Clint Barton was born in Waverly, Iowa. At a young age he lost both parents in a car accident. After six years in an orphanage, Clint and his brother Barney ran away to join the Carson carnival of traveling wonders. Clint soon caught the eye of the swordsman, who took the young boy on as his assistant. Along with the help of trick shot, the swordsman trained Clint to become a master Archer. Clint later found the swordsman embezzling money from the carnival. Before he could pass his mentor to the authorities, Clint was beaten and left for dead, allowing the swordsman to skip town. The relationship of Clint with his brother Barney and trick shot soon deteriorated as well.Hawk was accused of stealing and treated like a criminal. In the run naive Hawk met the black widow, a spy for the Soviet Union, in which he fell in love. Blindly following the Black widow, Hawkeye helped her in attempts to steal technology developed by Tony stark. In one of the battles with Iron Man Black Widow was seriously injured. Hawkeye rescued her and fled the battle to save her life. Hawkeye decided to be a" straight shooter " ever since.