Happy New Year folks!

It's the first Friday of the year and if you're looking for an ATTF we have a New Year's Party slowly getting started where we're chatting about creativie plans and things we're looking forward to in 2019.

In case you missed it, we also have a Secret Santa 2018 Masterlist with 13 new fanfics.

And if you've getting that, ugh, back to studying/work in cold January feeling, don't forget February is just around the corner, and that means a mini promptathon...

In comics there's a a new Black Widow #1 due out this month from writers Jen and Sylivia Soska and artist Flaviano (I don't know much about this one; comment with any news?). Meanwhile Hawkeye (both of them actually) is in West Coast Avengers, written by Kelly Thompson and issue 7 is artist Daniele Di Nicuolo (which is a touch comics!wacky at times but fun and I'm enjoying this one).

No Marvel films out this month, but if you enjoy Spider-Man and you haven't seen it already, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is good fun and does some interesting things with the animation imitating comics art.

Have a good first weekend of the year!

Dear Comm Members (those of you who haven't scattered yet out of fear of the new LJ Terms of Service):

I think most of us here are fans of both the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and its progenitor/parellel universe, the Marvel Comics and their various divergent versions (616, Ultimates, Fraction/Aja, Edmunson/Noto ...).  Because once you love Clint and Natasha, you can't get enough of them - I know I've been digging up even some vintage versions of them since the days when I professed complete ignorance of the comics 'verse.

So tell us - do you have a preference?  Slight or definitive?  Do you prefer terse, flinty-eyed, Ultimates-inspired Hawkdad from the MCU; the human-car-crash-but-still-professional Fraction version; or the atonement-driven Occupy Avengers guy in the tac suit?  Do you harken back to the femme fatale assassin of the 616; or do you prefer the sarcastic Avengers whisperer played by Scarlett Johansson, or the guilt-ridden, liquid-eyed cat lover created by Phil Noto?

Or do you do pick and choose what you like and mash them up into the kind of convergent whole Marvel never seems to quite manage?

And while you're at it, do you have any recs you can share for your favourite fanfic version of Clint and/or Natasha (whether inspired by one of the "originals" or completely different)?

And finally, do you foresee any convergence of the comics verse and the MCU in the forthcoming Avengers 3 and 4?

The floor is yours!

Things to remember:
1) Always label NSFW (Not Safe For Work) stuff in the title and post under a cut.
2) Fic and artwork needs to have a rating and warnings (or you can say that you’ve chosen not to use warnings).
3) For people with annoying internet connections, say in the title if a comment is graphic/images/gif-heavy and post picspams under a cut.
4) Have a damn good time! (Because if that’s not happening then this post has clearly failed.)

Title: You'll Hum This Tune Forever
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Characters: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov
Word Count: 1770
Summary: Clint doesn't plan on moving anytime soon, could wait for morning right where he is, and gives a discontent huff when Natasha stretches out against him, yawning as well, and then pushes herself upright.

Her smile in response is fond and amused, the way someone would look at a puppy who's being especially adorable, if a little dense. She stands and extends her hand, and ohh, well yes, that changes things.

read it on AO3

Title: We Set The World To Rights
Rating: R
Pairing/Characters: Clint/Kate
Word Count: 3170
Summary: “If you like being tied up so much, well. I’ve been the expensive elite version of a girl scout, which means I know pretty good knots, and I’m sure we can find some rope around the place if we go looking. We can take care of that right here. No need for you to go and get yourself...”

And right then and there Kate loses her train of thought, because they’ve been together for a few months now but she doesn’t think she’s ever seen Clint’s pupils dilate so fast and so suddenly.

read it on AO3

Title: Still In Love With All Your Sins
Rating: NC-17
Pairing/Characters: Clint/Kate
Word Count: 2000 (do I get a price for hitting that on the dot? XD)
Summary: The one where they're going through a box of old photos, Kate reveals a fondness for Clint's old circus costume, and things get a little out of hand. Or taken in hand, rather.

read it on AO3

Title: Every Night A Hopeless Lie
Rating: NC-17
Pairing/Characters: Clint/Natasha
Warnings/Kinks: Consensual Kink, Exhibitionism, Public Nudity, Older Woman/Younger Man, Experimental Kink
Word Count: 4994
Summary: He never even tried to resist, and now he's reveling in his love for her, enjoying an illusion that can’t ever become truth. Natasha can faintly remember what that feels like; the memory stings, like a needle lodged just beneath her skin, and it makes her want to be a little cruel, to see how far she can push him, to see when they'll finally reach the point at which he will tell her no more.

read it on AO3

Author: alphaflyer
Title: By the Book
Characters: Clint Barton, Kate Bishop, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, Lucky the Pizza Dog, Jessica Dawson (Background), Bobbi Morse (Background)
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton & Kate Bishop
Length: app 8,400 words 
Summary: Clint Barton's love life isn't just a car crash, it's a multi-vehicle pile-up. Kate decides to lend a hand.

Author's Note: This story was initially written for a Hawkeye Bang, from which I had to withdraw when I got sucked into an RL vortex. The piece draws most of its inspiration from the Matt Fraction Hawkeye run (without being slavishly canon compliant), with a dash of Avengers Assemble #5 and a hint at events from the MCU. A mash-up, really, but that’s what fanfic is for, right?

