Introducing…… Kate Bishop, the All New, All Different Hawkeye

Welcome new reader to my blog, working title being Hero library which will definitely be changed at some point. I first would like to apologize for the rough/ amateur nature of the blog, first time doing something of this nature and any constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Now with all the house keeping out of the way, I would like to talk to you about this new/first series I will be starting on this blog called “Introducing…”. The focus of “Introducing…” is to highlight comic-book characters that I believe the mainstream populace should be aware of, whether it’s because they will be soon introduced to the general public, already exist in a medium a person might enjoy, or I think the character is downright cool. And to start us off, we have Kate Bishop, Hawkeye.

Now I know you may have a few questions already lined up in your head. “Isn’t Hawkeye the dude that shoots arrows at robots and aliens?”, “Isn’t he the lamest Avenger?”, “Isn’t he supposed to be a dude!?!”. Yes Clint Barton, the Hawkeye that you know, is an avenger who tends to bite off more than he can chew, and in my opinion a highly underappreciated character due to how he is presented in the MCU compared to his comic book counterpart. But today we are not discussing Mr.Barton, we are discussing his short term replacement and eventual partner Kate Bishop.

Now, who in the world is Kate Bishop. Kate was created in 2005 by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung were she first appeared in Young Avengers #1. Before any arrow was shot, Ms. Bishop was the daughter of a very focused and wealthy businessman and a caring and charitable mother who gave her everything she needed. Unfortunately her mother dies overseas while on mission work, which caused her father to become distant from her, which stoked a strong sense of independence in her at a young age. As if that tragedy wasn’t enough, not long after her mothers passing, while walking home from in Central Park she was attacked and presumably sexual assaulted. After this startling event, Kate then devoted her time to training herself in various types of self defense and weapons training with swords, knives, battle staves and of course the bow and arrow.

After an adventure with the Young Avengers, Kate then stood up against Captain America himself after her and team were reprimanded for “heroing” without proper training . Impressed with her gumption, Cap decides to give her the code-name and the gear of Hawkeye to Kate in honor of Clint Barton( who at this point in time was believed to be dead). After Clint Barton’s resurrection, which for the sake of time and waning attention spans I wont get into, Kate and Clint become partners, forming a master/protege type relationship that is both endearing and a joy to read. As of now she is the leader of her own team, the West Coast Avengers where she continues to save the world one trick arrow at a time.

“Oh wow, she sounds soooo cool, what are your suggested readings?”, I am so glad you asked totally real and genuinely interested reader. First I would suggest “Young Avengers vol.1” and the 2012-2015 run of “Hawkeye” and although the Hawkeye series is more focused on Clint, it has too many great moments featuring Kate that make it a must read. Also checkout her very recent solo comic and her adventures in the All-New West Coast Avengers on shelves now. And if your not into comics, I understand they get weird sometimes, sit tight cause based on some of my online sources Marvel is in talks of making a live-action show featuring Kate Bishop and Clint Barton, possibly on Disney’s new streaming service.

And that’s all I have for today, thanking for reading, or at least skimming, my very first blog post. I’m excited to share many more daring heroes, dastardly villains and everyone in-between to you. In my next post very soon I’ll be introducing another marvelous gal who I hope will embiggen your interest.