my favorite kind of wackjob

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he's a perfect blend of competent and disaster, who hides his insecurities behind being a joker and a little bit of a jackass.

he does his best but is a little immature, but can pull it together when really needed, and his primary goal is always helping as many people as he can.

he's inspired so much by steve rogers, despite their rocky start, and measures up to that more than he thinks he does.

despite his reputation for flying by the seat of his pants, he actually has really good improv strategy and is invaluable in times of crisis.

he really cares for and is so quick to express his admiration for katie, even when she's mad at him.

he cannot let go of a revenge quest no matter how bad it is for him <3

comics read

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various thoughts

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it's been really interesting to see how clint has been characterized over the years. my girlfriend read a lot of the 60s comics for hawkeye and black widow, and sent me a lot of those panels, which actually brought me around on a lot of his interactions with captain america i had previously disliked. having started with the fraction run, and young avengers presents #6, even freefall, clint's shown to have a great respect for cap, and i knew he had been offered the shield at one point. reading new avengers (2005) and blindspot, i was surprised to see the animosity between them. seeing their rocky start from the 60s comics brought a lot of context to that, that really made me appreciate them both more as characters (though i still dont believe in steve breaking clint's bow in new avengers).

what i have gotten really picky about, is how different writers have portrayed clint's humor and self destructive tendencies. i feel like a lot of comics have made clint stupid in ways that don't line up with what i've seen of why he acts the way he does. it's been stated multiple times over that one of hawkeye's biggest strengths is being underestimated. as much as i didn't care for the last two issues of occupy avnegers, clint is right when he says that despite this facade of sorts, he is actually quite competent. however, what the fraction run, freefall, and even blindspot landed really well i think, is that even being competent and good at thinking on his feet, a lot of clint's ideals and goals lead him down self destructive paths and bad impulses. he's not an idiot but he is prone to jealousy, especially early on, and even when he's mellowed out in that regard, he has a need for justice to the point of reckless revenge quests that push away the people who want to help him.