Read: Secret Origins #11

Issue: Secret Origins #11
Title: "The Origin Of The Golden Age Hawkman"
Published Date: Feb 1987
Generation: Golden Age Carter
Retcon Status: In Continuity

Summary: In the late 1930s, Carter Hall receives a strange crystal knife from an acheologist friend and immediately has a flashback to ancient Egypt.  There, he is Prince Khufu, battling against the devious priest of Anubis Hath-Set.  Khufu is able to avoid being sacrificed by the priest and goes to the side of his lover Princess Shiera.  He is followed by Hath-Set's loyal soldiers, and despite putting up a valiant struggle, the two lovers are captured.  Hath-Set brags about his accomplishment as he murders Khufu and Shiera, but Khufu declares that he will get back at the priest.

Carter awakes back in his time, and immediately discovers strange electrical disturbances in the subway, which has killed several passengers.  In the panic he finds Shiera Sanders, a dead-ringer for Princess Shiera from his dream.  Carter takes her back to his place to recover, then dons a costume of his own design -- including an anti-gravity belt made of a strange "ninth metal" he recently "invented."  Arming himself with a quarterstaff, Carter -- now as Hawkman -- seeks out Dr. Anton Hastor, electronics expert and reincarnation of Hath-Set.  Hawkman wrecks his lab, but Hastor manages to escape.  While Hawkman heads back to check on Shiera, he discovers her and the crystal dagger both gone.  Trailing her to Hastor's place again, Hawkman saves Shiera from being electrocuted.  While struggling with Hastor, Hawkman knocks the evil doctor into his dynamo, frying him.  Hawkman takes Shiera home, and a new bond is formed.

Review: Sound familiar?  It should, since this is a pretty straight-forward retelling of Hawkman's origin from Flash Comics #1.  But then again, this is Roy Thomas handling the writing here, so you really don't expect anything different.  Which is not a problem, because this is a very nicely constructed retelling of Carter Hall's origin and genesis.  Luke McDonald's pencils have a nice weight to them, and there is a nice division between the panels set in the "modern" day and those set in ancient times.  Nothing groundbreaking but fun reading (at least the Hawkman story; I made it about 6 pages into the Power Girl story before I gave up).  

Image: Secret Origins #11, 1987, Jerry Ordway.