"Hawkeye, the Marksman Avenger" (60's & 70's)

Hawkeye / Clint Barton made his debut as a misunderstood villain, who did battle with Iron Man (in "Tales of Suspense"#57-Sept. 1964, as well as #60 & #64). He was created by the excellent team of Stan Lee (writer / editor) & Don Heck (artist, who did a lot of artwork for "The Avengers")!

Orphans Clint Barton and his brother Barney ran away to join the circus. While there, Clint learned to be an expert marksman with bow & arrow, from 'The Swordsman' & 'Trick Shot'. He became a headlining performer called 'Hawkeye, the Marksman'. One night he caught his mentor, The Swordsman embezzling from the circus owners. The Swordsman made his escape by beating Clint up, leaving him to look like the thief.

Hawkeye had aspired to be a costumed superhero, after seeing Iron Man in action, but he was on the run after being mistaken as a thief. He soon met up with the 'Black Widow', who was secretly a Soviet spy (but became a superheroine in later years); with whom he fell in love. She proceeded to dupe Hawkeye into stealing technological secrets from Tony Stark (Iron Man). This brought them into direct conflict with Iron Man, over several occasions (one of which left the Black Widow injured). The Black Widow soon recoved and promptly disappeared; after which Hawkeye decided to try out being a superhero.

Hawkeye was then sponsored by his former enemy, Iron Man, who was trying to help him gain membership with The Avengers (*see "The Avengers"#16-May 1965). He, Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch (who Hawkeye attempted to romance) joined the team at the same time. Hawkeye sometimes got into minor conflicts with his fellow Avengers, but always proved to be a useful ally. In "The Avengers"#63 (Apr. 1969), Clint took on a new superhero role as the 2nd version of the giant-sized 'Goliath' (after Hank Pym, the 1st Goliath), for a period of time. He returned to his 'Hawkeye' role, but left The Avengers, due to a conflict with 'The Vision' over love for 'The Scarlet Witch'

In the early 70's, Hawkeye joined the ranks of "The Defenders" for several adventures. Following this, he rejoined The Avengers once again (after the wedding of The Scarlet Witch & The Vision).

Hawkeye made many appearances in animated TV series', including---Tthe Marvel Super Heroes"(1966);"Iron Man" (in which Hawkeye was a regular); "Fantastic Four"; The Avengers: United They Stand"; "The Super Hero Squad Show"; "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes"; "Iron Man: Armored Adventures"; "Ultimate Spider-Man"; "Avengers Assemble"; as well as other animated features! Hawkeye has also been in 2 major motion pictures---"Thor" (2011; cameo appearance); and in the smash hit, "The Avengers" (2012). He was well played by Jeremy Renner in both films.

These days, Hawkeye remains a highly revered Marvel superhero (as I'm sure he will for years to come)!!!