The Long-Lived Look Of Hawkman

The main appealing feature of Hawkman is, to me, his appearance.  Moreso than any element of his personality, history, or back catalog, the look of the character is the most easily identifiable aspect of what has made Hawkman viable for 70 years.

Hawkman stands among fairly rarified company when it comes to his look -- that is, how his look pretty much resisted change.  Of the DC Golden Age characters who were revived in the Silver Age, very few retained their classic apperance: Aquaman changed his gloves, Green Arrow and Black Canary stayed pretty much the same, and the the Hawks.  In fact, one might even argue that Hawkman (and Hawkgirl) stands nearly alone in this aspect, since, like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Arrow had been published continually since the 40s, while Hawkman disappeared with the end of the Justice Society's run in All-Star Comics in 1951.  So Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Black Canary alone went idle and then came back with the same look as they had in the "old days."

And why shouldn't Hawkman have retained his classic look?  His is amongst the most striking heroic character designs of any era.  The barechested warrior, with a fearsome helmet, a large weapon, and broad, raptor-like wings is a distinctly unmodern style, instead tying itself to classic fantasy elements, giving Hawkman a timeless quality.  Appropriate, considering that the Golden Age Hawkman is a "timeless" character, dealing with reincarnation and ancient civilizations.  And, at the same time, the science-fiction setting of the Silver Age Hawkman does not negate this historical aspect -- tales ranging from John Carter to Buck Rogers and beyond utilize fantastical styles in a science-fiction setting, and the Silver Age Thanagarian Hawks fall into this category as well.

In the 80s, when Tim Truman redesigned Hawkman for the Hawkworld miniseries (and later, ongoing), he moved more into a "hard" sci-fi design, with the black body suit and space-age weaponry.  But even in this iteration one can make the fantasy connection, simply filtered through a modernist sci-fi approach.  And even with the sci-fi elements, the same basic appearance remained unchanged, with the wings and menacing helmet in place.  Clearly this look has it's fans; after all, that's what first attracted me to the character.

It's appropriate for a character like Hawkman, who has had two wildly different approaches during his existance, to have had such a consistant look over the same period.  Comics are a visual medium, and having a striking look is just as important as a compelling story when trying to make a hero popular.  The looming figure of a warrior, looking like he stepped out of a time warp, armed with ancient weapons, his face covered with the helm of a bird of prey, and sporting a set of wings from his back will simply never go out of style, and remains a key element of Hawkman's long-lasting appeal.  

Image: Hawkman sketch, Mike Grell, date unknown.

Why "Being Carter Hall?"

Or, what got me into being interested in and collecting this character in the first place?

Like most readers, the first thing which attracted me to Hawkman was his look.  Sure, I liked his classic look -- see a later post I will write about the Super Powers Collection Hawkman -- but the look which first drew me to Hawkman was his post-Hawkworld, third title series look, with the black body suit and golden wings.  As a 13 year old, this look was downright awesome.  I bought the first two issues of the new series, missed the third, and then promptly never read it again.  As I said, I was 13 -- I was not very smart, and I constantly chased new or "hot" things, and, evidently after missing an issue I deemed the Winger Wonder to be neither of those qualifiers.  I remember buying and reading the issues, but I don't remember anything which takes place in them, although I am pretty sure that it was a mystery who was wearing the wings.

I became reacquainted with the character through Goyers and Johns' work in JSA.  When I finally took the plunge into JSA after hemming and hawing for months on end, I dove and bought the first trade, knowing full well than only two trades later was The Return Of Hawkman.  Wizard had hyped that story quite a bit, gushing about how it solved all of Hawkman's problems and made him workable again, so I was eager to read it.  Of course, reading JSA, I soon became enamored with other members, including Sand, Atom-Smasher, Jay Garrick (whom I knew well from the pages of Flash), Mr. Terrific, and, yes, the new Hawkgirl -- but that's another post.

Anyway, when I got to the third JSA trade, which is titled and collects The Return Of Hawkman, I really dug it.  The alien cultural aspect of the Thanagarian conflict mixed with all of the reincarnation and other mystical stuff really appealed to different parts of my personality.  And of course, the look, as rendered by Rags Morales, truly was "Conan with wings" -- a fearsome visage of a warrior stuck for some reason right in the middle of a Superhero comic book.  

