Hawkguy! Hawkeye was my first favorite Avenger (thank you bonkers 90’s Avengers video game!), and in many ways remains one of the best (and certainly the most fashionable in purple).
One of my favorite aspects of Hawkeye is how the character grows as a hero, and as an Avenger through Marvel history. After starting as a confused, petty criminal (teaming with Black Widow will do that to a guy), Hawkeye progressed from angry anti-authority Avenger, to regular member of the team, to ultimately leading his own crew out on the West Coast. In more recent years, Clint Barton has also showcased his leadership (Secret Avengers), and his unexpected ability to carry an all-time great Marvel series (during the Matt Fraction and David Aja Marvel NOW! run).
In perhaps a testament to the power of the moniker, Kate Bishop has also become the most interesting Young Avenger, dodging the “kid-name” self-sabotage and simply claiming the mantle of Hawkeye for herself in the aftermath of Avengers Disassembled.
Whether you’re here for the history of Clint Barton, or the ongoing saga of Kate Bishop, below will list the complete chronology of Hawkeye throughout the Marvel Universe.
Hawkeye Comics Reading Order
Hawkeye Origins & Hawkeye Joins The Avengers
Iron Man Epic Collection: The Golden Avenger
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Collects: Tales Of Suspense (1959) 39-72
Tales of Suspense #57 includes Hawkeye (and Black Widow’s) origins. Hawkeye appears again in Tales of Suspense #60 and #64.
Avengers Epic Collection: Once an Avenger
Collects: Avengers #21 To #40
Hawkeye, the former criminal, tries out for an all-new Avengers roster. These are the earliest Hawkeye Avengers comics, and go a long way to explain the character’s progression as well as his unique relationship with Captain America.
Avengers #39 is a particularly good Hawkeye story, as he looks into charges made against his former partner, the Black Widow.
Avengers Epic Collection: Masters of Evil
Collects: Avengers (1963) 41-56, Annual (1967) 1-2; X-Men (1963) 45
Avengers Epic Collection: Behold…the Vision
Collects: Avengers (1963) 57-76, Marvel Super -Heroes (1967) 17
In Avengers #63 Clint Barton’s fashion takes a turn for the Goliath. Avengers #64 to #65 are particularly essential for Clint, and introduce his brother Barney Barton.
Collects: Avengers 89-97
Clint Barton continues his Goliath phase in one of the Avengers most epic space battles! The 70’s were a weird time.
Collects: Avengers (1963) #101-110, Daredevil (1964) #99, Avengers (1963) #111
The Scarlet Witch shoots down Hawkeye (again), so he finally quits the Avengers!
Collects: Defenders (1972) #7-16, Giant-Size Defenders #1 & Avengers #115-118
Hawkeye quite quickly joins the Defenders, teaming up with Dr. Strange, Sub-Mariner, Silver Surfer and Hulk during the Avengers / Defenders war.
Avengers: The Complete Celestial Madonna Saga
Collects: Avengers (1963) 124-125, 129-135; Captain Marvel (1968) 33; Giant-Size Avengers 2-4
Collects: Avengers (1963) #167-168 And #170-177
Solo Hawkeye and The West Coast Avengers
Collects: Hawkeye (1983) 1-4; Tales Of Suspense (1959) 57; Marvel Super Action 1; Avengers (1963) 189; Marvel Team-Up (1972) 95
Hawkeye’s first solo miniseries is a crucial and fascinating look at what kinds of Hawkeye stories are possible. Hawkeye’s injuries suffered in this miniseries will play into many future stories, including the Fraction and Aja run!
Collects: West Coast Avengers (1984) #1-4, Iron Man Annual #7, And Avengers #250, Plus Material From Avengers #239, #243-244, & #246, And Avengers West Coast #100
Hawkeye breaks West, assembling his own roster of Avengers in California. Clint really comes into his own as a leader here, flaws and all.
Avengers – West Coast Avengers: Family Ties
Collects: West Coast Avengers (1985) 1-9, Vision & The Scarlet Witch (1985) 1-2
Avengers: West Coast Avengers: Sins of the Past
Collects: West Coast Avengers 10-16, Annual 1; Avengers Annual 15
Avengers: West Coast Avengers: Lost in Space and Time
Collects: West Coast Avengers (1985) #17-24
Avengers: West Coast Avengers: Zodiac Attack
Collects: West Coast Avengers 25-30, Annual 2; Avengers Annual 16
Avengers West Coast: Vision Quest
Collects: Avenger S West Coast 42-50
Avengers West Coast Visionaries – John Byrne, Vol. 2: Darker than Scarlet
Collects: Avengers West Coast #51-57 And #60-62
Avengers – West Coast Avengers: Along Came A Spider-Woman
Collects: Avengers West Coast 58-59, 63-75
Collects: Avengers West Coast 89-91, Annual 8; Vision (1994) 1-4
Avengers: The Death of Mockingbird
Collects: Avengers West Coast 92-100, 102; Spider-Woman (1993) 1-4; Material From Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 143-144
As you’d expect from the trade title, this series has major lasting ramifications for Clint Barton and his relationship with Mockingbird.
