Childhood

• Born/grew up in Waverly, Iowa
• Worked in family butcher shop alongside parents & brother Barney.
• Tied in vain to please abusive alcoholic father
• Parents killed in drunk driving accident
• Placed in orphanage alongside Barney
• Repeatedly passed over for adoption
• Tried in vain to please bullying brother Barney
• Pressured into running away alongside Barney,
• Joined the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders where he worked as a roustabout
• Regarded carnival folk as new family
• Became an assistant to Swordsman
• Idolized Swordsman as father figure
• Practiced knife throwing
• Met with and trained by Trick Shot in archery
• Rejected Barney’s suggestions of pursuing academic education
• Became skilled archer, adopted buckskin costume as Hawkeye, warned by Swordsman not to fancy himself his equal
• Discovered Swordsman had robbed carnival paymaster, refused to go along with theft and was nearly killed by Swordsman, legs broken.
• rescued by Trick Shot & Barney, Swordsman fled
• Angrily scorned by Barney for not cooperating with Swordsman’s theft, and was abandoned by Barney in disbelief that Clint passed up such an opportunity.
• Taken in by Trick Shot
• Continued training while he healed
• Introduced to concept of specially gimmicked “trick” arrows
• Realized Trick Shot was cruel sadist but stayed with him to learn his skills & for lack of anywhere else to go
• Reunited with Barney, learned Barney was leaving carnival to join army, refused to go with Barney, came to bus station too late to say goodbye to Barney before he left
• Duped into coming along as backup during Trick Shot’s assassination of a raiding a criminal named Marko.
• Severely injured one of Marko's guards and discovered him to be his brother, Barney. Was also injured himself.
• Refused to abandon Barney
• Fought with Trick Shot over Barney's fate (lost)
• Spared & abandoned by Trick Shot who threatened to kill him someday once he had developed into someone worth killing.
• got Barney to the hospital, fled.

Becoming Hawkeye

• Becomes a star carnival attraction, a master archer called "Hawkeye" - the 'world's greatest marksman'
• Joined Tiboldt Circus
• Romanced & manipulated by tattooed 'Lady Eden'
• Discovered evidence linking Eden & Ringmaster to art theft & murder of art dealer
• Began using purple costume in his act
• Confronted Eden
• Joined Coney Island Circus and returned to old buckskin costume.
• Unwittingly crossed paths with Pepper Potts
• Hustled 'Vinnie' out of money in pool game
• Followed news coverage of Avengers’ founding
• Became jealous/inspired of Iron Man after seeing him in action, decided to become a super hero
• Crafted specialized archery arsenal & new purple & blue costume
• Patrolled city, thwarted jewel theft, but was mistaken for thief himself by police, fled.

Joining Black Widow

• On the run, the naive Hawkeye meets the Black Widow, a spy for the Soviet Union, with whom he falls in love.
• Is romanced & manipulated by Black Widow
• Enhanced his archery arsenal using technology supplied by Black Widow
• Attacked Iron Man on her behalf
• Accidentally injured Widow during fight, carried her off to seek medical attention rather than finishing off fallen Iron Man
• As agent of Black Widow: Fought Spider-Man, terrorized Simon Williams while attempting robbery of Williams Innovations.
• Invaded Stark’s factory in search of new weapon designs, held Pepper Potts hostage, fought Iron Man and escaped.
• Tested new acid arrow
• Reunited with Black Widow
• Reluctantly rejoined her campaign against Iron Man
• Helped her abduct Happy Hogan & Pepper Potts
• Fought with Black Widow against Iron Man
• Nearly won but withdrew from battle to aid fallen Black Widow

On the Path to Avengers

• Rescued Edwin Jarvis & his mother from muggers
• Befriended by Jarvis
• Encouraged by Jarvis to pursue better things than life as an outlaw
• Took Black Widow to hospital after her Russian masters tried to kill her
• Tracked to his Brooklyn lair by Jarvis
• Built bolo arrow
• Told Jarvis he was using money stolen from drug dealers to pay Tinkerer to craft custom arrows, chided by Jarvis for dealing with known criminal.
• Argued with Jarvis about whether he could seek a better life
• Staged break-in at Avengers Mansion with Jarvis so he could show off his skills to Avengers & apply for membership
• Pardoned for past crimes & awarded Avengers membership.