Last week, JSA kicked off the "Black Reign" story and I found myself very pleased and intrigued by what was going to come next. Hawkman has part two, and it was a disappointment as both a standalone issue of Hawkman and as the second part of "Black Reign," providing some bumps in the otherwise smooth launch of the crossover story. There are definitely elements that I like in this story, and JSA fans won't be disappointed to follow the story into this book, as the JSA members are more prevalent in this issue than Hawkman. However, the issue is really a variety of short character development subplots about characters who don't star in this book, and there's not a lot of Hawkman in the issue, nor is there much that plays directly into the story that started in chapter one of "Black Reign." This is interesting stuff for fans of the JSA characters, but it feels a bit like padding, and we're a bit early in the crossover to be having that.
One of the annoyances of inter-title crossovers that I remember from when they were a weekly nuisance in the '90s was picking up a given title and discovering that it wasn't even about the title character that month. That's definitely the case with Hawkman #23, which reads more like an issue of JSA. Johns's plot brings the team to St. Roch, and we see the various characters interacting with the town in ways that sheds light on their characters. Unfortunately, this character development is sort of hit and miss with me, with some of it coming off as either a little too goofy or overly expository in nature. The conversation between Hourman and his father, clearly meant to be an affecting personal discovery for Hourman, instead reads very much like a way to tell Hawkman readers about the status quo of Hourman and his dad in terms of their "hour of talk." The brief spotlight on Dr. Mid-Nite is pretty good, but it feels out of place in the book and it doesn't really dovetail with the story that was presented in "Black Reign" part one either.
Of course, when Hawkman does make an appearance in the book, it's a pretty good one. I've kept up with this book enough to know that Hawkman has been acting increasingly violent and animalistic, and the scene that shows him battling an old foe in this issue very much establishes that for readers who might be coming in for the crossover. In fact, that scene is probably the best the book gets, showing a similarity between Hawkman and Black Adam over in JSA with an old school super-villain facing off with a hero who doesn't play by the usual rules and winding up very, very hurt as a result.
That scene also represents the best artwork of Rags Morales in the issue. It's a very exciting, brutal action scene that reminds me of the kind of thing you'd see in a Conan book rather than a super-hero book, something I think is probably a very deliberate choice on the part of the creators. Morales doesn't seem quite as comfortable with the more comedic elements of the script, playing them over-the-top and contributing to the somewhat goofy, corny feel of some of the scenes. And speaking of over-the-top, I'm surprised given Morales's command of human anatomy that his Power Girl looks so bizarrely over-endowed.
After a really exciting start to "Black Reign," the Hawkman portion of the crossover has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. However, the action sequence showing off Morales's art at its best and the closing sequence, which hints at some internal tension within the JSA to add to the considerable tension they'll feel in facing old teammates, has a lot of promise. I remain hopeful that the rest of "Black Reign" will be a more focused story, as it's clear in the stronger moments of this issue that the Hawkman creative team is up to the task.
