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HAWKMAN #1
"First Impressions"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics
Writers: James Robinson & Geoff Johns
Pencils: Rags Morales
Inks: Micahel Bair
Colors: John Kalisz & Heroic Age
Letters: Bill Oakley
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
My first real enjoyment of Hawkman came during the Hawkworld era, which gave us a number of great stories as well as the continuity morass that eventually doomed the character. And though the version of Hawkman currently inhabiting the pages of the JSA bears little resemblance to Ostrander and Truman's Katar Hol, the strong visual and characterization has once again made me a fan of the character. Even so, the launch of a solo series for the character, while he is still establishing himself as a part of the JSA title, seemed risky.
Fortunately, the talent assembled to pull off the task is strong, and this
initial issue offers up an intriguing new setting, a story which ties nicely
into the roots of both Hawkman and Hawkgirl and some of the most beautiful
artwork I have seen Rags Morales do.
Though the visual of the
character has been relatively unchanged, most often being that of the very
iconic bare-chested man with wings, the character behind the costume has changed
a great deal. Warrior, Pharoah, archaeologist, cop, alien, human... finding a
version of the character who satisfied the fans of various incarnations would
seem an impossible task. Fortunately, Johns and Goyer laid some solid groundwork
by having the new Hawkman remember his various past lives, and in this issue we
see personality traits that come with a variety of different roles, all very
different but fitting into one seamless whole.
Particularly evident, at
least visually, is the warrior nature of Hawkman. There are no punches pulled in
his use of force, whether it's a mace smacking into a hijacker's face, the angry
snarl as Hawkman reacts to a punch in the face or an un-hero-like (but oddly
appropriate) use of a headbutt in combat. The ferocity of Hawkman, suggested by
his animal totem costume, plays out very well in the action sequences, and
results in a very strong lead character. Of course, this is nicely balanced by
the softer side of his character, the diplomacy shown in dealing with museum
curator Oliver Evans or the almost wistful, but intelligent, way that he deals
with Kendra without pushing her away.
One of the most exciting
elements of this new series is the addition of a new fictional city to DC's
universe, especially with the creator of the vivid Opal City, James Robinson, on
board to help design it. I spent my honeymoon in New Orleans, and while I
wouldn't necessarily want to live there, I fell in love with the charm of the
city, and St. Roch seems modeled, at least in part, after that famous Louisiana
port. There are mere hints of what the city is like in the story, but we learn a
lot from the visuals, including an incredible two-page spread of Hawkman soaring
over the city by Rags Morales, and a handful of well-chosen images like a
riverboat, an "old town" and a manipulated ballot box.
Of course, the story is about Kendra Saunders as much as Carter Hall, which is nice as she's been fairly undeveloped in the pages of JSA. Their rather
convoluted romantic links aside, Kendra and Carter play off each other like a
couple of mismatched cops in a buddy movie, and I expect that the new and easily
strained relationship will be as much a selling point of this book as the solid
aerial action and the globe-hopping adventure.
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