Newsarama has an interview up with Rob Liefeld regarding his upcoming stints on Deathstroke, Grifter, and The Savage Hawkman. Some insights are provided, including the confirmation of my suspicion that he will have a co-writer on Hawkman, which is something of a relief for me. Except that co-writer will apparently not be Tony Daniel; it's TBD.
He's an open book as far as direction is concerned. The Nth metal armor, which Carter possesses, is in huge demand. It's power, and the secrets it possesses are desired by dangerous players, from our world as well as other worlds and dimensions. He is surrounded by danger and opponents who appear to have him outnumbered, and yet he fights back with a vengeance and takes matters into his own hands.
The other big news out of this article is the exit of Philip Tan on art, replaced with Joe Bennett from Deathstroke. I'm not sure if I have ever read a title with him on the pencils, but a quick Google search indicates that he will be a big change from Tan. Of course pretty much anyone would a big departure from Philip Tan.
I am still not really thrilled with this turn of events, but I have to call it as I see it: the hints which Liefeld drops are a mix of typical hype and what sounds like a reasonable connection to what this series has been established as in the first arc. The Nth metal armor evidently plays a big role, and makes Hawkman a target; this seems to be in line with the Daniel stuff. And Liefeld's desire to have Hawkman soar higher (to steal a phrase from commentor Joseph, whom I still need to respond to... sorry, about that Joseph...) certainly sounds good, but every comic creator says this when they come on a book.
I don't care for Liefeld's rendering of Hawkman in this article. Something about the helmet and belt doesn't look right to me.
Of course, we must still play the "waiting game" on this new direction for the Winged Wonder.
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5 weeks ago
7 comments:
I hate the current Hawkman costume, so for once I think it's less a problem of Liefeld's and more that nobody can draw the thing but Tan. I think it's interesting that this is referred to as a stint, since it makes it appear like the Liefeld runs will be at least as truncated as DC's many other New 52 false starts. The shorter list would consist of creative teams that remained constant for eight months.
Sorry Luke. I'll keep up with Hawkman via your blog, but I won't be buying this new arc. I guess the only equivalent I can imagine for me personally would be if Judd Winick took over writing Firestorm.
The Irredeemable Shag
cJoe Bennet was the primary Hawkman artist during Volume 4 while the "Rise of Golden Eagle" story was going on.
He did a good job.
I enjoy Bennett's art on Deathstroke every month, so I'm happy to see him on Hawkman (Liefeld will be doing both writing & art on DS). I've enjoyed Tan's art, though it is admittedly very different from most DC artists.
Tony Daniel has done well; though perhaps a little slow, and I'm somewhat "on edge" about who they may announce. If it's Kyle Higgins (current writer of Deathstroke & Nightwing), it could be a great move for Hawkman. If it's Eric Wallace (Mister Terrific), or someone else from a cancelled book....sigh.
@Frank, regarding nobody being able to draw it but Tan, I can buy that. Maybe only Tan can make it not look weird. And unfortunately, "stint" was my word; it's not in the interview. Hopefully either 1) this run will be better than I am anticipating or 2) it'll be a false start as you suggest.
@Shag, I know how that goes. And like I said, maybe it will be better than I am predicting. You never can tell. I was very concerned about Dan DiDio on Outsiders, and I ended up really liking that run.
@Mr P, cool, I did not know that! I am not up to that in my Volume 4 reading. I do have that trade though; I will have to give it a flip-through and check out the art.
@John Q., Tan's unique style was one of the elements of this team I really liked. I dug him on Outsiders and if anything his style here was more refined. So I am sad to see him go; hopefully he will catch on somewhere else (from what I understand he is one of DiDio's boys, so that seems likely). Regarding a co-writer, unfortunately we will have to wait and see who it is. If Liefeld is just concocting the overall plot and direction and someone with more demonstrated writing chops is coming in afterwards to fill in the details, I'd be happy.
As it stands, we'll all have to break out the Hungry Hungry Hippos because the Waiting Game sucks.
Luke, What happened to my post to this topic yesterday? I commented on the horrifically ugly Liefeld rendition of Hawkman, further indicted his artistic skills in general, and then mentioned the half-hope I have in him, anyway, on account of how I feel Tony Daniel has failed (me). Did you not get the transmission? It was gold, man, pure gold!
@Joseph, sorry man, I didn't get your comment. I'll check the spam filter but I don't typically have good comments get stuck in there...
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