Title: "The Treasure Of The Hawk-God's Tomb!"
Published Date: May 1982
Generation: Silver Age Katar
Retcon Status: Changed Generations
Summary: In Gotham City, the theft of an Egyptian relic, the Tomb Of Osiris, brings Hawkman into town to pair up with Batman to solve the case. After scaring the heck out of a local heavy, they get a lead that the Tomb is going to be auctioned off illegally. Museum curator Carter Hall pays a visit to a local collector known to traffic in hot items and strong-arms his way into getting an invite to the auction. Among the items to be auctioned is the Gotham City Falcon... which has not yet been stolen! So the duo head out and stake out the Falcon, and soon are joined by Anton Lamont, The Fadeaway Man! Using his Conjuring Cloak, he is able to keep the heroes off balance and escape with his loot. Hawkman and Batman suspect that Lamont is going to somehow double-cross the auction and line his own pockets,
That night, as Carter Hall makes his way through the auction, the bidding is set to begin on the Tomb. Suddenly "Hall" tears off his disguise and is revealed to be Batman! A brawl breaks out, and the guests who pour out are promptly arrested. Before Batman can get his hands on Lamont, he fades away and escapes. Commissioner Gordon compliments Batman on recovering the Tomb, but Bats reveals it to be a fake.
In a store room in the Gotham City Museum, Lamont appears, ready to steal the real Tomb... only to have Hawkman pop out of it! The Winged Wonder is able to subdue the Fadeaway Man and recover the Tomb. The heroes had deduced that Lamont was hiding the Tomb in plain sight and planned to steal it for his own collection. The case closed, Hawkman and Batman congratulate each other on a job well done.
Review: Pretty standard team-up which serves more as a showcase for the Fadeaway Man... who would not reappear for almost twenty years. *sigh* Be that as it may, it's a nice little adventure. The main attraction for me is the awesome Jim Aparo artwork. Aparo's Batman is, always a thing of beauty, but we don't see his Hawkman as much, so it's a real treat. Penguin also has a cameo at the auction, a nice touch. All in all a pretty good little team-up but nothing to go crazy trying to find.
Note: This issue also has a Nemesis backup story by Cary Burkett and Dan Spiegle.
Image: The Brave And The Bold #186, 1982, Jim Aparo.
2 comments:
Thanks, I've never read that one.
Fade Away Man is a pretty good villain, I like his arrogant attitude, but his shtick is pretty tired. From the looks of things that exact same story could have been done with either Gentleman Ghost or Shadow Thief.
I will say, Fadeaway Man has a great look as well. The main thing which differentiates him from the Gentleman Ghost and the Shadow-Thief is that his Conjuring Cloak does let him do some minor magical acts, so he has a bit of the Matter Master thrown in for good luck.
He's a decent B-lister badguy, but certainly not one of the best Hawkfoes. Hence his lack of appearances for nearly two decades!
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