Some don't care for the changes which ROH brought.  For one thing. Nth metal is changed quite a bit, and now even more remarkable in that it can effect all four of the fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force).  A somewhat larger group were evidently much more unhappy with the apparent jettisoning of Katar Hol.  As for the Nth metal, I'm sorry, but that is just plain cool.  And Katar... well, I had no concept of Katar as a character.  I had never -really- read his adventures, and so he didn't mean anything to me.  As far as I was concerned, this Carter Hall was Hawkman.

It's easy to see the progression from there.  Hawkman was one of the main stars of JSA under Johns' watch, including serving quite a bit of time as the Chairman of the team.  His take-charge, act-first attitude (that got him in trouble sometimes, such as during the Black Reign story), along with his ever changing arsenal of ancient weapons and his continued bad-assed appearance all conspired to make him the top character in the book for me.  Fold into this Shayera's prominent role in Justice League, and the later appearances of both then psuedo-Katar Hro Talek, and then Carter Hall himself, and the seed which was planted years earlier pretty well germinated.  

I resisted such a transition initially.  I have a few major titles and characters which I collect.  For DC, the top one is the Flash, whom I have been reading for many years.  I came to that table after Wally West had taken over the mantle, so my collection of Pre-Crisis Flash is woefully understocked, and I had thought to focus more on that as my Iron Man collection finishes up.  So I tried to keep Hawkman at arm's length, lest I fall into another (admittedly less populated, issue-wise) character to collect.  At Cons, Adama would kid me and taunt me with tantilizing Hawk comics, and I would deny them again and again.  It got to the point where I would walk up to a dealer's booth at random and flip into a longbox and have Hawkman staring back at me.  The Comic Book Gods were trying to tell me something.

The proverbial straw which broke the camel's back was when Adama called me from a small Con in Atlanta.  "Luke," he asked, "did you ever end up picking up Showcase Presents: Hawkman?  They have it here for five bucks."  I was silent on the other end.  Lots of thoughts passed through my mind very quickly.  'Am I really going to do this?  Take the leap and begin to follow and discover another character?  Can I afford to do that?  Can I afford not to?'  Needless to say I gave Adama the okay.  And the rest is (recent) history.  (And no, the irony of the fact that Adama is a Green Arrow fanatic is not lost on me.)

That brings us here -- from the humblest of beginnings to the full blown fanboy.  I hope that this has served to illustrate just why I am talking about Hawkman in all his incarnations, and why I am going to end up spending a pretty penny on the Aerial Lawman in the coming months and years.

If anyone has any thoughts to share on what they find attractive about the character, please post them as I would really like to hear them!

Image: JSA: The Return Of Hawkman Trade Paperback, 2002, Rags Morales.

Mission Statement

Or, in other words, what is the purpose of this blog?

Being Carter Hall is not a depository of knowledge. I don't think I am knowledgeable enough about Hawkman and his kin to be an "answer man" at this time. Sure, I know a lot about the character, but I don't posit myself as a superior expert or anything like that.

No, instead my mission here is to document my journey into Hawk Fandom. In the past few years, as I have found myself becoming more and more of a DC Comics fan, I have regularly found myself drawn to Hawkman as a character. So as I "take the plunge," so to speak, into full-on fan and collector status, I want to share it with all of you. Everyone who reads or collects comic books will probably have a similar story at some point -- those heady days of the "honeymoon" when every story is new and interesting, that day you find a discount bin just absolutely jammed full of a character's title, alternating through the peaks and valleys as a publisher tries to find the right voice for your hero's title, and the day you find that rare Silver Age issue at a Con that you thought you'd never own.

I hope that you will enjoy this little odyssey of mine. It promises to take us from the hallowed days of Egyptian antiquity, to the far-flung star Polaris and its planet Thanagar, to the present day, and beyond.

We're about to take flight.


Image: Hawkman Trade Paperback, 1989, Joe Kubert.