Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everybody!  In honor of the one night a year where it's perfectly acceptable to dress up in a ridiculous costume AND beg for candy throughout your neighborhood, here's a few Hawkman costumes I found online.  He's a bit tougher to put together a costume for, but it's doable.

Have a happy and safe Halloween folks!

Read: Hawkworld v.2:no.1

Issue: Hawkworld v.2:no.1
Title: "Thanagar's Hero"
Published Date: Jun 90
Generation: Modern Katar
Retcon Status: In Continuity

Summary: With Thanagarian criminal mastermind Byth exiled to the primitive planet of Earth, Wingman Katar Hol is hailed as the latest in the long line of "Thanagar's Heroes," including his own father, Paran Katar.  This makes his growing disillusionment with the rigidly structured Thanagarian society troubling for both Katar and his superiors.  The Wingman chief, Andar Pul, doesn't want Thanagar's Hero risking his life on patrol, but Katar will hear nothing of it.  Andar responds by ordering Katar's partner Shayera Thal to keep her eyes on him, and take him out if need be, because "Thanagar's Hero" can always be replaced.  Afterwards, after Katar checks with his government mole Kanjar Ro, Shayera gives Katar a piece of her mind, telling him that he has to get over his "liberal guilt" about his station in life and do his duty.

On a patrol, the Hawks investigate a pair murder victims who have had their faces skinned off -- the calling card of the Manhawks.  Their investigation is interrupted when they run into a Downsider kid who Katar knows.  Katar wants to help the boy, but he leads them into an attack by another Downsider named Bladebat, whom had lost his hand in a previous fight with Hol and replaced it with a knife. Things get more complicated as they are then ambushed by the Manhawks.  After a brutal three-way battle, the Manhawks retreat, Bladebat loses his other arm, and the boy is killed.  As Shayera says, they don't know any better, because "Once a Downsider, always a Downsider."  The Hawks are then given their new assignment: Earth.

Review: Well this certainly is a change of pace from what we've been reading on this site, huh?  A dark and grimy tale of corruption, totaltarianism, and class warfare, this is very clearly a very different take on Thanagar and it's resident heroes.  Truman is in full allegory mode here, turning what was once a pretty simple science fiction property and using it as dystopian social commentary.  It's not bad, I just wasn't expecting it to be this thick, honestly.  It's very odd to see Katar feeling guilty about being considered a "hero," but considernig the Post-Crisis landscape I guess it's unavoidable.  Graham Nolan's artwork is very nicely done, giving a sort of British, understated vibe to the proceedings which works well.  I especially like the redesign of the Manhawks, which loses the grace of the Silver Age design in exchange for a horrific, Cronenberg-like appeal.  As a launch for a new series, this is pretty good, but after this initial reading of the Hawkworld continuity, I still like Silver Age Katar better.

Image: Hawkworld v.2:no.1, 1990, Graham Nolan.

Waiting In The Wings -- 10/29/2008

What new funnybooks are coming out this week that feature the Winged Wonder?  Let's take a look!

DC Universe Decisions #4 -- The final issue.  At least DC got it all out before Election Day.

Justice Society of America: The Next Age TPB -- If you missed the start of the new (but still aweomse) JSoA series and thought the HC was too prciey, now is your chance to get caught up.

Rann-Thanagar Hol War #6 -- As this series goes on, I keep getting more anxious to get the trade to read it.  What will become of Hawkman as we know him?  Will Katar be back?  Will Carter stick around?  What about my pet theory?  I need to know this stuff!

Read: The Brave And The Bold #43

Issue: The Brave And The Bold #43 (Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Hawkman v.1)
Title: "The Masked Marauders Of Earth"
Published Date: Aug/Sep 1962
Generation: Silver Age Katar
Retcon Status: Out Of Continuity

Summary: In Midway City, an entire jewelry store is bizarrely stolen by even more bizarre thieves: giant hawks wearing vaguely humanoid masks who shoot beams from their eyes.  The store is returned, but with two large rubies missing.  Police Commissioner Emmett contacts Hawkman on Thanagar, who recognizes the thieves as the Manhawks, a roving band of criminals who introduced the concept of theft to Thanagar years earlier.  This new rash of crimes -- Thanagarians committed thefts for the sheer thrill of it -- forced Katar Hol's father Paran Katar, to turn his anti-gravity belt and artificial wing inventions (originall devised to study birds) in the tools of combat.  Katar used his father's invention and infiltrated the Manhawks, then stole one of their masks and reverse-engineered it's weapon, developing a counter-measure: the Hawk helmet, complete with shields against the Manhawks' eyebeam attacks.  Rendering their weapons ineffective, the Manhawks were quickly put in prison, but the damage had been done; crime was now on Thanagar, and thus Paran's inventions were used to arm the new police force.

