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I have 4 minutes to submit the essay I haven’t started I think I’m gonna make it

i'm giving you an essay prompt: johnny/peter (bros duh) and mj/peter, uncle ben/peter and aunt may/peter (obvs not romantic family feels)

#out of webbing;#long post #*essays #kinda #smokeythebearhatesme

((*sudden desire to shove muses into random outfits*))

#but I should be working on an essya #*essays #but I need to just draw new oufits cause #art says yes #oh yeah I have drabbles to finish too #Sam's Deductions

#so the ap world exam is tomorrow haha fun #i took three practice tests and failed all of them let's hope i do well on the esays #*essays #dammit

thoughts on 'tales of suspense'

Narration: Meantime, there is one other observer who feels no joy at what has happened! The only emotion he experiences is one of burning, blazing jealousy!

Hawkeye: I’m the greatest marksman the world has ever known! And yet they ignore me!!

The plot of these issues is pretty straightforward—a young circus performer sees the accolades and attention new superhero Iron Man is getting, grows jealous and decides that anything iron can do, arrows can do better. He takes the name Hawkeye, tries to stop a bank robbery, and ends up being blamed for the crime instead. He really isn’t off to the best start. It’s when he’s running away from the police that fate throws him another curveball—he meets Madame Natasha, the Russian spy known as the Black Widow. And his life thereafter is changed because of it.

Narration: Thus, smitten by the Black Widow’s fatal beauty, the man called Hawkeye enters into a dramatic alliance which is to change the course of both their lives, and Iron Man’s as well!

So, there’s a key question we can ask here: what would have happened if Hawkeye hadn’t met Black Widow? He might have turned back to hero-work eventually, after he’d outrun the police and hidden out for a while. But, on the other hand, maybe he wouldn’t have. His motivations at this point really aren’t that strong—he’s fueled more by jealousy than any true desire to help people. But meeting Natasha gives him some new motivation—love, or, perhaps more accurately at this point, infatuation. Maybe it’s just as shallow and misguided as his jealously, at this point, but it does change his trajectory as a character.

At this point, Hawkeye and Black Widow are a subplot; they are villains who pop up in Iron Man’s life from time to time and are a nuisance to him. Their plans—or, more accurately, Natasha’s plans—never actually succeed, but that isn’t from lack of trying. Rather, the problem seems to be Clint. Numerous times, he has the chance to finish Iron Man off, but he doesn’t. Not because he can’t, or won’t, but because he cares more about Natasha’s well-being than her mission’s success.

Hawkeye: She has to live!! She has to be mine!! She’s the only one I’ve ever loved!!

Obviously, everything the characters say in this era has to be taken with a grain of salt. They are melodramatic and over-exaggerated by nature. But between attacking Iron Man and kidnapping Pepper Potts, the only truly good thing Hawkeye does at this point is save Natasha. It may be a little problematic (it is Natasha who needs to the saving, even if she always insists that Hawkeye complete the mission instead), but at the end of the day these events reflect more on Hawkeye than Natasha herself.

She comes up with plans that could, and should, work, but Hawkeye ruins them by putting her before the mission. Because, ultimately, he doesn’t care about the mission—he has more misgivings about it than anything else, even if she insists he’s not actually betraying his country. But the one thing he does care about is her. His love for Natasha is the only thing he actually has conviction about.

Hawkeye: I have agreed to be your ally, my lovely Black Widow…but my heart rebels at the thought of treason!

Another failed plan and a Russian kidnapping later, and Natasha ends up getting a costume upgrade and returning to Hawkeye. Apparently, now, they will finally take down Iron Man! But there’s a shift at this point that’s worth noting, if only because future adaptations cling to its phrasing so much. It’s in Tale of Suspense #64 that Black Widow first refers to Hawkeye as her partner. The Ultimates universe would adapt this to make them partners in their careers for SHIELD, which television and cinematic adaptations also used.

But the word “partner” is a bit misleading. She may name him as such, but it’s not as though their relationship is suddenly one of equals. Natasha is still calling the shots, and Hawkeye is still messing things up. But the idea of Hawkeye and Black Widows as partners would remain, in nearly every retelling of this tale.

Black Widow: All that remained was to design a mask! …And I made one to resemble yours, Hawkeye, for you shall again be my partner!

Their last exploit, once again, ends in Natasha being injured and Hawkeye carrying her to safety. And that is their last appearance as partners with the pages of Tales of Suspense. When we next see Hawkeye, it is on the opposite side of the law—the climax of his redemption arc, when he officially becomes an Avenger.

But why the sudden change of heart? Hawkeye is known more as an Avenger now than he ever was as a side-villain of Iron Man, or as a paramour of Black Widow. But when we last saw him, he had only vague inclinations towards heroics, and really wanted attention and affection more than anything. So why did he decide he needed redemption?

Hawkeye: Fate always exacts her price for past deeds! There was no way to escape—my darling! But I’ll make up for what we’ve done! I’ll devote my life to making amends!

Ultimately, it’s Natasha who gives Hawkeye—who we’d later come to know as Clint Barton—the motivation and impetus to become a hero. It’s probably safe to say that he never would have gotten there on his own, at least not in the same way. This wasn’t the end of Hawkeye and the Black Widow’s story, but it is the portion of it that gets revisited most often—melodramatic lovers and partners-in-crime, who live lives of manipulation and failure, but ultimately come out of it as heroes. And it’s for that reason that the Black Widow can and should be listed as one of the biggest influences on Hawkeye’s life. In that way, it’s fitting that the two of them have maintained a relationship since then, though they haven’t been romantic in decades. There’s just something about kidnapping secretaries that bonds two people for life.

from tales of suspense #57, 60 & 64 (stan lee & don heck) and avengers #16 (stan lee, jack kirby & dick ayers)

#*essays