| Barney Barton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | As Barney Barton: The Avengers #64 (May 1969) As Trickshot: Hawkeye: Blindspot #3 (June 2011) |
| Created by | Roy Thomas (writer) Gene Colan (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Charles Bernard "Barney" Barton |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Dark Avengers FBI |
| Notable aliases | Trickshot Hawkeye |
| Abilities |
|
Charles Bernard "Barney"Barton is acharacter appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created byRoy Thomas andGene Colan, the characterfirst appeared inThe Avengers #64 (May 1969).[1][2] Barney Barton is the older brother and a recurring antagonist ofsuperheroClint Barton / Hawkeye.[3][4]
Barney Barton debuted inThe Avengers #64 (May 1969), created by writerRoy Thomas and artistGene Colan. He later appeared in the 1983Hawkeye series, byMark Gruenwald. He appeared in the 1987Solo Avengers series, byTom DeFalco. He appeared in the 2003Hawkeye series, byFabian Nicieza. He appeared in the 2009Dark Avengers series, byBrian Michael Bendis. He later appeared under the codenameTrickshot in the 2011Hawkeye: Blindspot series, by Jim McCann.[5] He appeared in the 2010The Avengers series, byBrian Michael Bendis.
Barney Barton was born in Waverly, Iowa. He lost both his parents at a young age when his father, an abusive alcoholic, lost control of his car and collided with a tree.[6][7] Barney and his younger brotherClint Barton were sent to an orphanage.[8] They stayed there for six years before running away to join the Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonder as roustabouts.[9] TheSwordsman, a member of the carnival with a popular swordplay act, selected Clint to be his new assistant.[10] Feeling overlooked, Barney became jealous and bitter. Later, when Clint was severely injured at the hands of the Swordsman for discovering his embezzlement scheme, Barney condemned his brother for not remaining loyal to his mentor.[11][12] Barney, having had enough of the carnival, decided to enlist in the army. He suggested that Clint should join him and make a fresh start. Clint declined his offer. Barney told his brother that the offer still stood, and he would wait for him if he changed his mind. The next morning, Barney stood at the bus depot, waiting and hoping his brother would change his mind. When Clint did not show up, a sorrowful Barney got on the bus and left his old life behind. As the bus was departing, Clint arrived, having changed his mind. However, he was too late.[13]
Barney later became anFBI agent.[14][15] His first assignment was to work undercover as a bodyguard for a criminal called Marko.[16] Unbeknownst to him, Clint and his new mentorTrick Shot attempted to rob the criminal's mansion. Barney was shot with an arrow by Clint. When Clint learned what he had done, he refused to leave his brother's side and turned against Trickshot. Trickshot wounded Clint with an arrow and left.[17]
His next undercover assignment was to pose as a racketeer. He was approached byEgghead, who offered Barney a place on his villainous space-station in exchange for funds. When Barney declined the offer, Egghead (actually a robot sent by the real Egghead) attacked him. With his bodyguards slain, Barney went to theAvengers (whose ranks included his brother using the identity of Goliath) to help stop the supervillain. Barney and the Avengers battled Egghead and his robot soldiers inside the villain's space-station. During the battle, Barney sacrificed his life to destroy Egghead's deadly ray-projector.[18][19] After the funeral, Clint received a letter from FBI agent Allan Scofield revealing Barney's double life.[20] The letter also revealed that Barney was aware of Clint's double life.[16]
Unknown to Hawkeye and the Avengers, Barney's body was stolen by Egghead. Egghead discovered that Barney was still displaying faint vital signs and placed him in a healing chamber.[21] Later, Egghead was inadvertently killed by Hawkeye in a battle with the Avengers, leaving Barney suspended and forgotten in the healing chamber.[22] He was later discovered byHelmut Zemo. Zemo, who held a personal grudge against Hawkeye, manipulated Barney to turn against his brother.[21][23] Barney and his new "benefactor" enlisted Hawkeye's former mentor Trick Shot (whose cancer had returned) to train him to be as proficient with a bow and arrow as his brother. Once the training was completed, Trick Shot was badly beaten and his cancer was allowed to fester. Barney then delivered the dying Trick Shot toAvengers Tower as a message to Hawkeye.[11] Later, while investigating his former mentor's death, Hawkeye was ambushed by his brother.[24] Declaring himself the new "Trickshot", Barney subdued Hawkeye and delivered him to Baron Zemo.[21] Zemo had the brothers duel to the death. Hawkeye (despite going blind from a previous injury with the thirdRonin) managed to best Barney in battle. Before teleporting away, Zemo transferred Barney's criminal funds over to the "victor" Hawkeye, then taunted the hero for turning his brother against him. In custody, Barney agreed to a bone marrow transplant to save his brother's sight, but only so he could battle Hawkeye again in the future.[25][26]
Norman Osborn later faked Barney's death in his hospital bed as Norman invited Barney to join his second incarnation of theDark Avengers.[27][28] Despite the new team's initial success, he was finally defeated in a fight withMockingbird when he underestimated her capabilities, as Mockingbird had recently been enhanced by the Super Soldier Serum/Infinity Formula hybrid.[29] After being arrested, Barney and the rest of the villains (save forSuperia andGorgon) are offered reduced sentences in exchange for signing on with theThunderbolts program.[30] Barney remains with the team until the Dark Avengers escape their handlers and disband.[31]
Sometime after the dissolution of the group, the homeless and disheveled Barney goes to live with Clint, with whom he apparently reconciled, at his new apartment.[32][33][34][35]
As part of theAll-New All-Different Marvel, it is revealed that Barney had stolen Clint's wealth and moved to a private island to start a family with Simone, one of Clint's former neighbors.[36] Despite all of this, the two brothers remain on good terms. He even assisted Clint andKate Bishop in rescuing the Project Communion kids from HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D.[37]
Barney Barton is a highly trained formerFBI agent and is a proficient marksman, exceptional athlete and skilled hand-to-hand combatant with incredible reflexes.[38] He was later trained byBuck Chisholm, the same man who trained Hawkeye, to become a highly skilled archer displaying uncanny accuracy.[39] As Trickshot, Barney uses a variety of razor-sharp arrows, including trick arrows such as explosive arrows and bola arrows.
Brenton Stewart ofComic Book Resources stated, "Trickshot's love/hate relationship with Hawkeye defined much of his appearances in the comics. He later appeared as a member of a Dark Avengers team where his insecurities over his unfavorable comparison to his brother dominated his character, and ultimately, that is exactly what gets at the heart of what is great about the character. It's hard enough for the world to spare much love for the world's greatest archer, but the world'ssecondgreatest archer gets even less. But what already works so well in the comics would work even better in the MCU where Trickshot could truly shine."[40] Jordan Iacobucci ofScreen Rant wrote, "If the MCU intends on adapting theDark Avengers storyline with its Thunderbolts, Barney Barton is an excellent choice, as his addition could both enliven Clint Barton's character arc, as well as inform a potential second season ofHawkeye, which is rumored to be in development. The character is one major piece of Clint's story yet to be adapted for the MCU, who should reunite with his brother before Jeremy Renner's inevitable exit from the franchise."[41]
Screen Rant included Barney Barton in their "Hawkeye's 10 Best Relationships In Marvel Comics" list,[42] and in their "10 Comic Book Thunderbolts That Should Join The MCU Team" list.[41]Comic Book Resources included Barney Barton in their "10 Marvel Characters We Hope to See in the MCU's Phase 4" list,[28] and ranked him 2nd in their "Marvel: 10 Characters Baron Zemo Created In The Comics" list,[43] and 4th in their "Marvel: 15 Best Hawkeye Villains" list.[26]
| Hawkeyes | |
|---|---|
| Affiliations | |
| Supporting characters | |
| Enemies | |
| Publications | |
| In other media | |
| Related articles | |
