SOS Hawkman...( part 1)

[iskander]

Poor Hawkman. Few character have been through the ringer like he has. Carter hall/Katar Hol has been crushed by crossovers, bad retcons and just really,really bad editorial desicions.

This is his big return. After the "hawk-god avatar" version bottomed out in the summer 1996 and the series ended witha merged Katar Hol, struggling with the spirits of the other Hawk Avatars, being banished to the realm of the Hawk God or some such mystical nonsense. The upshot was, both Hawkmen were gone, and it didn't look like they were coming back anytime soon.

In fact, DC editorial was of the opinion that the character had been revised and redone and rethought so much that he had become incomprehensible, and declared the character radioactive,forbidding his use as a guest-star or any attempts to revive him for several years. Around this time came the absolute low point for poor Hawkman: when Warner Brothers licensed him out for a humiliating Baby Ruth candy-bar commercial, which showed Katar flying into windows like a parakeet until he got the necessary burst of energy from a delicious Baby Ruth.

Now Five years later Hawkman returns to the JSA.

Comments

[iskander]

I'm sorry I quite BN after the first issue. I picked up 6 after I saw good thing. I was amazed at how little had happened and easy to pick up the story.

What do you mean Hawks in the lantern ?

[jlroberson]

I mean, there they were(with wings yet), the Egyptian originals, sealed in crystal inside the Zamaron battery and, apparently, powering it.

As far as BN, actually it's been pretty easy to follow the story if you just read every other issue. The last one amazed me, because of the seriously nasty cliffhanger ending to the one previous, and, you know, NEKRON SHOWING UP AND EVERYTHING. And then? Well, to be honest, only one thing actually happened in this issue, Nekron had only one goddamn line(once again whining about his growling stomach or something), and everyone gets a power ring. The issue is so full of double-page spreads that, in story terms, it amounts to the length of a preview, and, um, can I see Nekron doing awful things and revealing big cosmic secrets yet, because THERE'S ONLY TWO MORE ISSUES, YOU KNOW?

The issue was a heavily-padded waste of pages. I don't like that because it really did start off strong and mean, and it's getting weaker all the time. Not only that, but now, when bad things happen to our heroes, it gets undone too fast for you to even feel anything. And so all the deaths now feel cheap, where they were actually shocking at the beginning and I liked that. But in the same month you not only have Kyle die and then have it be immediately undone, but Diana too. I'm not saying they should have stayed dead. I'm saying if you're going to pull that at all, you have to give the death some dignity by giving it JUST a little time and some sense of loss.

[iskander]

How did they get in the Zamaron battery ?

[pyrotwilight]

A group of Star Sapphires took their bodies from earth as a source of power since they're legendary lovers fated to die over and over etc...

[iskander]

When was this ? Hmm, you might have thought Carter would have had them in safekeeping if something ???? JOHNS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pyrotwilight]

Hmm, couldn't say exactly without looking through my issues. Pretty sure in 45 or 46 of in Green Lantern. 45 showed them being taken to Zamaron and put into the battery and then I think in Blackest Night or the following GL issue they (Khufu and Chayara) were turned into Black Lanterns.

[iskander]

Look, I just want a nice stable ,consistent Hawkman back...(pounds head into desk several times in frustration)

[jlroberson]

I have no idea. It was news to me. But there they were.