Waiting In The Wings -- 9/10/2009

Is there any new comics or merchandise featuring our winged heroes coming out this week?  Let's find out.

Wednesday Comics #10 -- As we enter the final stages of this event, I am very much looking forward to pulling out all of them, and laying them down in such a way that I can read the entire run of certain strips, much like one would get if they had a collection of Sundays in a hardcover.  I would very much like to see Wednesday Comics collected in such a manner -- one massive hardcover with each of the strips collected seperately in order.  Sales may not have been through the roof but this series has certainly lived up to my expectations and desires so far, and with Hawkman mixing it up with a T-Rex, I don't see that changing too much.  It may have taken me some time to warm up to Baker but now I am thoroughly enjoying his tale.

Read: Rann-Thanagar Holy War #4

Issue: Rann-Thanagar Holy War #4
Title: "Return Of The Prodigal"
Published Date: Oct. 2008
Generation: Modern Carter
Retcon Status: In Continuity

Summary: On Hardcore Station, Comet, Adam Strange, Weird, Animal Man, Tigorr, Starfire, and Chief Justice Max are outgunned and outclassed by Deacon Dark, his Inquisitor robots, and the temporaly-revived Synnar.  Weird tries to use his phasing powers, but Synnar shrugs him off and goes after other targets.  The fight is not going well, despite Comet being able to take out Deacon Dark, and Weird saving Strange from being fried by an Inquisitor.  Needing muscle to take out the Eternal Light Corporation's temporal circuits, Weird mentions Bizarro being on Throneworld...

On Throneworld, Prince Gavyn, intending to use Bizarro as a weapon against Lady Styx, walks in on Adam Strange about to Zeta-beam Bizarro back to Hardcore Station, and is caught up in the teleport.  Bizarro, mad at being taken away from his cartoons, is able to destroy the Inquisitors and turn the tide.  Strange and Gavyn are able to destroy the time circuits, though Adam disappears for a second.  

Meanwhile, on Rann, Hawkman is about to be executed by Sardath and his crazed fellow Styx-worshippers, but is spared when the prehistoric volcano disappears (thanks to the end of the time circuits).  But, he is not out of the frying pan yet, as both he and Alana are taken prisoner by Sardath.

The heroes teleport back to Throneworld to find the entire planet devastated and the population gone... "processed" by Lady Styx in a matter of minutes.

Review: A very action-heavy issue, with not a lot of Hawkman but plenty of combat over on Hardcore Station.  Starlin crams a lot of information into what is tantamount to an issue-long fight, including putting Synnar over as a badass on the level of "Darkseid or Mongul," which I obviously enjoyed.  Lim's art is up to the task and looks great handling all of the battle sequences.  It's fun to see all of these characters interacting, including Comet's exceptionally low opinion of most of the people he is forced to work with.  Very enjoyable space opera comic book.
 
Note: The Adam Strange Special takes place in the second which Strange disappears while he and Prince Gavyn destroy the ELC's time circuits.  I will not be covering that here as it is an Adam Strange side-story and does not feature Hawkman.

Image: Rann-Thanagar Holy War #4, 2008, Jim Starlin.

New Era "Hawk Man" Cap

I'm not sure that I am hip enough (or whatever the kids say these days) to sport this 59Fifty cap with the Hawkman logo, part of the many, many superhero style hats the company now produces.

I like that the designers stuck with Hawkman's established colors of green and red for this cap, and even snuck in a tiny bit of yellow on the New Era logo.  Not sure what you could wear this with, because it doesn't quite match any of the admittedly few Hawkman t-shirts out there... but a shirt and hat combo of the Winged Wonder might be a bit much, yes?

Image: New Era "Hawk Man League Basic" hat, 2009, retreived from Neweracap.com.

Original Hawkman Page from Flash Comics #97 By Joe Kubert

Continuing on the Golden Age streak for this week, we have the fourth installment of original Joe Kubert art from Flash Comics #97.  You can find the previous three pages here, here, and here.

Our heroes have found their efforts to fairly futile, as the bad guys get away and herd up the hostages, taking them inside a strange dome.  Luckily, they forget to lock the door, leaving the Hawks easy access!  Below, we learn that the so-called "aliens" are actually the last survivors of the lost continent of Mu, which sank beneath the ocean thousands of years prior.  

