Title: "The Return of Hawkwoman"
Published Date: Dec 1993
Generation: Modern Katar & Shayera
Retcon Status: In Continuity
Summary: In Colorado, Count Viper has swapped his current body -- Shayera Thol's -- with Katar Hol, giving himself Hawkman's body and trapping our hero in the body of his partner and lover. Viper uses his telekinetic powers to knock Katar unconscious and takes "her" back east to his HQ. While Viper begins the next phase of his plan to save America from itself, Katar is thrown into a cell. As his guards consider having their way with "her," Katar lashes out and incapacitates all of them, noting that in some ways Shayera kept herself in better fighting shape than he did. Stealing a motorcycle, he returns to the abandoned Church and interrogates the captive Dr. Moon as to the location of Shayera. Moon tells Katar that she is being held in an asylum. Right about then, Viper receives word of the escape and wings off to deal with his own plan, sending Airstryke and a team of Marauders to deal with "loose ends."
At the asylum, the old man who we have seen grumbling before manages to completely break his restraints and take out the guards -- and we find out that this is the body housing the mind of Shayera Thol! Airstryke and his team are quickly dispatched by Katar -- who is then attacked by Shayera, thinking him to be Count Viper in her body. A kiss convinces her otherwise. Meanwhile, Count Viper arrives at Justice League America headquarters, quickly using his mental powers to dominate Wonder Woman... because if you want to reshape America, who can stand against the Justice League?
Review: More body jumping fun and games from Ostrander and Duursema. It's a nice progression from last issue's cliffhanger, including some of the stuff you would expect (when Katar puts on a leather jacket, he comments that it is tighter across the chest than he would like) and some more imaginative stuff (Katar fighting with a lot of kicks rather than punches, adapting quickly to the different balances and strengths of Shayera's body). Duursema's art is on par with previous issues and there are some very nice depictions of "Hawkwoman" this time out. As a solo issue it's pretty good if you can get past the inane setup from last time, but lack of closure means this is better served being read as a middle chapter. It does do a good job of building anticipation for the nest installment, which is admirable.
By the way, the cover image? Not even CLOSE to happening in this issue. And what's up with that depiction of Wonder Woman? Not nearly as good as she looks inside, that's for sure.
Image: Hawkman v.3:no.4, 1993, Jan Duursema.
4 comments:
It's a shame I lost my Hawkman run. I could have crossed over with you through Wonder Woman and Bloodwynd, a rare thing.
that Ostrander/Duursema was a great run. the showdown between Wonder Woman and Airstrike was one of the coolest fights i've ever read. i used to have issues 1 - 7. the art got crappy after 7 i think.
@David -- I'm digging this run so far, for the most part, including Duursema's art. My main complaint is that there is not much in the way of recapping what happened in the previous volume. We got that one splash in the first issue and that's it.
@Frank -- Considering how much of a WW kick I have been on, that is a double shame!
Also, I need to figure when to read the Annual, which was already released by the time this issue was published... you know you are waiting with bated breath to hear my thoughts on your favorite New Blood Mongrel. ;)
Read the annual. As I recall, it featured Shayera-Hawkman, and Mongrel shows up in the ongoing pretty soon after.
I hated Duursema's art, and preferred Steve Lieber by miles. Taste is so subjective...
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