Avengers: Solo Avengers Classic – Volume 1
Collects: Solo Avengers #1-10
Avengers: Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman
Collects: Hawkeye (1994) 1-4; Hawkeye: Earth’S Mightiest Marksman; Material From Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 159-161
Hawkeye and the Thunderbolts Through Avengers Disassembled
Collects: Thunderbolts (1997) 23-37, Thunderbolts Annual 2000, Avengers Annual 2000
Hawkeye takes over the lead of the Thunderbolts during Kurt Busiek’s run on the title. It’s usually the Busiek and George Perez run on Avengers that gets most of the attention during this time period, but Hawkeye and The Thunderbolts is another nice example of Clint’s progression and showcasing his leadership.
Hawkeye & the Thunderbolts Vol. 2
Collects: Thunderbolts (1997) 38-50, Avengers (1998) 31-34
Collects: Hawkeye (2003 – 2004) #1 To #8
Collects: Avengers #500-503; Avengers Finale One-Shot
Marvel’s mega 2004 event Disassembles Hawkeye alongside the rest of the Avengers. The Hawkeye scenes that give me goosebumps every time.
Kate Bishop, Hawkeye Origins & Clint Barton Gets A New Identity
Young Avengers by Allen Heinberg and Jim Cheung: The Complete Collection
Collects: Young Avengers #1 To #12
Kate Bishop’s first appearance in the Marvel Universe, taking on the mantle of Hawkeye with the Young Avengers after Diasassembled.
Collects: House Of M #1 To #8
Hawkeye gets to play a very prominent role in this Marvel mega event where Magneto and the Mutants rule.
If you want to explore tie-ins with Hawkeye during this time period, I recommend Comic Book Herald’s complete House of M reading order.
Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways
Collects: Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways 1-4
The Young Avengers and Runaways crossover is one of my favorite Civil War tie-ins. As you’d expect, context for these issues can be found in Comic Book Herald’s complete Civil War reading order.
New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Vol. 3
Collects: Civil War: The Initiative, New Avengers (2004) 26-37, New Avengers Annual (2006) 2, New Avengers: Illuminati (2007) 1-5
New Avengers #26 marks a milestone for Clint Barton, who will be in and out of the pages of New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis from this point through Dark Reign and Siege.
Hawkeye and Mockingbird
Collects: Secret Invasion #1 To #8
Marvel’s Secret Invasion event sets the stage for future Hawkeye story arcs. Kate Bishop fans should pay attention in Comic Book Herald’s complete Secret Invasion reading order to the Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers crossover.
Collects: New Avengers: The Reunion 1-4, Hawkeye & Mockingbird 1-6, Widowmaker 1-4, Hawkeye: Blindspot 1-4, Hawkeye & Mockingbird Saga
Hawkeye and Mockingbird reunite in the wake of Marvel’s Secret Invasion.
Collects: Dark Reign: Hawkeye #1-5
Set during Comic Book Herald’s complete Dark Reign reading order.
New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Vol. 5
Collects: Free Comic Book Day 2009 (Avengers), New Avengers (2004) 55-64, Dark Reign: The List – Avengers One-Shot, New Avengers Annual (2006) 3, New Avengers Finale
Clint makes some major waves throughout Dark Reign, as the conscience of the New Avengers.
Collects: Wolverine 66-72, Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size
Although it occurs well in Marvel’s future, and obviously focuses on Wolverine, Old Man Logan features a strong supporting role from Old Man Clint.
Clint & Kate In Marvel’s Heroic Age
Collects: Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1-6, Enter The Heroic Age One-Shot
Hawkeye & Mockingbird/Black Widow: Widowmaker
Collects:
Collects: Avengers #13 to #17, New Avengers #14 to #16
These issues, imperative to understanding the Spider-Woman and Hawkeye relationship, can be found contextually in Comic Book Herald’s Fear Itself reading order.
Avengers Academy: Second Semester
Collects: Avengers Academy #21-28
Hawkeye joins the Avengers Academy as a teacher.
Collects: Avengers Solo #1 To #5
Begins shortly before Marvel NOW!, tied in to Avengers Academy.
Collects: Captain America And Hawkeye #629-632
Secret Avengers by Rick Remender – Volume 1
Collects: Secret Avengers 21.1, 22-25
Secret Avengers by Rick Remender – Volume 2 (AVX)
Collects: Secret Avengers 26-32
Collects: Fraction written Hawkeye vs. Angel issue
Secret Avengers by Rick Remender Volume 3
Collects: Secret Avengers 33-37
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade
Collects: Avengers: The Children’S Crusade #1 To #9
Heavily tied into major Marvel continuity, and brings Kate Bishop and the Young Avengers back together.
