Preview of Hawkman No. 23 (May 5 Release)

Note: Hawkman was originally scheduled to be released on April 8th. The new release date is May 5th. 

Hawkman No. 23 has been raising eyebrows and getting some headlines like the following:

Comic Book Resources: DC Introduces a Very, VERY Different Hawkman in April

Newsarama: HAWKMAN #23's 17th Century Adventure Hits a Little Close to Home

Comicon: Fighting Off The Plague In ‘Hawkman’ #23 Seems Rather Prescient 

Preview of the first five pages on Graphic Policy! 

The issue is about a former life of Hawkman during the 17th century. He was a character called the Plague Doctor and he lived in Europe during the Black Plague. Here is the explanation of the issue from DC Comics'  April solicitations.

Cloaked in black and wearing the eerie mask of a hawk, the mysterious Plague Doctor roams 17th century Europe in an attempt to ease the suffering of those who fall victim to the Black Death. But how is the Doctor supposed to help anyone when he’s hated and feared for his unique immunity to the disease? It’s mind versus body as Carter Hall relives his most tragic past life in a last stand to fight off Sky Tyrant’s control over his body for good!

With the Coronavirus spreading across the world and affecting thousands, the timing of this issue is a bit uncanny. However, before people jump the gun and start saying the DC is taking advantage of a bad situation, we have to look at when this issue was written. Andrea Shea, the editor of Hawkman #23 tweeted this:

Hawkman writer @robertvenditti pitched me the seed of this in October 2019 and I loved it from the jump. The timing ended up unintentionally...coincidental, but I hope y'all will check out this story about hope and courage in a time of fear. It's my favorite issue we've done so far.

Robert Venditti also tweeted:
I turned in this script back in December. Mikel finished the cover for solicits before Christmas.
Definitely not intentional. The virus wasn’t even in the news back then that I remember.

It's a crazy time that we live in, with lots of uncertainty about what is going to happen next. It does appear that the next issue of Hawkman is an uplifting story to brighten our day a bit so this is definitely a story you don't want to miss!

Hawkman comes out on April 8th!

Writer: Robrt Venditti
Artists: Fernando Pasarin and Marcio Takara
Cover by Mikel Janin
Variant cover by Gerardo Zaffino

Variant cover by Gerardo Zaffino