DC Universe Classics Hawkman Toy

Well, I finally had a chance the weekend before last to open up some of the toys I had accumulating in my house, including the DC Universe Classics Hawkman.

The first thing which strikes me about this toy is the musculature and bulk.  This is a powerful rendition of the Winged Wonder!  Definitely taking a modern approach in the sculpting.  The costume takes a sort of mixed approach, with the modern taloned boots but a more Silver Age look of clean lines everywhere else.  The helmet is suitably streamlined but still nicely sized.  The orange color is a fun callback to the old Super Powers toy, I think.  

The wings are very striking.  Each feather is sculpted and painted individually, really helping them to stand out.  The pair stands just slightly shorter than the top of Hawkman's helmet, and the wings themselves are on a hinge, allowing a solid range of "flapping" motion.  Furthermore, each wing has a second segment connected on a swivel, which allows him to be posed either in a standing pose or a soaring one.

Our hero is armed with some nice accessories as well, in the form of a mace, shield, and sword.  The mace has a sadly non-functioning wrist loop, but still looks imposing in Hawkman's hands.  The shield is a buckler-type, and clips easily onto either of his wrists.  The sword is a nice little addition.  It's about the size and shape of a gladiator's short sword, and the designers were nice enough to include a loop on his belt to store it.

The major aspect I don't like about this figure is the hinge joint for the wings, which just looks ugly.  Its functional and holds the wings in place very nicely, but that doesn't mean it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb!

All in all this is a very nice representation of Hawkman and will look very handsome standing with his brethren on the shelf!

(Too bad the DCUC Hawkgirl goes for Big Bucks (no Whammies no Whammies no Whammies STOP!) on ebay!)

Original Hawkman Page from Flash Comics #97 by Joe Kubert

Today we are finally finishing up a series of Joe Kubert original art pages from Flash Comics #97!  You can find the previous installments here, here, here, and here!

In the final page of art (which is page 7 of the story), Hawkman has devised a plan to stop the Muans plan and defeat them, shooting a signal rocket filled with "hypo-salt" into the atmosphere.  As the Muans attempt to feed a victim into their device, Hawkman leads them on a chase, as the ostensibly hypo-salt-infused rain begins to pour down on them.

I really like how Hawkman looks in the first panel, all trim muscle.  Unfortunately that second to last panel is very awkward looking, though the final shot of Hawkman fighting the goons is nice.  I would like to know where Hawkgirl is but I guess something happened to her in the two intermezzo panels!  

I want to give a big thanks to Doug Zawisza, author of the Hawkman Companion for TwoMorrows and curator of the Doom Patrol blog, who hooked me up with these images last year.  Sorry it took so long to get them all run but now everyone can enjoy them!

Image: Page 7 from Hawkman feature in Flash Comics #97, 1948, Joe Kubert, provided by Doug Zawisza

Brightest Day #3 Delay... Again

In something of a comedy of errors, Diamond once again did not ship Brightest Day #3 to my LCS this week, meaning that at best I will get #3 and #4 on the same day next Wednesday.  So, sorry to say but once more your review of BD #3 will have to put on hold.  Very frustrating!

The Comic Reader #142

The Comic Reader was a long-running fanzine which was put out by Street Enterprises for most of the 1960s and 70s.  A little before my time, but I am pretty sure I have come across them here and there at shows.  Anyways, this is the cover to issue #142, featuring the Winged Wonder picking up his weapon of choice.  I am not sure who the artist is... anyone have any thoughts?

Sorry about the lack of posts and post quality lately... been really stretched thin over a rough patch.  Hopefully things will even out in a little while.

Image: The Comic Reader #142, 1977, ???, image retrieved from eBay.

Yeah, about that Brighest Day review...

Sorry folks, my LCS didn't receive almost half of their comics last week, so no review of Brightest Day #3 today.  However I will try to get a post up this afternoon, and then review the third issue later in the week (assuming they got the balance of their order!).  Sorry for the inconvenience!

Waiting In The Wings -- 6/3/2010

Well, we all weathered our delay, so now we have to ask what Hawk-related stuff can we expect to see in the shops on Thursday?  

Brightest Day #3 -- Hawkman and Hawkgirl have a new mission: to hunt down and kill Hath-Set before he kills them and keeps the curse alive.  Sounds like a good idea, right?  Hopefully this issue will have more Hawk stuff than the last issue, but I am totally buying this series anyway so I'll probably be happy anyway.

Brightest Day #3 Preview

Comics are delayed a day this week in the US thanks to the holiday on Monday, but to tide us all over here is a preview of Brightest Day #3 over at DC's Source blog.  Enjoy!