Hawkman and Hawkgirl in the News (September 24-30)

Here's the weekly round of the Hawks in the news and other places during the past week. 

Hawkman and Hawkwoman: The Changeling (various sources)

   The information for this has been like pulling teeth, but it appears that the story by Cavan Scott (script) and Fico Ossio (art) will finally be partially released in Superboy Man of Tomorrow #6 (October 10). But I'm also hearing that it will only be released on the digital version, which is not available to most countries outside of the U.S., and that only the first part will be released. I tried for an hour to find information about it on the DC Comics site but finally gave up and went to other sources and pieced it together. Extremely frustrating but at least we're getting something. 

Art by Fico Ossio

Ten Hero Mash-Ups We Want To See After SuperBat From World's Finest (CBR.com)
   The writer of the article imagines what a mash-up of Hawkman and Atom would be like. While they are the best of friends, I've never given that one much thought. The Mash-ups with Hawkman that I have thought of in the past are:
   1. Captain Marvel: Mixing that magical power with Nth Metal? Yes, please!
   2. Star Boy (Legion): Star Boy's gravity-based powers along with Hawkman's Nth metal would be 
       awesome to see!
   3. Geo-Force: This might be similar to Star Boy, but I would love to see Hawkman with Geo-Force's
       powers. Actually, I often wonder if more control of the Nth metal would give some of those 
       abilities to Hawkman. 

Art by Robert Atkins / Keith Giffen / Phil Cho 

Ten Silver Age DC Characters Better Than Their Golden Age Counterparts (CBR.com) 

   This is a debate that will never be resolved. There are a lot of Golden Age Hawkman fans out there. As a matter of fact, whenever I do a poll between Carter Hall and Katar Hol, it's always split right down the middle. Hawkman is a hero worth something for everybody! 

Art by Alcatena Quique / Tom Grummett

Ten Best DC Movie Scenes (Outside The DCEU) Inspired By The Comics (CBR.com) 

   The fight mentioned in the article came out in Superman Batman #4 (2004) and was made in a DC Universe animation film in 2009. This is the best Hawkman animation scene to come out to date. Hawkman traps Batman in a net, catches Batman full in the face with his mace (Batman survives, thank you plot armor), and finally slugs Superman with his Claw of Horus. Hawkman was the only one in the fight who never gets hit. The writer Jeph Loeb copped out a bit and never showed how Superman and Batman got out of that apparent loss, but it was a great scene between the four heroes. 

Superman Legacy's Hawkgirl Gets A Beautiful Modern Redesign In DCU Fan Art (Screen Rant)

   Kendra Saunders has always had short hair so we'll have to wait and see if they stay true to the comics. Don't hold your breath. 

Nine Badass Latino Superheroes to Celebrate for Hispanic Heritage Month (IGN) 

   Kendra Saunders' dad was Michael Saunders (caucasian), the son of Speed Saunders (Detective Comics No. 1), and Trina Saunders, a Hispanic artist and archaeologist. So she was mixed, but she has identified as Hispanic since the beginning. 

Worst Panel in the History of Hawk Comics (Hawkworld Xitter) 

   This brings me to a post I made in Twitter a couple of days ago. The Hawkgirl series by Jadzia Axelrod has been hugely disappointing but issue #3 solidified its place in the Hawkworld Hall of Shame with this one panel. 

Hawkman #3 / Art by Amancay Nahuelpan

   To put the panel into context, the villain changes a guy into a giant Owl-man and he attacks Kendra. He tells her that she is a self-centered girl who is a copy of a copy. How he knows anything about Kendra is a mystery. Kendra snaps and suddenly goes on a rant about Carter Hall and the other men that she has loved in her life. She appears to see the owl-man as Hawkman. She screams, "You think because you've got a pair of wings and a mace you know things?!? You know about me?" Then we get the panel above. "I AM HAWKGIRL!!!! I don't need you, Carter!!!" The owl-man is thoroughly beaten and says, "Who's Carter?" as he crumbles to dust. (lol) Kendra then comes to her senses and suggests they all go out for some picadillo. 

   What the actual flying mind trip? She's referring to Carter Hall being with Shayera Hol (white).  Let me try and explain what's actually going on here since the writer of this comic has no clue or simply doesn't care. 

