When it comes to members of the Avengers, Hawkeye is in a class of his own. He isn't your typical hero and pretty much has no desire to be. He is a man that will do things the way he sees fit and deal with the repercussions afterwards. Time and time again, he has been at the front lines facing some of the biggest threats the Avengers ever came across.

He may have proven himself as one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes and has plenty of experience he could pass on to others. There's no doubting his ability to be a hero or a leader. Being a mentor to a youth is another story.

In the upcoming HAWKEYE series announced at C2E2, Hawkeye will be taking a new route, detouring away from the Avengers from time to time. Along the way, he will take on Kate Bishop as his protege. Skilled with a bow and arrow herself and spending time as a leader of the Young Avengers, it sounds like it could be a good pairing. But with Hawkeye's certain ways and attitude, is he the best person to be her mentor?

Let's make it clear, Hawkeye is one of the best Avengers out there. That doesn't necessarily make him the best teacher. Or does it?

Hawkeye started out as a villain. He had a rough childhood, was accused of being a criminal and then fell for Black Widow, who was a spy trying to steal Iron Man's technology at the time.

In some ways, you could say Kate got her start as a criminal as well. Despite coming from a wealthy family, she wanted a different life. When the Avengers had disassembled, she broke in to what was left of the Avengers Mansion and helped herself to some of their weaponry, including Hawkeye's bow and arrow (who was kind of dead at the time).

Some would question his ability to teach or lead because he doesn't have any superpowers. This is actually one of his greater assets. He understands that he fights along gods and super-soldiers while he is simply a normal man. He is a normal man that constantly trains himself to be more than just that. He is an expert marksman. He is determined to "never miss" when locking a target with one of his trick arrows.

It's also this ability to be the best that could be one of his downfalls. It's admirable to want to strive to perfection. But there's a fine line between determination and obsession. During a recent team up with fellow Avenger, Spider-Man, Hawkeye was constantly focused on always hitting the target to prove his worth rather than admit there was an advantage to fighting along side Spidey. When Captain America was trying to hand over leadership of the Secret Avengers to Hawkeye, Clint's short temper lead to him immediately becoming defensive and he lashed out at Steve.

Hawkeye has a chip on his shoulder. Again, he feels the need to constantly prove himself and make himself a more skilled hero. Leading a team is one thing but mentoring an impressionable young hero is another. Despite Clint's experience leading other teams like the West Coast Avengers and Thunderbolts, his first mission leading the Secret Avengers didn't go too well. He was constantly insulting his teammates and the mission was far from a success. Sure, they'll win the battle at the end of the day but it wasn't a smooth transition from Captain America to Hawkeye as leader of the team.

In a lot of ways, Hawkeye is like your typical teenager. He thinks he can do it all. He doesn't want to ask for help and he doesn't want to admit he might actually need any help. He has a huge chip on his shoulder. He doesn't think about the consequences of his actions. He's brash and impulsive and often gets through situations by the skin of his teeth.

Hawkeye may have questionable behavior. He may make impulsive decisions and find himself in awkward situations but that could be what would make him a great mentor. He can relate to the young and stubborn upcoming hero. Just as he managed to take the Thunderbolts and turn them into heroes when he was leading the team, he could do the same with a young hero like Kate Bishop. He can recognize the potential in others. He knows what they are going through. As long as he doesn't feel his abilities are being called into question, he has a lot to offer to others in terms of guidance.

At the end of the day, Hawkeye is one of the hardest working Avengers. He is constantly working to make himself a better hero and that's a great philosophy to pass on to others. You can't become too comfortable when lives are at stake. Because he can be impulsive and immature, he knows where the younger hero is coming from. He can relate to them. Becoming a mentor will also teach Hawkeye a thing or two. Not only will Kate learn from him but he will be learning from the experience. If nothing else, becoming a mentor could actually make Hawkeye an even better hero than he already is.

I believe hes earned the level and experience to warrent him as a role model. He knows enough about being a hero and has paid for his mistakes.

I believe Hawkeye is a good role model.Like with celebrities, they do things that you may not approve of but you admire them and look up to them for the GOOD things they do and disregard the bad.Hawkeye has alot of admirable qualities.For Kate to turn out just like him wouldn't be so bad.

While he may not be the best role model, I can't think of many more Avengers who a young person could learn from positively. He works hard, strives to do his best and can show young heroes that you don't need powers or superheroics to be a superhero.

Hm. Think they'll address each other on a first name basis? cause they're both named Hawkeye. Also if Kate's here, what does it mean for the rest of (or what's left of) the Young Avengers?

the way heroes are being writen these days...none are really good role models for children.

you can thank the great Alan Moore for that.

@zackattack529 said:

the way heroes are being writen these days...none are really good role models for children.

you can thank the great Alan Moore for that.

Agreed 100 percent.

I'd say yes.

The only avengers book I've read in the past few years has been the young avengers stuff and childrens crusade.. so Kate Bishop with Clint in a hawkeye series... yes please. Also I'm all for Clint being a jerk to Cap.. Cap is the real jerk

cannot be any worse then wife beater and genocidal robo builder hank pym, terrorist flip flopper quicksilver, and headmaster killed his own kids howlett. although i will say pym has sucked at leading in secret avengers.

On the surface of it, he seems a terrible role model for young heroes. He's brash, caustic, narcissistic, and reckless. He's often paid the price for these character flaws and, I believe, this makes him a great role model. He knows how it shouldn't be done and that can be the most valuable experience to gain.

I don't know....i wouldn't trust a serial sex maniac like hawkeye with an impressionable young girl...all things considered :(

The only Model Avenger is Cap. Once upon a time i woulda said WonderMAn too... but Marvel decided to use him in a story, and so now he is ruined....

