The Four Color Media Monitor

But I don't expect them to do what I think would benefit the Golden/Silver Age Hawks better than what came after 1989, when the reboots that boggled continuity were launched, beginning with Hawkworld by Tim Truman. The Washington Post says:

The new series, partly inspired by Hawkman’s role in the current miniseries “Dark Knights: Metal” and DC’s desire to once again make the character a major player in the DCU, will debut in June and will be written by Rob Venditti and illustrated by Bryan Hitch.

“[Metal] has really elevated Carter Hall/Hawkman (Katar Hol), and brought him back to the DC universe in an [exciting] way,” Venditti told The Washington Post’s Comic Riffs. “That’s really what Bryan and I’s vision for the series is, as well.”

Dark Knights: Metal is a crossover, and I'm wondering how and why these are still considered a great way to boost noticeability for any superheroes in a shared universe. If they can only elevate them through a crossover, it just proves they lack confidence in marketing them title-by-title, hero-by-hero. One of the reasons why I believe the monthly pamphlet format has to be done away with in favor of paperbacks, where more responsibility can be maintained.

Hawkman is one of DC’s most classic characters, first appearing in “Flash Comics” No. 1 in 1940. But despite over seven decades of comic-book, animated and even live-action television appearances (in the CW’s “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”), his mythos is not as well known as that of DC’s famed trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. You might remember the distinctive look and the wings, but what about Thanagarian culture, Nth metal and the character’s famed reincarnations?

Well they botched all that after 1990, and especially after Zero Hour, where the Golden/Silver Age Hawks were all merged into one being, which is as mind-boggling as it sounds, and completely unnecessary. Worst, Sheira Sanders, the first Hawkgirl, suffered the worst as she was killed in the crossover, and it all became an excuse to introduce a Latina character in 1999 whose body she could inhabit, in an early example of social justice pandering. All in a 2002-2007 series that couldn't seem to decide what direction was best for Carter Hall.

“Hawkman is a foundational character in the DCU. Over time I think he’s lost some of that central importance to the DC universe, and we really want to bring that back and make him a marquee character,” Venditti said. “And to do that, we’re going to take him to a lot of unexpected, unexplored places and introduce a lot of new mythology for the character.”

Well maybe if they were to clear away all the mess formed after 1989, that could be achieved. But they're not going to get very far if they think Zero Hour has to be respected till the end of time.

Hitch respects the long history of Hawkman and considers legendary comic book artist Joe Kubert to be the greatest artist to ever draw the character. Hitch also admits that despite Hawkman’s comic book longevity, he hasn’t had as many definitive runs as DC’s other major heroes, which leaves room for him to add to the mythos with his pencils.

He's right Kubert was a magnificent artist, but I'm not taking the claim Hitch respects the superhero's long history at face value. Certainly not if that history includes the post-1989 reboot that wound up muddling Hawkman's continuity.

Fans who grew up with the “Justice League” cartoon and are more familiar with Hawkgirl needn’t worry. Venditti says she is indeed a part of the story he and Hitch are crafting, but don’t expect a love story just yet.

“She’s as foundational to the concept really in a lot of ways that Hawkman is,” Venditti said. “Now how we’re going to do that is hopefully going to be set up in a way that will surprise some people. Even when she’s not there on the page, she’s still there in terms of what we’re building and how we’re working towards it.”

And which Hawkgirl would it be they're using? If it's Sheira, I'd recommend depicting her with brown hair, as she originally had (Shayera Thal had red), and as for Carter, he should have blond, not unlike what he had in the Golden Age. I think the machinations of Geoff Johns and James Robinson did not age or hold up well, and their series degenerated into some pretentious nostalgia-built stories as well.

I think Hawkman was a great idea Gardner Fox conceived, but any writer like Johns who puts the characters through absurd nostalgia trips and sticks with the status quo of bad crossovers like Zero Hour isn't improving things at all.

Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, golden calf of death, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, msm propaganda, women of dc