   There are two Kendra Saunders. The first Kendra was from 1999-2009. After she rescued Carter from the Hawk realm (JSA #23), Carter and Kendra had a tough time of adjustment. Carter had been reincarnated with Shiera for thousands of years, and they always loved each other. But this time, it was different. He could sense Shiera in Kendra, but Kendra had no desire to be a part of a relationship she didn't understand. They had a lot of clashes but gradually changed. Hawkman learned to finally accept the current Hawkgirl, while Kendra gradually began to understand her past lives. They developed a friendship and finally started having a physical relationship right before the Infinite Crisis. The event once again drove them apart with Carter staying on Thanagar and Kendra returning to Earth. At the end of the Hawkgirl series (2007), Kendra and Shiera were finally separated and Kendra was on her own again. At the beginning of the Blackest Night event, Kendra was killed but when she was brought back to life, it was Shiera who returned, not Kendra. That was the end of the first version of Kendra. 

   The second Kendra first appeared in the Dark Night Metal series in 2017. This time, she was Lady Blackhawk, the leader of the Blackhawks. She helped the Justice League defeat Barbatos and rescue Carter from the Dark Multiverse. It appears that she did not have romantic feelings for him but did care for him deeply because of their connection through reincarnation. After the Metal event, Kendra joined the Justice League and began to have feelings for the Martian Manhunter. Carter was on his own adventure in a new series by Robert Venditti, but showed up a few times to help Kendra and the Justice League. There was never any mention of a romantic relationship between Kendra and Carter or Kendra having any feelings of anger towards Carter. 
   During the Year of the Villain event, Carter's body was possessed by one of his past lives, the Sky Tyrant of Earth-3. Before he was completely taken over, he went to the Shade for help. After Sky Tyrant took over, the Shade contacted the Justice League for help. Kendra knew then of Carter's crisis, but she, along with the other members of the Justice League, contacted Shayera Hol of Thanagar Prime. 

   Shayera was the empress of Thanagar and the former wife of Katar Hol, the Savage Hawkman of the New 52 series. After Thanagar was destroyed and Katar died in a battle with Despero, she took her people to their ancestral home to rebuild. Sometime later, Kendra came to Thanagar Prime with the Martian Manhunter and John Stewart to find out the mystery of her Nth metal wings. They discovered that Shayera was manipulating the Absorbascon, a Thanagarian device that altered reality through the mind. Kendra and Shayera fought when Shayera tried to imprison the Justice League to protect her secret, only to be stopped when the Justice League showed up with Starman. Starman then explained that the former Hawkgirl (Shiera) had been split by Perpetua and the Totality into Kendra and Shayera when she reincarnated. He used his powers to make Kendra and Shayera whole and as a result, they are now two completely separate people now. 

   When the Shade contacted them, Kendra knew that Shayera was the one who belonged with Carter so they contacted her to help Carter. She immediately went to Earth and battled the Sky Tyrant, eventually breaking Sky Tyrant's hold on Carter and bringing him back. They were finally reunited, lovers who had been reincarnated together for thousands of years. Soon after, they sacrificed their lives to defeat the Lord of the Void. As a reward, the entity who had started the reincarnation cycle released them, and they were finally free of the cycle of endless lives. This would now be their last life. However, the entity also allowed their last life to be exceptionally long, and we would see them alive and well in the 40th century. 

   So this idea of Kendra resenting Carter and hating him for controlling her is an absolute ignorant mishmash of past Hawkgirl stories and incomplete research. The Kendra in the current series seems to be an absolute basket case, as we see her arguing with her past lives, easily triggered into a rage, going off on rants, and curled up in a fetal position on the floor in front of her couch. 

   My post on Twitter has gotten over 200 likes and many reposts, and maybe one or two disagreements. Anyone who has read Hawkman and Hawkgirl comics is flabbergasted at the lack of knowledge by the writer. I hope this isn't true, but I've heard that DC Comics has given the current writers the freedom to not worry about any kind of continuity in their stories, so characters with a long history like Kendra are being twisted into whatever agendas and personal issues the writers are dealing with. And that has turned what could have been a great opportunity to advance Kendra's story into absolute tripe. It's too bad, but this appears to be the current state of DC Comics. I hope the editors can start doing a better job and respect their characters and the fans who love them. Kendra is a fascinating character, but this ain't it. Hawkgirl #4 is out on October 17th. I'll get it, but probably to do a rebuttal on whatever the writer does with Kendra. 

That's it for the news for this week. Here's to hoping it gets better for the Hawks soon.