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I thought this was appropriate, considering yesterday's post. This house ad for Showcase #101 may ask a lot of questions, but it also catches the eye with no fewer than three Hawkman logos as well as a miniaturized version of the dynamic Kubert cover. The copy of the questions -- asking basic questions which readers of Hawkman's adventures from the 60s would easily know -- really pushes the "revival" button I talked about previously, that this was DC's big push to get Hawkman back into their reader's collective consciousness as a hero outside of the JLA. I especially like the "Why" question, which restates the classic Hawkman introductory text. I don't know how effective this particular instance of this house ad was, though... since I scanned it from inside my copy of Showcase #101. "Hey kids, check out this cool comic book... which you already bought!" Ah well, it's an A for Effort if nothing else. Image: Showcase #101 House Ad, 1978, Joe Kubert (cover art), scanned from personal collection.
Issue: Showcase #101 Title: "Mystery In Space!" Published Date: Jun 1978 Generation: Silver Age Katar (Although I wonder if I should add "Bronze Age Katar" for this era?) Retcon Status: In Continuity (I'm pretty sure) Summary: Hawkman, in his spaceship in Earth orbit with Hawkgirl, recieves a distress call from his old ally Adam Strange, who is coming in for a hot landing! Adam is being persued by one of the many alien races which have begun a war against Rann. The Hawks get Adam aboard and manage to warp away from the hostiles, despite the damage the ship suffers in the attack. Adam recaps the recent events: Rann was attacked out of nowhere by a consortium of foes, driving himself (along with his wife Alanna) underground as part of a resistance force. He was trying to reach the Justice League but was followed and attacked. Adam fears that his family has been captured, but Hawkgirl assures them that the Justice League will help. Unfortunately, Hawkman reports that the controls have been damaged, and they are locked on course for Rann. Secretly, Hawkman suspects sabotage, but is unsure why Adam Strange would do something like that. He goes EVA to try to change course manually, but the ship is attacked once more by a different hostile race. The Winged Wonder is just able to get back inside before they warp out again. Hawkman confronts Adam about the sabotage, but as they argue, he figures it out -- and discovers none other than the Shadow-Thief stowing away on the ship! The Thief was a volunteer for a government space shot, and once in orbit a mysterious voice instructed him on how to build a new Dimensiometer and how to sneak aboard the Hawks' ship. The trio attack Shadow-Thief, but are unsuccessful until Hawkman uses the ship's computer to transport himself into the Shadow dimension and knock the Thief out. The saboteur defeated for now, the ship comes out of warp into orbit around Rann, and the occupants are shocked to discover that the planet which has begun this space war against Rann is... Thanagar! Review: Wow! Since his eponymous series was cancelled (that is, The Atom & Hawkman) some nine years prior, the Hawks had been limited to appearing in Justice League of America, with the occassional guest spot or backup. So this high-flying space opera style adventure was definitely a shot in the arm for the character, a new status quo and a new attempt at a revival. Of course, the "revival" was pretty slow going, with the result of this story being another string of backups (in World's Finest), but it eventually did lead to the Shadow War and all that. it was clear that DC wanted to refamiliarize readers with the Hawks and Adam Strange, as they each get a page to catch new readers up on their history. Taken on it's own merit, this is a solid late 70's DC comic, with lots of action, some great alien and technology designs, a Shadow-Thief apperance and a heck of a cliffhanger. Milgrom's art is strong, and he seems to enjoy handling the trippier elements such as the space warps and the bizarre aliens. Scribe Jack Harris has a good grasp on the characters and his pacing is really nice. The EVA sequence, which counts down how long Hawkman can last in the vacuum, is a standout. Joe Kubert handles the cover, and it's a great character piece. I can really imagine this image standing out amongst the crowd on the newsstand. Even the title is a nice touch. I only have this issue so far, but now #102 and 103 are on my "must find" list. Image: Showcase #101, 1978, Joe Kubert.
This piece is done by Ed McGuiness with inks by Dexter Vines, and was stumbled upon by your struly at the Comic Geek Speak Sketch Gallery. (Note: I want to stress that I do not have possession or any ownership of this image, and am merely reposting it from another site!) The hulking, dangerous looking Hawkman is certainly along the lines of what we have come to expect from the character following the revamp/resurrection in the pages of JSA. I am not sure what to think about the club (because, let's face it, that's not a mace), but I really like the look of the helmet, and the completely hidden face beneath it. I'm considering making this a regular feature here on the blog. Would anyone out there be interested in seeing more sketches of the Winged Wonder? Image: Hawkman sketch, date unknown, Ed McGuiness & Dexter Vines, Retrieved from Comic Geek Speak Sketch Gallery.
I picked this little beauty up yesterday at my LCS, Borderlands, while killing an hour waiting to pick my wife up from work. It's from the latter portion of Hawkman's short-lived second volume, which lasted on 17 issues. This series spun out of Tony Isabella's Shadow War Of Hawkman miniseries and initially followed up on the themes Isabella established, but this point he was off the title and evidently the writing was on the wall. Still, Richard Howell's pencils look nice, evoking that psuedo mid-80s DC "house style" I like to ponder sometimes. This series is hard to find in discount bins, so I think this year at HeroesCon I will have to spend a little more and hunt it down a little more. Image: Hawkman v.2:no.15, 1987, Richard Howell.
Well, we're past the holidays and back on a more normal schedule for our comic book goodies. So where can we find the Winged Wonder this week? Let's take a look. Justice v.3 TPB -- At some point I will pick up this series, with Alex Ross's sorta-Superfriendsed Justice League of America battling the Legion of Doom. It seems that at some point there will be a big Absolute or what have you. The series seems like the kind to warrant that kind of treatment from DC. Trinity #32 -- Hawkman has been a regular in the title, and seems to be playing a large role lately. Still waiting to see how DC is handling the trades for this title, because the backup material in Trinity is clearly a different animal than the stuff in 52 or Countdown. Maybe 4 collections of the "main" story and 2 to collect the backups? We'll see, I suppose.
No sooner does Graphitti offer a Hawkman logo t-shirt in Previews then I come across a second piece of apparel. This shirt, part of the DC Originals collection from Pop Funk, offers a nice nuetral color as a background for the classic Hawkman logo as well as the Winged Wonder himself. The sand color I think is a good fit for the character, and even the slight distress fits a hero who has been around as long as Hawkman has -- both in the real world as well as in the DC Universe. Pop Funk has lots of other great shirts for you DC fans, including such rarely seen (on t-shirts, anyway) characters as Green Arrow, Red Tornado, and the Martian Manhunter. Pretty cool stuff! Image: DC originals Hawkman t-shirt detail, retrieved from Pop Funk.
Well, thanks to a tip from reader Chris, I decided to go ahead and purchase the singles I could pick up from Rann Thanagar Holy War, rather than wait for the trade. I already have the two Specials, plus with my LCS's discount this is the cheaper route. Of course, as you can see I only was able to get the last four issues, meaning that until I can find the earlier ones (or, more likely, order them from an online service), I won't be able to read the story. D'oh! Such is the trials and tribulations of comic book fandom! Image: Rann Thanagar Holy War #5, 2008, Jim Starlin.
