Frenemies of Hawkman: New Green Arrow Blog

Once upon a time, my good friend Adama (and yes, that's almost completely his real name) ran a Green Arrow blog entitled Dispatches From The Arrowcave.  That site was one of the handful of blogs which inspired me to start this blog.  Well, Real Life tends to be the bane of these superhero blogs, and Dispatches eventually fell victim to said Real Life.

Well, lucky for us blog fans, another Green Arrow fan has stepped up and started a new Green Arrow blog: Aaron has launched similarly-named-but-different The ArrowCave.  As a Hawkman blogger, I feel it is my responsibility to help point any time someone has a Green Arrow blog if only because without frenemies, where would we be?

Welcome aboard Aaron!

Savage Hawkman Tidbit From Fan Expo '11

From Newsarma's recap of DC's "New 52" Panel

Tony Daniel showed off a new Savage Hawkman, someone able and very willing to use his brutal weaponry to deal with equally dangerous threats. He also said that he wanted to address niggling continuity concerns that have cropped up over the years, from reincarnation and Egyptian motifs (those are gone), to where he keeps his wings when he's not on crime-fighting duty.

This is a little confusing to me: which is gone? Reincarnation or Egyptian motifs? We'll have to wait and see at this point!

Read: Hawman v.2:no.4

Issue: Hawkman v.2:no.4
Title: "For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite"  (No, seriously.)
Published Date: Nov 1986
Generation: Silver Age Katar and Shayera
Retcon Status: Changed Generations?

Summary: In Midway City, something bizarre flies through the skies -- a pterodactyl!  It's actually a powered glider created by Saul Ready for the Fifth Annual Festival of Flight, which Hawkman and Hawkwoman are the MCs for.  Also on display will be the Golden Eagle, an ancient treasure found by Ed Dawson.  While Hawkman contemplates why he has to make a speech, Zatanna pops in to visit her friends.  She helps motivate Katar to make his part of the speech, and then entertains the crowd with her magic.  But while this is going on, the dastardly Kite-Man makes his move to steal the Golden Eagle!  

Having his accomplice create a distraction, Kite-Man takes off with the Eagle.  The Hawks swoop in to stop him, but Kite-Man has attached a remote control device to Saul's pterodactyl, and it is menacing the crowd!  As the giant monster bird flies lower and lower to the ground, the Hawks have to let Kite-Man go in order to stop the giant glider.  Kite-Man thinks he is off scott-free until Zatanna floats up to block his path.  Kite-Man pulls a gun, but Zee turns the bullets into flowers, and then freezes his glider, sending him crashing to the ground.  Hawkwoman is able to remove the remote control while Hawkman uses his anti-gravity belt to stop the glider safely.

Meanwhile, Joe Tracy bemoans to Coral that the Hawks do not deserve their accolades, when suddenly the pair is joined by the father of Mavis Trent, who vows to avenge his daughter!

Review: Well this is definitely a change of pace.  From The Beatles reference title to the Superman tease opening to the fact that the villain is Kite-Man, this issue is like a bowl of sorbet after the main course that was the Shadow War and the opening story of this series.  The inclusion of Zatanna (itself a reference to her appearance in Hawkman v.1:no.4, which is given a footnote) and the general Silver Age-y-ness of the story just adds to the weirdness.  The cover is even a Silver Age turn, with Murphy Anderson lending a hand.  It's not all goofy fun, though, as we do get the introduction of Mr. Trent, who shall no doubt be a thorn in the side of the Hawks.  Overall though I liked this issue.  It was a light throwback to an earlier age and acted as a nice break from the normally heavier subject matter in this series.

Image: Hawkman v.2:no.4, 1986, Richard Howell & Murphy Anderson.

Waiting In The Wings -- 08/24/2011

This is the last week before the "New 52" Universe starts, so we have a few more loose ends to tie up before move into the new timeline.

Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search For Swamp Thing #3 -- Has anyone been reading this?  Is Hawkman involved?  The cover swaps have confused me and gotten me all mixed up.

Flashpoint: Lois Lane and The Resistance #3 -- Hawkgirl might pop up in this issue, but if she does I imagine it won't be much of an appearance.  

Looks like pretty slim pickings, and as far as Hawk-related stuff it will be slim pickings until the end of next month!  But, hey, it's an ongoing Hawkman book so I am willing to wait.

Tan Interior Art for Savage Hawkman #1

Thanks to Newsarama, we have our first peak at Philip Tan's interior art for The Savage Hawkman!  Definitely in line with his style which I was very fond of on Outsiders!

There's a second image, which is somewhat more mundane, which can be seen here.

Image: Savage Hawkman #1 interior art, 2011, Philip Tan.

Savage Hawkman Logo Revealed

As revealed on Newsarama last night, we now have a logo for The Savage Hawkman.  Certainly a major departure from any previous Hawkman logo!  The font in general is impactful, and incorporates the Hawk sigil which was used on Volume 4.  It has a sort of art deco vibe in some of the curvatures as well.  Overall, I like it.

I wonder if the red color will change or stay constant?

Image: Savage Hawkman Logo, 2011, Image retrieved from Newsarama.

"Pleasure Chests" Hawkman

Okay, you can assign the blame for this one Frank over at the Idol-Head, but I guess what's good for the Martian is good for the Thanagarian (or what-have-you).  

Although, considering that one of my biggest traffic drivers are the folks over at the Shirtless Superheroes blog (*waves!*), I guess this is audience appropriate!

Image: "Pleasure Chests" Hawkman, "Christian A.," 2011, image retrieved from Comic Art Fans.