You Can Take The Avenger Out Of The Carnival...

---

Where YOU Weigh In on the Pros and Cons of a Character's New Attire

---

FEATURING:   

Hawkeye, the Marksman   

Following the Avengers' involvement in the Kree-Skrull War, Clint Barton, who at the time was operating in the field as Goliath, was listed as missing in action. But unknown to the rest of his team, his ship had crash-landed on Earth and was discovered by a traveling carnival troupe who offered him transportation in exchange for performances of his impressive archery skills. Eventually, and with Hercules in tow, he makes his way back to New York and becomes involved in a mystery which would result in an invasion of Olympus; but along with his surprise reappearance was of course the surprise of a new costume, replacing one that dated back five years.

In a way, it seems appropriate for Hawkeye's new look (as rendered by artist Barry Smith) to keep in line with his "carny" roots--which indeed it does, thanks to the story's explanation that the costumed belonged to the troupe's former archer who made off with their payroll. The new threads also seem to have inspired Barton to put the moves on the Scarlet Witch...

...though Wanda finally shoots him down. (Ironic how Hawkeye has such lousy aim with Cupid's arrow.)

Funny how the Stalker the Vision winds up in the vicinity of both conversations, eh?

In terms of practicality, these new duds don't seem to be suited to battle situations; for one thing, they're the definition of "wear and tear." One slash from the Swordsman or the Man-Ape and, whoops!, we have an Avenger ducking for cover for all the wrong reasons. (We could say the same for our unfortunate friend Hercules above.) Also, his back- and hip-quivers don't seem designed to accommodate his specialized arrows--while the normal ones tend to fall out in the types of activities that Avengers tend to engage in.

Readers also chimed in with some observations:

If there were indeed "droves" of readers who responded to the entreaty to submit opinions on Hawkeye's new costume, they unfortunately never materialized in the letters column. But with Roy Thomas leaving the book with issue #104 and Steve Englehart coming aboard, the days of Hawkeye's new costume appear to be numbered. Not only does the costume get 86ed after just twelve issues, but the character himself leaves the Avengers following appearances which spanned nearly one-hundred issues over a period of eight years.

So let's have a verdict on Hawkeye's all too brief (in more ways than one) costume!

OR: ?

The floor is open!