I'd have my kid put up posters of Hawkeye on his wall before that tool Cyclops any day!

Hawkeye has never been anything more than a two bit copy cat of Green Arrow from DC - who himself is a sad mimic of Batman. I find it very difficult to suspend enough belief that a man with no powers could even come close to keeping up with those that do - maybe in a planning role like Nick Fury, but not in an active role.

@DocFatalis: Can you please add more to that

I agree, Hawkeye is slightly unconventional

Honestly, I think Kate Bishop is a better role model than Clint.

After 30-odd years Clint has never gotten rid of that boulder on his shoulder. He would be a lousy mentor.

Being a bad role model might be a more fun to read than if he was a good role model! :D

@AlKusanagi said:

I'd have my kid put up posters of Hawkeye on his wall before that tool Cyclops any day!

ha! If wolverine is mentoring there is no reason why Barton cant.

nope

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You know, he is a teacher there...

Tony Stark is a better role model.

Dear guys and gals (probably) have you considered how many of us tough Wolverine would not be a good teacher and that the school (and another x-title) would definitively not be a good idea? This could be the start of a whole new character development, watching Hawkeye evolve and becoming a more likable character.

If you have read this thank you very much for considering my opinion and let me know what you think about it.

Clint is a good role model even when he does stuff you wouldn't approve.

He is determined to "never miss" when locking a target with one of his trick arrows.

I have yet to reach Level 6. =P

Meh, what hero doesn't make mistakes? At least he doesn't feed the younger heroes any crap.

@Mrakbarman: Well, in order to make heroes more "original" and also let their new readers feel closer to them, writers recently decided to give them serious flaws and let them for example be extremely prone to causeless anger or drug addicts, or perfectly fine with the idea of stealing and killing without any form of trial whatsoever etc...

Apparently, people just think "ouuh, he's bad ass". But maybe this is also a behavior morally reprhensible, especially if your are trying to incarnate good against evil.

In the end the main question is "who's behaving like thief, a murderer or a brute?". When it's the Punisher or Deadpool it really is not such a big deal: we were warned from the start that they are not exactly heroes. When it's all of sudden Xavier who decides to kill people in cold blood, it's a whole different kettle of fish.

Hawkeye is the best leader

HELL YEAH HE IS!!!!!

I think he is a great role model, and was a good fit as a mentor in Avengers Acedemy though he has done little in the book.

Hawkeye has never been anything more than a two bit copy cat of Green Arrow from DC - who himself is a sad mimic of Batman. I find it very difficult to suspend enough belief that a man with no powers could even come close to keeping up with those that do - maybe in a planning role like Nick Fury, but not in an active role.

Better role model than Wolverine.

If a guy with a higher body count than most serial killers can run a school, I think Hawkeye's fine.

If you can be inspired in a positive way by someone, then that's one thing. But even by admittance of the article itself, he's flawed.

So what the hell do YOU think?

hey, you guys remember a while back when Hawkeye was still married to Mockingbird, and she got raped, and then let him die, but Hawkeye yelled at her for it, and took the rapist's side? yep. That is perfect role model material.

Glad to hear that Kate will be in the new Hawkeye series. I know I will be picking this series up.

- Hawkeye mentoring youths makes as little sense as Wolverine being the headmaster of a school. It's a marketing ploy to once again pimp the same group of characters in every title.

@zackattack529: I agree, it's hard to call any of these guys actual heroes now. They're all being written as cynical badasses since that's whats cool now.

Kate's world is a hard world filled with criminals, to name one threat. Having someone with a lifetime of experience handling the same situation would probably be for the better.

No, he is rude and can't comitt to one girl

You're pretty much describing most males leads in comic books, here. I mean, hell, Archie alone...

hawkeye is a hard working avenger.

hawkeye has a chip on his shoulder.

rinse and repeat.

Oh, Clint's just great, a classic Marvel hero. The Secret Avengers business was serious mischaracterisation.

Clint Barton is my favorite Marvel character...stories that are Hawkeye heavy are the only books i read from Marvel so im interested to see how this will be with Kate Bishop.

He's basically Green Arrow with anger issues. One of my least favourite characters.

He's what every "good" leader I've had in the army is.

Self confident, proud, stubborn, and above all motivated.

They have to not just look like they're right all the time they have to actually believe they're right. Even if they find out they've made the wrong choice they follow through with it and do everything they can to make it work out no matter how much blood, sweat, and tears them and their subordinates have to shed to make it so.

Having a chip on your shoulder isn't a bad thing...so long as you can hold yourself and your team together until the dust clears you'll be alright.

Hawkeye would make a great mentor.

@Illuminatus said:

@Tyrisis said:

Hawkeye has never been anything more than a two bit copy cat of Green Arrow from DC - who himself is a sad mimic of Batman. I find it very difficult to suspend enough belief that a man with no powers could even come close to keeping up with those that do - maybe in a planning role like Nick Fury, but not in an active role.

You're acting like the fact that he was inspired by Green Arrow is somehow detrimental to the character. It's not.

Well I think we all know they were both inspired by Robin Hood.

@Illuminatus said:

@Tyrisis said:

Hawkeye has never been anything more than a two bit copy cat of Green Arrow from DC - who himself is a sad mimic of Batman. I find it very difficult to suspend enough belief that a man with no powers could even come close to keeping up with those that do - maybe in a planning role like Nick Fury, but not in an active role.

You're acting like the fact that he was inspired by Green Arrow is somehow detrimental to the character. It's not.

Well I think we all know they were both inspired by Robin Hood.

Essentially I see similar relationship between Hawkeye and Kate that existed between Oliver and Speedy, this comparison in the wish to convey that I hardly see Clint Barton as a good role model for an upcoming young superhero. Just my opinion though.