Clint Barton and Kate Bishop’s Best Team-Ups

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Look cool. Be sassy. Shoot arrows. That describes Team Hawkeye, consisting of the Avenger Clint Barton and West Coast Avenger Kate Bishop! They may come from different backgrounds (Clint from the circus and Kate being a former heiress), but they’re two of the best marksmen in the Marvel Universe. When they join forces, they spell double trouble for their enemies. In no particular order, here are some the best team-up moments featuring Clint and Kate, all of which can be read on Marvel Unlimited!

LITTLE HELP FROM A FRIEND: WEST COAST AVENGERS (2018)

Kate has been living in Los Angeles, doing investigative and hero work, but she might have bitten off a little more than she can handle. Clint advocates for Kate to build a team, as the West Coast has no one to defend it from bad guys. Hence, the new West Coast Avengers! Clint may be “part-time,” but he does his part. He works with Kate to sneak into A.I.M. to find a way to restore Tigra to her normal self, mistakenly leads her and the team into a trap set by Madame Masque (oops), and, oh yeah, wrangles land sharks. He’s also handy for talking through plans and taking down villains. As the former leader of the West Coast Avengers back in the 80s, Clint is a good asset to have as he keeps Kate grounded.

KNOW YOUR HISTORY: ALL-NEW HAWKEYE VOL. 1 (2015)

The past, Clint’s past, parallels the present in this action-packed story! What seems to be a simple mission for Kate and Clint isn’t simple at all. Quite the contrary. The weapons that Director Maria Hill tasks the Hawkeyes to retrieve from Hydra aren’t just weapons—they’re also three little kids. Not trusting the children with S.H.I.E.L.D. either, Kate and Clint break them out and escape to Brooklyn. The kids get to experience some domesticity with Clint and Kate, but sadly, it doesn’t last long. Hydra literally comes knocking on Clint’s door, and the Hawkeyes go into defense mode.

When the kids let out a brutal blast that melts the surrounding Hydra soldiers, Clint has second thoughts. Kate believes that the kids are good but just don’t know any better. Then Clint does the unthinkable—he lets Hydra take the kids away. This not only breaks Kate’s heart but also her trust in Clint. The Hawkeyes are done, until…

TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS: ALL-NEW HAWKEYE VOL. 2 (2015)

This series focuses on a possible future and the present. In the future arc, it’s been thirty years since Team Hawkeye has been on a mission. Kate is wiser, and Clint is now… Old Man Clint. So what brings them back together after all this time? Project Communion. Clint and Kate don’t automatically resume being friends, but they still remember how to be sarcastic with each other. They go toe-to-toe with the Mandarin, and with an assist from an older Noh-Varr (Marvel Boy), they are able to escape to S.H.I.E.L.D. with one of the Project Communion kids. It’s at S.H.I.E.L.D that Kate and Clint discover the other children, but when the rest of the test subjects are freed, Maria Hill eradicates them. Both Hawkeyes feel guilty for the decisions that led them to this terrible event.

Thankfully in the present, Clint reaches out to Kate, admitting his fault in the capture of the kids, and that he wants to make things right. Kate and Barney, Clint’s brother, disguise themselves as Hydra soldiers and recapture the kids from S.H.I.E.L.D. Clint plays along by joining the S.H.I.E.L.D. rescue team, making sure their plan goes off without a hitch. It works! However, neither the Hawkeyes nor Barney calculate the small chance of attracting actual Hydra soldiers, but the bad guys are no match for them. The kids are transported to the island that Barney shares with his family, and Kate and Clint reconcile.

SHENANIGANS WITH DEADPOOL: HAWKEYE VS. DEADPOOL (2014)

A Halloween night gone wrong leads to Clint and Deadpool (sort of) working together to stop super-secret S.H.I.E.L.D. info from getting into the claws of Black Cat! Kate works as a decoy to draw out Black Cat’s allies, Ivan and Typhoid Mary, while Clint fights the feline fatale herself. When they fail to catch any of them, they turn to Plan B: find the thumb drive. Kate points out that the victim, Ellsden, has a cat and that the thumb drive could be with it—Clint is skeptical. Deadpool finds said thumb drive on the cat’s collar and taunts Clint by calling Kate “a way better Hawkeye.”

Things get a little tricky for the team(?) when Clint becomes brainwashed. He grabs the jump drive and travels to Black Cat, which isn’t good for anyone. Deadpool gives Kate a grenade launcher to explode an electrical substation so Black Cat can’t download the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel files. A little extreme, but it works. Clint is snapped out of his programming, he and Kate take on Black Cat and friends, and Deadpool, guns blazing, arrives at the penthouse on a sky cycle and in Clint’s old Hawkeye uniform. Big “H” on the cowl and all. Could it be that three Hawkeyes are better than two?!

FAMILY REUNION: HAWKEYE (2016) #13-16

In the four-part arc of the same name, Clint travels to Los Angeles to get help from Kate, who has her own problem that needs solving. Someone is trying to kill Clint, and Kate is trying to figure out whether her mom is still alive. They find out that Eden Vale is the one hunting down Clint, and she wants revenge for the loss of her daughter, Lucy. Eden promises that she can bring Kate’s mom back if she betrays Clint. That’s not happening. Due to a very dumb decision on Clint’s part, Madame Masque and Eden team up to dispose of him and Kate. Eden also brings past villains into the mix, such as Lady Bullseye and Swordsman, Clint’s former mentor! Even with extra Super Villains and an army of masked minions, the Hawkeyes triumph. A little ingenuity goes a long way.

ARROW-DYNAMIC DUO: HAWKEYE (2012) #2

Although this series is full of great moments, the second issue sets the tone for how Kate and Clint interact as partners. Kate visits Clint in Bed-Stuy and joins him in finding out who’s tagging Vagabond Codes across the city. They decide to get fancy and see Cirque du Nuit (Circus of Crime), who is going to “inaugurate the world’s first six-star hotel.” Clint is the first to point out that the circus group is a bunch of thieves. He recognizes that a man’s throwing style is the same as his old mentor, the Swordsman, who was very much into stealing goods. The circus steals from the audience, most of which are criminals like Kingpin and Hammerhead. Thief-ception! The Hawkeyes chase after the phony circus. Clint is captured by some henchmen, but Kate relieves him from their grasp. The Hawkeyes beat the rest of the circus and leave the hotel with a boat full of money, to the ire of the criminals because that’s their money. Those darn Hawkeyes…!

(NEVER) MEET YOUR HEROES: YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS (2008) #6

This is actually the second time that Kate, as the new Hawkeye, meets Clint. She first met the newly resurrected Clint (read HOUSE OF M for more on that!) in his very brief stint as Captain America. Yes, you read that correctly. The next time they encounter each other, Clint has adopted the name Ronin and surprise attacks Kate while she’s on a “not-date” with Patriot. Why? To test her skills. Clint wants his original codename and bow back from Kate. To her dismay, he wins both back in a bet—he hits the impossible “Robin Hood shot,” splitting an arrow with another one. Of course, Kate doesn’t just let Clint keep them. After all, Steve Rogers gave her the name and bow! She earned it!

With help from fellow Young Avenger Speed, Kate breaks into the New Avengers’ headquarters and steals back her bow. Clint can’t help but be impressed. He gifts her a picture (featuring him, Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver) and officially endorses her as the Young Avenger’s Hawkeye. Who would have guessed that this moment would later open the door to exciting team-ups for years to come?

Hit the mark with more Hawkeye comics starring Kate Bishop and Clint Barton on Marvel Unlimited now!

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