Hawkgirl #4 Review by Tim Board

 

   (Spoiler Alert) 

   OK, let me try to go through the basics of the story. Vulpecula goes into Galaxy's past for unknown reasons. She reveals her true form of a Fox and opens up a doorway to the Nth world to release a dragon. The dragon attacks Metropolis. Supergirl and Steel show up but the dragon easily wipes them out. Galaxy forms a protection around Hawkgirl with her past lives so that she can use some kind of light sword and cut off the dragon's head. Kendra is exhausted after the battle and suddenly furious at Carter and Shayera for getting their reward. Vulpecula suddenly shows up and goes into Kendra's past. To be continued. 

   That's pretty much it. What was the point of this issue? Or the last four issues to be honest. I read the book several times but it's an incoherent jigsaw puzzle that we probably (hopefully) will be able to solve by the final issue. What is Vulpecula doing? The only thing I can figure out is that Kendra's Nth metal is the key to whatever Vulpecula wants to do, so she has been using Galaxy to find out about Kendra's powers. It appears that she is manipulating the two of them in meaningless battles to figure out how to use Kendra and get back to this Nth World. 

   I've been thinking about this Nth World and I'm wondering if it's the Hawk realm, the place where the Hawk avatar came from, and where Katar Hol of the Hawkworld and Hawkman Vol. 3 series was sent to back in 1996 (Hawkman Vol. 3 #33). In the JSA series in 1999, Kendra was transported to Thanagar to go to an opening to the realm and be a beacon for Hawkman to find his way out (JSA #23). In both stories, Kendra appears to have that power. Even if the writer didn't realize that connection, it would make better sense instead of making a whole new place of Nth metal. 

   There is one scene where she is screaming at Carter and Shayera and how they broke their reincarnation cycle and got their reward. She is upset that she didn't get her reward for enduring the reincarnation curse. It appears that Kendra has forgotten or doesn't know that:
a. Carter and Shayera died to defeat the Lord of the Void, which brought about the end of the reincarnation cycle. Kendra did not die with them.
b. Kendra has no romantic feelings for Carter. 
c. When Carter needed help, she passed and Shayera went instead. 
d. Starman made Shayera and Kendra whole, and they were now free from each other to live their own lives. 
e. Kendra has not been able to keep a relationship. (Roy Harper, Jonn Jonzz, Carter Hall) 

   This version of Kendra has psychological issues. Her t-shirt in the beginning says "No One Likes Us, We Don't Care." One moment she's doubting her abilities, then she is saying "The legacy I represent has never been my wealness!" Then it's "I'm tired of everything happening without a reason." Then finally, "I am an unnecessary piece." This series could have been so great with a confident Kendra Saunders, a determined woman who knows what she wants and is eager to find out more about her powers and her future. Instead, we have this schizophrenic girl who still can't get a hold of her past lives, hates the men in her life, bursts into fits of anger, and falls into depression after defeating a dragon. She has these amazing gifts of reincarnation and powers, surrounded by friends, and with a limitless future, but she is weak, unsure, depressed, and unstable. It's too bad we couldn't read a story about a strong and confident woman instead of this weak version. 

   The writer Jadzia Axelrod seems to want to make Carter and Shayera the source of all the anguish that Kendra is going through.  How about writing a character that is inspiring in the way that she accepts her past, counts her blessings, and moves forward with determination? 

   The writer didn't want to write a Hawkgirl story. She used Hawkgirl as a soapbox for her woke/lesbian/transgender (take your pick) agenda and as a way to promote Galaxy. This series is such a missed opportunity. Two issues to go. 

Variant by Derrick Chew

Variant by Sweeny Boo

Hawkgirl #4 (Dec. 2023) 
"Dragonslayer!" 
Script: Jadzia Axelrod 
Art: Amancay Nahuelpan 
Colors: Alex Guimaraes 
Letter: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Editor: Kristy Quinn, Dave Wielgosz
Cover: Amancay Nahuelpan, Adriano Lucas 

Rating: 4/10