Title: "Blood Lines"
Published Date: Oct 2003
Generation: Modern Carter
Retcon Status: In Continuity
Summary: In Germany, Carter Hall spends time reminiscing about his past lives, including one in the city of Lubek. He was known as Koenradd von Grimm, and was the son of a blacksmith who was one of the most respected me in the city, helping turn it into one of the most powerful in the region. While in a bar, Carter witnesses a man named Jonas get into a drunken brawl before being sent home by his brother, the bartender. His brother apologizes for Jonas' behavior, saying he has not been the same since his wife died.
Later, Carter is at a graveyard when he runs into Jonas again. Jonas is sober, and melancholy over his actions. He and Carter talk about losing loved ones, something our hero knows all too well. Jonas says that the only thing he can imagine worse than losing his wife was to be if he never knew her at all. Carter is touched by Jonas' revelation and considers it, thinking again about his many lost loves. He takes a rubbing of Koenradd's gravestone, which he adds to a collection of similar rubbings back at Stonechat. Then, a call comes in from Ray Palmer, who extends a dinner invitation to his friend, which is accepted.
Review: Unsurprisingly, we have a quiet, introspective issue after the blowoff of "The Thanagarian" (see Note below). Luckily, Hawkman's many past lives is fertile ground for reaping not only fill-in stories but also these quieter tales of reflection. Not much to say here other than Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's art is fantastic... it's too bad we only get to see Carter in his gear once, and then it is a cold weather version rather than his normal uniform. Still, a diverting read and helpful to building the resurrection mythos which permeates this volume.
Note: When I started this review I didn't realize that I had never written up my review of #17! So expect that one pretty soon. Hopefully.
Image: Hawkman v.4:no.18, 2003, John Watson.
2 comments:
An excellent issue and one that really demonstrated the potential of the character and that series.
I have the full run of vol 4, that and my Shadow War/vol 2 comics are the most prized of my collection.
About the only complaint I have about this story is that we go straight into another one-shot, archeological, globe hopping story next issue. Which is pretty lame criticism, if I do say so myself.
Any modern comic series worth reading can bring it both when the action quotient is high as well as when it is low, and I think Volume 4 does both nicely.
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