avengers Tower on the brink of death. Trick Shot tells Hawkeye that he was forced to train another archer, one who was as good as Hawkeye, before dying in his arms. Hawkeye was later ambushed by his brother Barney (who was revealed to have been the one trained by Trick Shot) who now goes by the name Trickshot. Barney manages to subdue Hawkeye and bring him Baron Zemo. Baron Zemo had the brothers duel to the death. Hawkeye (despite going blind from a previous injury with the third Ronin) managed to best Trickshot in battle. Before teleporting away, Baron Zemo transferred Trickshot's criminal funds over to the "victor" Hawkeye, then taunted the hero for turning his brother against him. In custody, Trickshot agreed to a bone marrow transplant to save his brother's sight, but only so he could battle Hawkeye again in the future.

Shattered Heroes

Following the Fear Itself storyline, the Avengers Academy is reopened in Palos Verdes at the former West Coast Avengers headquarters, where Barton accepts an offer to become a teacher. The character receives a new costume in Avengers vol. 4, #19 (November 2011). Cullen Bunn, writer of Captain America & Hawkeye, stated the costume was influenced slightly by The Avengers. In 2012, Hawkeye becomes the leader of the Secret Avengers. The 2012 critically acclaimed Hawkeye vol 4 solo series, focuses on Hawkeye defending an apartment building from the Russian mob with the assistance of Kate and his brother Barney.

Hawkeye became a member of the New Avengers led by Sunspot at the request of S.H.I.E.L.D., who are suspicious of Sunspot's activities and want Clint to spy on them. However, during a conflict, Hawkeye is fired from S.H.I.E.L.D. due to deciding to side with the New Avengers against them and following Songbird's betrayal of the team as a S.H.I.E.L.D. double agent.

Civil War II

During the Civil War II storyline, Hawkeye shoots Bruce Banner in the head with an arrow in light of Ulysses' vision of a rampaging Hulk standing over the corpses of the dead superheroes. During the Avengers-presided trial, Hawkeye stated that Bruce Banner approached him and asked for Hawkeye to kill him if he ever became Hulk again. He is acquitted of all charges and his actions heavily divided the superhero community in the Ulysses conflict.

Occupy Avengers

After Civil War II, Clint starts traveling the country and focuses his efforts towards helping the underprivileged with community based problems in an effort to redeem his actions from the event, beginning with the water supply in Santa Rosa. He eventually gains the aid of Red Wolf to help him fight for those who cannot defend themselves.

Powers and abilities

While Hawkeye has no superhuman powers (with the exception of the period when using Pym particles to become Goliath), he is at the very peak of human conditioning. He is an exceptional fencer, acrobat and marksman, having been trained from childhood in the circus and by the criminals Trick Shot and Swordsman. This includes considerable strength, as a supervillain found out when he tried to use the superhero's 250 pounds-force (1,100 newtons) draw-weight bow and found that he could not draw back the string to launch an arrow.

Hawkeye has also been thoroughly trained by Captain America in tactics, martial arts, and hand-to-hand combat. Hawkeye excels in the use of ranged weapons, especially the bow and arrow, and carries a quiver containing a number of customized "trick arrows". In his role as Ronin, Barton shows great proficiency with the katana and other melee weapons. He has gained a reputation for being able to "turn any object into a weapon", and has been seen using items such as tin plates, coins, sticks and other debris to great effect against his enemies.

Hawkeye is also known to use a "Sky-Cycle" as his mode of transportation. The Sky-Cycle is modelled after a commercial snowmobile and is fitted with anti-gravitational technology. It is voice-operated and has an auto-pilot steering system. The original Sky-Cycle was custom made for Hawkeye by Jorge Latham while he was employed by Cross Technological Enterprises. Latham was later employed by the West Coast Avengers and built several more.

Television

Film

Video games

Theatre

Deaf culture

In 2012, the mother of 4-year-old Anthony Smith contacted Marvel because her son would not wear his hearing aid, as superheroes do not have to. Marvel responded with a custom comic book of the superhero Blue Ear for Anthony, and also pointed out that for years Hawkeye was deaf and used hearing aids.

Reception

Hawkeye was ranked as the 45th Greatest Comic Book Character of All Time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked Hawkeye as the 44th Greatest Comic Book Hero of All Time opining that only it takes a special kind of hero to parade around in blue and purple and battle deadly villains with nothing more than a satchel of arrows and only Hawkeye can successfully pull it off, and as #9 on their list of "The Top 50 Avengers" in 2012. In 2013, ComicsAlliance ranked Hawkeye as #27 on their list of the "50 Sexiest Male Characters in Comics".

The fourth volume of Hawkeye has received favorable reviews for its focus on what Hawkeye does when he's not an Avenger, playing up his status as the "everyman" on the team. Praising the series in an article titled, "How did Hawkeye become Marvel’s best comic?", The A.V. Club wrote, "Spider-Man has long been considered Marvel’s superhero everyman, but Hawkeye has stolen that title with this series." Comics Alliance's Chris Sims summarized it as, "For (Hawkeye), everything that happens in the book is a pain, but it’s something he deals with because he wants to help the people around him, to the degree that he’s driven to do so even on his days off from literally saving the world." In 2013, Hawkeye was nominated for five Eisner Awards, winning two: Best Cover Artist and Best Penciler/Inker, and nominated for seven Harvey Awards, winning one. In 2014, Hawkeye was nominated for five Eisner Awards, winning two, and nominated for five Harvey Awards, winning one.

One of the series' most well received issues was the "Pizza Dog" issue (No. 11), which is told from the perspective of Barton's dog, Lucky. Wired Magazine said of the issue, "The conceit is a high-concept, high-wire act for a comic to carry off, but Fraction and Aja stick the landing with a poise and grace that deserves full marks ... It manages to be both a functional murder mystery loaded with noir sensibilities – from the bloody paw prints that blot across the cover to a rooftop gun scuffle with neighborhood thugs – and a book that is as entertaining as it is experimental and worth reading a time or ten."

Collected editions

Hawkeye's solo appearances have been collected in a number of trade paperbacks: