Hawkeye Inspired Dog Names

Once upon a time, it used to be very trendy to give superheroes animal sidekicks; Superman had Krypto the Superdog, Batman had Ace the Bathound, the Falcon's whole shtick is based on his bird Redwing, and even Spider-Man has a dog named Ms. Lion. Hawkeye is no exception to this trend - he'd eventually get an animal sidekick of his own in the form of Lucky, the Pizza Dog. What makes their relationship different, however, is that their partnership is something of a deconstruction of the animal sidekick trope. In fact, most stories involving Lucky show just how dangerous putting an animal in the line of fire can be. Lucky's stories also show how animals can help in more ways than directly fighting crime - even advocating for animals to be given different roles in comics. Lucky's origin story is actually a prime example of what we're talking about.

When Clint first meets Lucky, the dog nearly loses his life while trying to fight crime. To make matters worse, Lucky is nearly killed by the mobsters who were supposed to be caring for him at the time. The story goes that Hawkeye went on a solo assignment in order to topple a crime ring. When he found their whereabouts, he noticed that the perimeter was being guarded by a dog. Rather than attack the dog, Clint befriended it and convinced it to stay out of harm's way. When bullets started flying and Clint found himself in dire straights, the dog came to his aid, attacking the mobsters that had halfheartedly cared for him. In retaliation, Lucky was thrown into oncoming traffic and hit by a car! Hawkeye managed to save Lucky's life but the dog ended up losing an eye in the process. All of this in his first outing as a hero. At Clint's insistence, Lucky was to stay out of the line of fire. It's here where the dog made a name for himself as a support animal. 

To this day, Lucky primarily works as a support animal for various heroes in the Marvel Universe; Lucky has had dealings with various Avengers and SHIELD agents and is personal friends with Squirrel Girl. Lucky is also a part of a dynamic duo with Mew, the pet cat of Squirrel Girl's best friend. Mew and Lucky have solved mysteries and even thwarted criminal plots together while still offering support to any hero who needs it.