Matt Fraction and David Aja Hawkeye Reading Order
Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon
Collects: Young Avengers Presents 6, Hawkeye #1 to #5
Start of the Matt Fraction and David Aja run, redefining both Hawkeye and Marvel Comics during the Marvel NOW! era. Highlights the relationship between Clint and Kate Bishop more than any previous series.
I’d also note that although Kate and Clint appear in other comics series while Hawkeye is running, I’d recommend these #22 issues (and annual) prior to those other series. Breaking up the Fraction and Aja (and Annie Wu! and Francesco Francavilla!) Hawkeye to jump into Secret Avengers is unnecessary, and tonally non-compatible.
Collects: Hawkeye 6-11
This is a finalist for my favorite 11 issues in all of Marvel Comics.
Collects: Hawkeye Annual #1, Hawkeye 14, 16, 18, 20
Starting with Hawkeye #12, and the third trade paperback, you have a couple options on how to read the Fraction Hawkeye run.
The first, obvious approach is to simply read from Hawkeye #1 to #22, stopping after Hawkeye #13 to read Hawkeye Annual #1. So:
Hawkeye #1 to #13
Hawkeye Annual #1
Hawkeye #14 to #22
Easy enough. This is how the issues where published, and how I read them, and personally I enjoyed this approach just fine.
The alternate approach, as detailed in the trade paperbacks, is to split up the Kate Bishop and Clint Barton story arcs as they go into their own adventures. That’s why you see the odd and even issues broken up in the trades. This will absolutely work, but again, I kind of liked the alternating stories when I was collecting as it came out.
As a final note, yes, Hawkeye #17 is included prior to issue #12 in the fourth trade. The Fraction and Aja Hawkeye Omnibus
Collects: Hawkeye 17, 12-13, 15, 19, 21-22
Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie Omnibus
Collects: Young Avengers (2013) 1-15
The Young Avengers and Kate Bishop together again at last, behind the creative excellence of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie.
Secret Avengers – Volume 1: Reverie
Collects: Secret Avengers #1 to #5
Secret Avengers Volume 2: Iliad
Collects: Secret Avengers #6 to #11
Secret Avengers Volume 3: How to MA.I.M. a Mockingbird
Collects: Secret Avengers #12 to #16
Secret Avengers Volume 1: Let’s Have a Problem
Collects: Secret Avengers 1-5, Original Sin: Secret Avengers Infinite Comic 1-2
After Secret Avengers #16 above, the series reboots and renumbers so that we get a new #1 during the Ales Kot written run.
Secret Avengers Volume 2: The Labyrinth
Collects: Secret Avengers #6 to #10
Secret Avengers Vol. 3: God Level
Collects: Secret Avengers #11 to #15
Hawkeye Vol. 5: All-New Hawkeye
Collects: All-New Hawkeye 1-5
Jeff Lemire and Ramon Perez faced the unenviable task of following Fraction and Aja with All-New Hawkeye.
Collects: All-New Hawkeye 1-6
Collects: Hawkeye Vs. Deadpool 0-4
All-New All-Different Hawkeye(s) & Civil War II
New Avengers: A.I.M. Vol. 1: Everything is New
Collects: New Avengers 1-6
New Avengers: A.I.M. Vol. 2: Standoff
Collects: New Avengers 7-11
Collects: Civil War II 0-7
Hawkeye’s full, crucial involvement in Civil War II can be found in Comic Book Herald’s complete Civil War II reading order.
New Avengers: A.I.M. Vol. 3: Civil War II
Collects: New Avengers 12-18
Collects: Hawkeye 1-6
By Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero. ‘Bout time.
Occupy Avengers Vol. 1: Taking Back Justice
Collects: Occupy Avengers #1 to #4
Continue to the list please
I loved Captain America and the Avengers for NES. Hawkeye was so awesome in that. I wonder how many other people only knew of him through those games.
True, the dialogue IS fun. It just seems to me like the writers want Kate to replace Clint, and I really dislike that idea. She’s good enough to go solo, and I think a new code name would do that for her. If they wanted to keep up the archer name theme, Diana would be a good choice. If they want to give her a name that incorporates archery and her other skills, then that would take more work, but it would be worth it. Keep your quiver full! 😉
Nice to discover another Hawkeye fan! They seem to be hard to find!
Personally, I think Bishop would do better to get he own codename and costume. She’s a strong character and she doesn’t need to ride Hawkeye’s coattails anymore, if she ever did. I’m all for the two keeping up their original father/daughter relationship, but she should get to spread her own wings and fly on her own.
See you around!
The major downside would be the loss of “After you, Hawkeye,” “Thanks, Hawkeye” dialogue exchanges in Fraction and Aja’s run 🙂
I kind of love that Kate just claimed Hawkeye, rather than “Kid Hawkeye” or “Lady Hawkeye” or any such fluff. And that Clint respects that she’s earned the moniker.
That said, maybe she could branch out on her own easier with her own superhero name!