Hawkeye (Kate Bishop)

Hawkeye
File:Katebishop.png Kate Bishop as Hawkeye. Art by Jim Cheung
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Young Avengers #1 (April, 2005).
Created by	Allan Heinberg Jim Cheung
In-story information
Alter ego	Kate Bishop
Team affiliations	Secret Avengers Young Avengers
Abilities	Excellent archer and fighter

Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) is a fictional character, a member of the Young Avengers, a team of superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. She is the third character to take that name, the first being the original Hawkeye, Clint Barton of the Avengers, and the second being Wyatt McDonald of the Squadron Supreme, later known as Golden Archer.

Her costume appearance is patterned on the first Hawkeye and his deceased ex-wife Mockingbird.

She first appeared in Young Avengers #1 (April, 2005). The issue was scripted by Allan Heinberg and drawn by Jim Cheung.

Fictional character biography

Young Avengers Special

Young Avengers Special revealed that sometime prior to joining the team she was brutally attacked in (what appears to be) Central Park. At first, the incident left Kate traumatized, but then it spurred her to engage in intense combat training. So far the team is unaware of this incident as Kate only told her therapist and Jessica Jones. The exact nature of the attack is not made clear—only the initial ambush is shown on panel. However, based on her conversation with Jessica Jones, it can be assumed that the attack was sexual in nature--most likely rape--since Jessica Jones replies that a similar incident lead her to end her own superhero career (a reference to the psychological sexual torture she went through for eight months at the hands of Zebediah Killgrave).

Young Avengers

A "normal" civilian forcibly introduced to the Young Avengers in an early rescue attempt made by the team, Kate has demonstrated skill and level-headedness in high pressure situations. Independent, tough-minded, and blunt, she is also an excellent archer. Her encounter with the young team led her to investigate them on her own, following them to Avengers headquarters and donning the gear of Mockingbird and Hawkeye, as well as what may be Swordsman's sword and Black Widow's belt. When Kate first appears wearing Mockingbird's mask, Patriot jokingly refers to her as "Hawkingbird." She invites herself to join to the team after freeing them and helps them in their battle against Kang the Conqueror. She was subsequently confirmed as a member of the team.

After the team's first adventure stopping Kang the Conqueror, Captain America and Iron Man ordered the team to break-up and refused to train the team without the parents' consent. But Kate Bishop still wants to be a Young Avenger. Thinking the worst Captain America and Iron Man can do is tell their parents, Kate takes the team to an abandoned warehouse previously owned by one of her father's companies, Bishop Publishing, which becomes the team's lair. She also has new uniforms made for them, since Cap told them to "never wear those uniforms again."

Kate is close with her friend and teammate Stature, and has a certain degree of chemistry with teammate Patriot, although their relationship is punctuated by near-constant bickering and one-upmanship; when Stature observed that "no matter what happens" Wiccan and Hulkling "have each other" and Kate has Patriot, Kate immediately objected, saying "all we do is fight". The team’s newest member, Speed, immediately referred to Patriot as "your boyfriend," prompting another denial by Kate. Upon meeting Speed for the first time, she was not her usual composed self (for lack of a code name, her self-introduction stalled after "I’m..."). Still, she's the driving member of the team, pushing everyone to stay together and borderline leading when Patriot's not around, even giving him occasional orders.

After Patriot is injured, Captain America informs the Young Avengers that he hopes that they start normal lives. Kate tells him if he had trained them, Patriot might not have been injured and it was best for him to help the Young Avengers by accepting them. Jessica Jones returns to give Kate the original Hawkeye's bow and arrows with a note from Captain America addressed to Hawkeye. Jessica told Kate that the only other person to stand up to Captain America the way Kate did was Hawkeye, and that Captain America wanted her to take Clint's codename. Kate did and became the third Hawkeye.

Civil War/The Initiative

Kate has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1. However, she and Patriot (who is also on that same cover) make a brief appearance in Doctor Strange's home, the hideout of the New Avengers in the second issue of Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America, casting some doubt into their allegiances. However, in the same issue of Fallen Son, Iron Fist remarks that "It's been a tough week" leading to the assumption that series takes place in the week following Cap's death, and the Young Avengers may have registered after that. It also might have been the "Alpha" form of herself that registered and not herself.

In the same series, Kate and Patriot confront Clint Barton, who had temporarily taken on the costume and shield of Captain America. Unaware of who he truly is, Kate berates Clint, saying that she took Hawkeye's name to honor him but didn't copy his costume as that would be shameful; she further states that "if Hawkeye were alive, I'd call myself something else." Her words convince Clint to return the shield and costume to Tony Stark, condemn Stark for his role in the Civil War, and go his own path.

Young Avengers Presents

In the first issue of the Young Avengers Presents limited series, Kate assists Patriot in tracking down Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, aiding him in taking down a cell of A.I.M. cyborgs in the process. Kate will also be the lead protagonist of the sixth and final issue of the series, reported to involve a team-up between her and the original Hawkeye, Clint Barton.

Powers and abilities

Kate is highly skilled at archery, fencing, sword fighting (which is different from fencing), jujitsu, boxing, and other forms of combat. She carries two battle staves similar to those once used by Mockingbird, carries a sword similar to the Swordsman, and also has Clint Barton's bow and arrows