Thanks to my beloved beta, jrbarton. I added a few bits after she was done, so any glitches are mine. A belated birthday present for geckoholic.

Read it on AO3

Title: With Focus
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Characters: Natasha Romanoff, Kate Bishop
Warnings: n/a
Word Count: 1242
Summary: Upon meeting Kate Bishop, Natasha finds herself stuck in a bit of deja-vu.

read it on AO3

Oh dear. It has been a while, hasn't it? My apologies.

Let us move forward, because there is much to talk about! The first being Clint's cameo in Black Widow #10. Did it give you sufficient feels? I certainly had the feels. Following that issue, we had a fun team up between Natasha and Wolverine's protege, X-23.

The past two months also gave us another Kate-centric issue of Hawkeye, and the first two issues of Hawkeye vs. Deadpool, which surprisingly I enjoyed, given my usual indifference to Deadpool. It's nice to see another comic acknowledge Clint's deafness.

The past weekend also gave us much news thanks to New York Comic-Con! The first being that while Matt Fraction and David Aja's run on Hawkeye is sadly coming to a close, there will be a new Hawkeye book featuring a new creative team next March. I'm not familiar with the new team's previous work, but people who are seem to be excited, so this is good news!

The Women of Marvel panel also provided exciting news for our favourite Marvel lady. There's going to be a Black Widow young adult novel written by Margaret Stohl. No movie announcements, but this is still interesting, right? The Women of Marvel panel also saw the announcement of a Gamora ongoing comic written by Nicole Perlman (the initial scriptwriter for Guardians of the Galaxy) and the announcement that G. Willow Wilson will take over writing duties for the all-female X-Men team. G. Willow Wilson is already doing a fabulous job on Ms Marvel, so this is great news.

And to finish off this post, Phil Noto, aka the amazing artist for Black Widow, announced that Marvel has commissioned a series of variant covers from him next year. It's great to see Noto's talent appreciated. He gave us a sneak preview of his variant covers, including one for Black Widow. And what a cover it is.


Yes, Natasha is wearing Clint's shirt.

Bear in mind that this is a variant cover (ie. not the offical cover), so the cover doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the comic's contents. But still, I expect appropriate squeeing to commence.

*facepalm* I'm so sorry that this is so late. I got distracted by Promptathon (which is going really well, keep it up, guys!).

July gave us the prettiest issue of Black Widow yet, and finally, another issue of Hawkeye! And what an issue it was.

Elsewhere we had the first issue of the new Storm ongoing, and an issue of Ms. Marvel that may go down as the most adorable superhero comic ever. I was grinning from start to finish.

As August's issue of Black Widow has already been released, feel free to discuss it in the comments as well. Next month, Clint gets a cameo!

Title: out of the ash
Author: findthesea
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None, save for some subtle references to the darker parts of Clint's backstory
Summary: And Clint Barton is seven years old, and everything seems blurry and hazy, and he can’t quite understand words that well.
Notes: I debated whether or not to save this for the upcoming prompathon, but in a fit of feelings, decided to post it now. Inspired in part by the beautiful, wonderful words and art of Fraction/Aja's Hawkguy #19 which broke my heart in every single way and has taken over my head for the time being.

Read HERE @ AO3.

Goodness gracious, this month has flown by fast!

This month we had Black Widow #7, which featured Natasha having a run in with Daredevil. We also had some news about the Hawkeye series, namely, that the delays have been due to complications in the personal lives of the creative team. The next issue should be out next month... maybe.

However, the big news this month was the reveal of the cover and solicit for Black Widow's September issue:



Yes, that is who you think it is! The solicit includes: "Because you demanded he shows up in more than just two panels: Black Widow v.s. Hawkeye!"

You know what that means, guys? Not only is Clint going to appear in Natasha's book again, we're going to have an entire issue of Clint-as-drawn-by-Phil-Noto. Oh my.

Hello bar!

This month gave us a treat in Black Widow #8: an unexpected (and hilarious) Clint cameo! I think you'll all agree with me when I say that Clint-as-drawn-by-Phil-Noto is hot as fuck. The rest of the issue was great, serving both as a wrap up of the first arc and setting Natasha on her path for the next story. There was a lovely moment between her and Maria Hill, and she finally let in the cat!

Still no Hawkeye, I'm afraid, but Clint did have a major role in this month's issue of Avengers, where he met his future self.

Oh dear. It's been a little while, hasn't it? It's entirely my fault, real life and planning Remix was a big distraction and for that, I am sorry.

This month saw the plot of Black Widow really get going, introducing new villains and increasing the role of Maria Hill. Solicits for the upcoming arc beginning in June seem to indicate that more figures from Natasha's history are due to appear. Edmondson was asked about Clint, and his answer was along the lines of "I won't say anything until August solicits, but you'll see some more familiar faces." August solicits are due out late in May. I'd say there's a good chance Clint will be making an appearance in Natasha's book!

Unfortunately, Hawkeye is still plagued by delays.