The Hawks make their way to Earth, armed with the same counter-measure Katar had used earlier against the Manhawks.  But, their foes have deduced this one, and their eyebeams are now resistant to the Hawks weapons.  Planning to strike at Thanagar, the Hawks probe their Earth history, and figure out that rubies are needed to make a laser beam.  They attack the Manhawks ship, then use a black chemical rain to negate the Manhawks' eyebeams (not having enough light to properly amplify, the attacks are not very dangerous).  The Manhawks are captured and imprisoned on Earth.

Review: The second feature-length Hawk adventure in a row is as good as the previous one.  We get more great Katar and Shayera interaction, a crazy new set of villians, and more Thanagarian backstory, which is always welcome.  Plus, this story will always be remembered as the case on which Hawkman earned his Honor Wings, and regained his classic winged helmet look.  There's some typically murky Silver Age Science going on, but the story is fun enough that you roll with it, which has been my experience with such SAS so far in reading DC's from the period.  The Manhawks would eventually return a couple more times to menace Katar and Shayera during the Silver and Bronze Age, and would be re-imagined in a substantially more gruesome manner in the Hawkworld series.  Really fun DC science fiction tale.

Image: The Brave And The Bold #43, 1962, Joe Kubert.

Read: Hawkman v.4:no.9

Issue: Hawkman v.4:no.9 (reprinted in Hawkman v.2: Allies & Enemies)
Title: "In The Hands Of Fate"
Published Date: Jan 2003
Generation: Modern Carter
Retcon Status: In Continuity

Summary: Arriving back at Stonechat after his dinnre with Ray Palmer, Carter is surprised by the arrival of his son Hector, AKA Dr. Fate.  Hector explains to his father that he has now been caught up in his parents cycle of reincarnation, and takes Carter on a mystical trip back to Ancient Egypt, where he explains that not only are Khufu and Chay-era destined to be reborn again and again, but their treacherous high priest Hath-Set is destined to kill them again and again.  Fate then warns that the circumstances behind Carter's resurrection, and other changes such as his presence in the cycle, have made the future unpredictable and dangerous.

Meanwhile, tossing and turning in her bed, Kendra has flashbacks of her own, as she remembers a traumatic attack by a pair of police officers on her and her mother when she was only a child, which resulted in the death of one of the officers.  Not wanting to be alone with her memories, Kendra goes to Stonechat seeking out Carter, where she tells Carter that his complete withdrawl from her life hurt her.  But the discussion is interupted as the dead body of a Yeti is dumped through the roof, with a message about Kendra's uncle Speed attached to it.

Review: It's weird to get a guest star again after just having one last issue, but considering the new connection between Fate and Hawkman I guess it's okay.  Johns is clearly doing his worldbuilding stuff here and that's just fine with me, because it's really well done.  The idea of Dr. Fate being part of the resurrection cycle is interesting in that it is a bit of a departure for the character, who typically was passed to helm-bearer to helm-bearer; I get the feeling that Johns was trying to make the "true" or "definitive" version of the character like he was doing with Hawkman.  Does anything even need to be said about Rags Morales at this point?  

The Yeti seems to me to be a sly reference to the Silver Age story "Valley Of The Vanishing Men!"

Image: Hawkman v.4:no.9, 2003, Andrew Robinson.

DC Cosmic Teams Trading Card

This trading card is a part of DC's 1993 "Cosmic Teams" cardset. This set was interesting in that it was almost entirely focused on teams, as the name implied. Since Hawkman was a member of the then recently released from Limbo Justice Society of America (before Zero Hour where most of the team was killed or otherwise weirded up), he is featured on his own card, as well as on the Justice Society's triptych, which I will post another time. Note that he is called out as the Golden Age Hawkman.



The card art is by none other than Mike Parobeck, who draws a pretty sweet pair of Hawks, I must admit! Maybe I can make a banner ouf of it or something.

Image: DC Cosmic Teams Hawkman trading card, scanned from personal collection.

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.