Ummm … just what are we looking at here?
Archive for May 1st, 2006
01
May
Alas, Poor Hawkman
It used to be so simple.
Back before “multiverse” was a dirty word at DC, there were two Hawkmen known and beloved by the comics world.
Earth-1 had Katar Hol, a policeman from Thanagar who fought evil with futuristic science and primitive weapons. Earth-2 had Carter Hall, the reincarnation of an Egyptian prince.
Two distinct origins and settings for two distinct characters. Nice and simple.
Then came a little something called Crisis On Infinite Earths. Suddenly, two Hawkmen co-existed on one world. The DC universe was no longer that simple.
Complicating matters, DC didn’t really know what to do for a follow-up. Aside from rewriting Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman’s histories, there was no cohesive vision of the company’s universe other than “it’s all one, big smooshed-up earth now.”
That lack of clarity dealt Hawkman - as well as Supergirl, Donna Troy and the Legion of Super-Heroes - a fatal blow that forced future writers and artists to recreate each concept from scratch.
DC first wrote their Golden Age heroes off by condemning the characters to a convoluted scenario involving Ragnarok - a logical move given the Justice Society’s long, established connection to Norse mythology.
A little later, the company hired writer/artist Timothy Truman (Grimjack, Scout) to reinvent Katar Hol. The resulting miniseries, Hawkworld, was actually quite good.
Keeping with the conventions of the times, Truman crafted a dark epic that transformed Thanagar from a (mostly) benign society to an oppressive dictatorship enforced by a brutal, winged police force.
This iteration of Katar Hol still served the Thanagarian cause, but questioned whether its decadent, uncaring society could long survive without reform. For his troubles, Katar was exiled to Thanagar’s wilderness and -a fter leading a revolution of the planet’s slave class - Earth.
At this point, Truman planned a series of stories re-telling Hawkman’s past adventures on Earth to align the character’s history with the events of the mini-series. The end result: An updated Hawkman who didn’t completely wipe out more than 20 years of continuity.
Unfortunately, the Powers That Be decided they had a better idea: Set the new series in the present and focus on Katar Hol’s - and his partner, Shayera’s - adjustment to their recent arrival on Earth.
So what if it invalidates stories that occurred one or two years - or even months - before? It’ll all get sorted out.
Except it didn’t, really.
Writer John Ostrander gave the Hawkworld monthly a unique flavor by focusing on the metahuman underclass of Chicago (Why not Midway City?), but Shakespeare couldn’t have unraveled Hawkman’s revised chronology.
Under the new timeline, the Golden Age Hawkman never retired. Therefore, the Hawkman adventures of the ’60s and ’70s now starred Carter Hall rather than Katar Hol. Got that?
After the JSA disappeared, a Thanagarian spy became the second Hawkman and briefly joined Justice League International.
So Katar Hol - the original Silver Age Hawkman - was now the third individual to adopt that particular identity. He was never a member of the Justice League, never partnered with The Atom and - most importantly - never married Hawkwoman.
Clear as molasses, right? We won’t even get into the connection between Katar Hol’s father and the Golden Age Hawkman or how Katar’s mother was a Native American woman.
*Sigh* Where’s the Advil?
Sales on Hawkworld faltered, so it was canceled and re-launched as Hawkman with a kewl chromium cover. The Avian Ace became a true ’90s hero, clad in black spandex adorned with useless pouches and tassels.
Soon afterward, Zero Hour came and attempted to straighten out the Hawkman mess once and for all by merging every incarnation of the hero into Katar - who now possessed the all-powerful cosmic force of the Hawkgod!
Extreme! Let’s see Rob Liefeld top that!!
Finally, the gods of comics took pity on the once-proud hero and sent Hawkman to a merciful death. The character would remain radioactive until Geoff Johns resurrected the Golden Age Hawkman in JSA.
When this revamped, more-savage Hawkman received his own series, the Keeper experienced mixed emotions. The new adventures were drawn and written skillfully - especially the awesome “Black Reign” arc - but your humble narrator couldn’t help but pine for Katar Hol, who held the title for decades but was now little more than a footnote.
Unfortunately, Carter Hall has apparently been marginalized as well. As part of DC’s “One Year Later” promotion, the Hawkman book has now been commandeered by Kendra Saunders - the current Hawkgirl.
Even Justice League Unlimted - the animated series that even made the friggin B’wana Beast cool - couldn’t do much with Hawkman.
Once again, Hawkman was Carter Hall - an archaeologist reincarnated from an ancient Egyptian king. In a nod to old-time fans like The Keeper, the king was a Thanagarian warrior named Katar Hol.
So far, so good.
However, in the “Ancient History” episode that finally aired last weekend, we also learned that Katar is doomed to be eternally cuckolded by Shayera Hol and John Stewart.
To make matters worse, long-time Hawk-foe Shadow Thief was reinvented as Carter Hall’s dark side - a manipulative shade who operated solely to get Hawkman the girl.
Suddenly, Hawkman was a bumbling loser forced to step aside manfully so Shayera can go off with John Stewart (again). Great.
So what’s a poor Hawk-fan to do? Well, there’s always Brave & The Bold #31 written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Joe Kubert. That issue introduced Katar-Hol to the world, and remains a prime example of how to do Hawkman right.
Is anybody paying attention?