Elsewhere in Comic Book Land, April saw the release of Elektra #1. Even if you know next to nothing about Elektra (like me), it's worth giving a look for the art alone. Black Widow and Elektra have the best art in all of Marvel right now, in my humble opinion.

Whoops! Last month got derailed by preparation for the Valentine's Promptathon (AND IT WAS AWESOME), and the end of February coincided with some Stuff in my life so this post slipped my mind until now. Never mind, that means we get two discussion posts this month!

February was a big month for Clint and Natasha. Black Widow #3 was released and we finally got another Clint-centric issue of Hawkeye. Elsewhere, Shit Went Down in Secret Avengers. In further comics news, February also saw the release of Ms Marvel #1 and She-Hulk #1, to great critical and fan acclaim.

March is another big month in comics, with Black Widow #4 being released later in the month and Secret Avengers being relaunched next week I believe. The previews for Secret Avengers #1 show Clint crashing Natasha and Jessica Drew's spa day.

Discuss!

Happy new year, everyone! I hope you've all had a great start to 2014.

Because I'm betting I'm not the only one still picking up the pieces of my brain after the holidays, this week's ATTF is really simple. Our theme is new year's resolutions and/or wishes for the new year (if resolutions aren't your thing).

So:

1. What are your resolutions or hopes/wishes for 2014?

and

2. Do you have a head canon about our favorite master assassins and new year's? Do they celebrate it? Does Clint make the same resolution to take a nap every year? Please share/flail/write comment fic/have a general awesome time.

And as a final aside, check out this gorgeous promo Phil Noto posted on tumblr. Black Widow #1 comes out next week, and so far I think that's one of the most exciting things about 2014!



Things to remember:
1) Always label NSFW (Not Safe For Work) stuff in the title and post under a cut.
2) Fic and artwork needs to have a rating and warnings (or you can say that you’ve chosen not to use warnings).
3) For people with annoying internet connections, say in the title if a comment is graphic/images/gif-heavy and post picspams under a cut.
4) Have a damn good time! (Because if that’s not happening then this post has clearly failed.)

Hello, and welcome to our second Monthly Comics Discussion Post!

The comics were fairly light on Clint this month (he'll get a better showing in December), so I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk some more about the upcoming Black Widow comic in 2014. I already posted the cover for issue #1 here, so take a look at the cover for issue #2.



I think you'll all agree with me that that is fucking gorgeous.

Think that's all? Take a look at the the cover for #3 under the cut:

( Black Widow #3 )

Artist Phil Noto also released this promo image of Natasha looking ever so stylish in civilian attire, with the key words "Ex-KGB, SHIELD Operative, Avenger, Master Spy, Highly Trained, Killer." If anything, this book won't pull punches. ;)

We also had our very first glimpse at the interior art. There are wolves involved.

Here is one of the first interviews with the writer, Nathan Edmondson.  Here's an intriguing quote:

"I revel most in the little personal moments; her moments alone at home, meetings with her attorney, interactions with animals."

Hmmm... Pizza Dog, perhaps?

This is another interesting interview.

Interviews indicate that Natasha will be working alone for the first arc or two, but team ups with other heroes are planned, so a Clint cameo is a good possibility! Hopefully more information will be released throughout December in preparation for the book's launch, but so far the comic promises to be fairly light on continuity and self-contained, much in the same vein as Matt Fraction's Hawkeye. This makes it a good jumping on point if you haven't read about Natasha in the comics before.

The first issue will be released on January 8, the second later in the month. From then on the comic will ship monthly.

For more Ladies In Comics, Captain Marvel relaunches in March, which is more classic cosmic superhero antics complete with punching dinosaurs. February sees the release of She-Hulk, which appears to be lighthearted, day-in-the-life stuff, and Ms Marvel, which looks to be more teen oriented and centres on a brand new character, Kamala Khan. Elektra launches in March, and will have a much darker tone by the looks of things. 2014 is shaping up to be a good year for female superheroes!

Will you be picking up the Black Widow series? Want to discuss your thoughts and wishes for the comic? What would your ideal Black Widow comic involve? And will she walk Pizza Dog? Discuss!

In our ongoing efforts to bring squee to the community, behold our inaugural Monthly Comics Discussion Post!

The way it works: At the end of each month, we will interrupt our regular MCU-centric programming to talk about all things related to Clint and Natasha in the comics. Comics that were released during the month, comics you're currently reading, comics you've read and wish to discuss, etc. If you'd like to squee about comics not related to Clint or Natasha, we're okay with that. If comics are not your thing, we're okay with that too!

Come January, Clint and Natasha will each have their own ongoing comics. They are on the same team in Secret Avengers. This is all exciting stuff that deserves celebration.

( Interested in reading about Clint and Natasha in the comics but don't know where to start? Here are some recs! )

Please note that this is by no means an essential or exhaustive list, and we welcome further recommendations in the comments. Most comics can be found in trade paperback format on Amazon, Book Depository or your local comic bookstore, and individual issues can be found online on sites such as Comixology, or at your local comic bookstore.

What are your favourite Clint and/or Natasha comics? Tell us about them!

While some comics are harder to come by, please don’t post torrent links in the comments.