This page is not as flashy as the previous one, but it does showcase Kubert's storytelling strength.  You could very easily strip the lettering out of this page and still get the gist of what's going, which is always a plus in sequential storytelling.  Plus, Shiera looks pretty stacked in that first panel!  Yowza!

Much much thanks to Doug Zawisza of Doom Patrol blogging-fame for hooking me up with these pages!

Image: Page 5 from Hawkman feature in Flash Comics #97, 1948, Joe Kubert, provided by Doug Zawisza.    

Waiting In The Wings -- 9/2/2009

Any new Hawk-stuffs coming to the local comic shops today?  Let's take a look and see!

Cosmic Odyssey TPB -- The Hawks don't play a role in this epic space opera by Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola, but Thanagar does.  Beyond that, I have always wanted to read this series, and this collection looks like a great avenue to do just that.  I have really gotten into Starlin's work over the last few years, so this is hitting at a perfect time for me.

JSA v.5 HC: Black Adam And Isis -- Hawkman does not feature long in this story, essentially being put on a Leave of Absence from the Society right at the start, but it's a pretty pivotal appearance in that one surmises that it leads into Rann-Thanagar Holy War (why he is off-Earth) and Blackest Night (why he is in St. Roch instead of with the Society).  Also, it's a pretty good story in it's own right, focusing on the Marvel family.

Wednesday Comics #9 -- The obvious pick-up, as usual.  Baker's Hawkman story percolated a little slowly at first, but now it's the first one I flip to (right there in it's spot on the last page, every week).  And with a guest spot from Hawkgirl and Batman last week, and one from Aquaman upcoming, it's all good in Hawkworld, uh, so to speak.  The other strips have continued on nicely for the most part, although I think I am one of the very few who seem to really like Deadman.

Image: Whip Mace Stamp, Flash Comics #9

We've got something of a Golden Age theme going this week, as today we are featuring the first of the stamps featured in the early days of Flash Comics.  The first of these little "collect and save" stamps features a whip mace, appropriate as maces of all kinds have of course gone on to become Hawkman's trademark weapon.  

Makes you wonder how many copies of Flash Comics #9 are out there missing this panel, doesn't it?  

Image: Whip Mace stamp from Flash Comics #9, 1940, Sheldon Moldoff.

Read: Flash Comics #14

Issue: Flash Comics #14 (reprinted in The Golden Age Hawkman Archives v.1)
Title: "The Awesome Alligator" (suggested title)
Published Date: Feb. 1941
Generation: Golden Age Carter
Retcon Status: Changed Generations

Summary: A would-be world conqueror named Karvac summons an elder god once worshipped by the Phoenicians, Scorio, who takes the form of an alligator.  Scorio gives Karvac the knowledge of a flame-weapon which will melt the flesh of anyone hit with it.  Karvac and his men then use the weapons to attack an Army regiment on manuvers, wiping them out almost to the man.  The lone survivor manages to find a motorist -- Shiera Saunders, who lets Carter Hall know about the attack.

Hawkman, armed with a mace and a net of "Ninth Metal," confronts Karvac's men.  With the net able to resist the fiery attack, Hawkman takes out some of the goons, and takes one of their guns to confront Scorio.  The weapon does not kill Scorio, but does banish the elder god back to his own dimension.  Hawkman then has the soldier and Shiera call in an air strike from the Army, which wipes out Karvac's forces.  Karvac, seeing the writing on the wall, tries to kill himself by jumping off a cliff, but Hawkman captures him and turns him over to the authorities.

Review: One of my favorite of the Golden Age stories so far, this one has a little bit of everything, from the B-movie Western setting to an elder god to a weapon which vaporizes any shot with it to the cavalry coming to save the day.  Bonus points for Hawkman using his now-trademark mace to bash some of Karvac's men.  Sadly, neither Karvac nor Scorio would make any further appearances.  Shiera has a good showing this time out, although I should note that a caption box says that she is the only one who knows Hawkman's secret identity -- knowledge she seemingly gained off-panel sometime either in this issue or the previous.  Also interesting is a weapon actually made of what is still called "Ninth Metal," (now, of course called Nth Metal) which was a first for the strip at this time.

Image: Flash Comics #14, 1941, Sheldon Moldoff.