HAWKWORLD: Tim Board's Review of Hawkworld 2023

Hawkman and Hawkgirl by Bo Hampton 2023

For Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Hawkwoman fans, 2023 was a year of teases, endless waiting, cameos, and possibly the worst series featuring a Hawk character since Hawkman's debut in 1939. Here's a quick rundown of the year and a list of the comics where Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Hawkman made some sort of appearance.

In comics, the year started off with the Dawn of DC tease of the Hawk logo appearing on an event chart. It got shoved back a bit and then they finally announced in June that it would be a new Hawkgirl series by Jadzia Axelrod. I was excited to hear about the new series and immediately went over to follow this writer on Twitter. Only to discover that I had been blocked. I had never commented about this person, never had a conversation with this person, and had no idea why I was blocked. But I came to find out that many members and followers of Hawkworld had also been blocked. I was raring to go and eager to support the comic and get the word out, but we definitely got off to a rough start. And it got worse from there.

The series started in July and ran for 6 issues, and it turned out to be one of the most agenda-heavy, hate-filled, ill-prepared Hawk series I have ever had the pleasure of reading. You can find my reviews of this disaster on the blog, although I finally had enough and didn't bother reviewing issue #5. The writer had a poor knowledge of the character, did not understand the concept of reincarnation as it has been told in Hawkman comics, and turned Kendra into a man-hating lunatic toying with the brave new world of lesbians. The only thing this writer did right was block me on Twitter because, in hindsight, I now know that I would not have been interested in anything this person posted.

Geoff John's Justice Society of America has been a huge disappointment for Hawkfans. Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Hawkgirl have all appeared on some of the covers, and Hawkman has had a couple of cameos, but he has been absent for most of it.

Back in the spring of 2022, Cavin Scott's Hawkman entry in the DC Round Robin Tournament lost in the 2nd round, if I remember right, and we thought that was the end of that. But then I started hearing some rumors about the story appearing in Superboy Man of Tomorrow. I had the hardest time getting any kind of confirmation, and some fans were telling me that they had picked up the issue but the story wasn't there. After asking around for a few days, I finally found out that the story was in Superboy MoT #6, but only in the digital version. Not that, but only the first 6 pages were released. The Superboy series ended with #6, so there's no telling if the story will ever be continued somewhere else. And even if it is, it may be impossible to find. Seriously, DC, what's the point?

Hawkman probably saw the most action in Batman/Superman World's Finest #16. He was kind of in 4 whole panels of action! Thank you, Jim Lee. Hawkfans are extremely grateful.

Hawkgirl is appearing in the current Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong series. It appears to be a bit more than a cameo. Surprising.

The Dawn of DC promo pic was released in May and Hawkman actually made it onto this but I'm really not sure why. It's been a full year and he's been in none of the events. The DC Comics' Christmas greeting had only Hawkgirl (Kendra).

Back in February, Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Black versions, I don't know why) appeared on Harley Quinn's Valentine's Day episode. It was actually kind of cute. Very brief, but cute. Their scene comes at 0:33.

McFarlane Toys released two Hawkman figures this year. The first was the Hawkman from right after Zero Hour in 1993. Why? The current Hawkman is still waiting for a figure. And then a few weeks later they released another version, but this time just recolored in Silver Age colors. Again, why?

In movie news, they announced that Hawkgirl would be in James Gunn's Superman Legacy movie, scheduled for 2025. Hawkgirl would be played by Isabela Merced. She is half Hispanic, like Kendra, so that will probably be the version she will play. There were also some rumors about a Hawkman/Hawkgirl show for Gunn's stage 3 or whatever. But I think I heard that it was a 10-year plan, so judging by DC and Warner Bros past long-term plans, I think it's best that we don't hold our breath on that one. Any talk about Aldis Hodge continuing as Hawkman has completely disappeared. Nobody even talks about it anymore.

In Hawkworld, the Facebook group continues to grow, reaching 8,300 this month. I started Hawkworld accounts on Threads and Bluesky as well and it is slowly attracting followers. Twitter X account had over 7300 followers, but the site became too toxic and I deleted that account back in November. It was a shame it came to that, but I didn't want to use that platform to promote Hawkman any longer. I also wrote about that on the blog.

For my Hawkman Day 2023 project, I put out my History of Hawkman. I divided the Hawks' history into six sections, with a prelude to explain their origin and basic setup. This project took me about three years to finally get to where I could post it. I'm still adding info now and then so it may never be done, but if you are looking for a history of Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Hawkwoman with sources, I hope this will help. LINK

It's been a rough year for Hawkfans, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel except for some flickering lights here and there at the moment. The solicitations up through March have shown nothing, just a nauseating amount of Batman, Batman, Batman. DC Comics is being led by people who don't believe or understand what made DC Comics great in the first place. It will probably continue in some low-life form but it is quickly losing its devoted fan base with its poor choice of projects and the writers they have writing them. At the end of 2023, it looks like DC is going with Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) as their primary Hawk character, with Hawkman on the sidelines with the occasional cameo and Hawkwoman barely making it onto a variant cover now and then.

It wasn't too great a year for Hawkfans in general, but at least Hawkman keeps popping up here and there. It's just tough to find him at times. With the movie news about Hawkgirl, DC appears to be going with Kendra Saunders for now. But Hawkman has been shelved in the past, only to come back stronger than ever. Hawkfans will continue to keep the Hawks soaring and hopefully, things will get better in the future. Hopefully, 2024 will be that year.

Nightwing #100

Batman Fortress #8

Batman: Fortress #8 (January 17), Hawkman (cameo, one panel, no dialogue)
Nightwing #100 (January 17), Hawkman and Hawkgirl (cover only)
The Justice Society of America (January 24), Hawkman brief appearance, no dialogue)
Superman: Space Age #3 (February 21), Hawkman/Hawkgirl (cameo)
Blue Beetle: Graduation Day #4 (February 24), Hawkman (flashback cameo)

Stargirl: The Lost Children #4

Multiversity #1

Stargirl: The Lost Children #4 (February 28), Hawkman (cover)
Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU #1 (March 14), Hawkman/Hawkgirl (cover, cameo)

Justice Society of America #4 (May 23), Hawkman (cameo)
Batman/Superman: World's Finest #16 (June 20), Hawkman (brief supporting character)

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #16

Knight Terrors #1 (July 11), Hawkgirl (cameo)
Justice Society of America (August 1), Hawkman/Hawkwoman (cover), Hawkman/Hawkgirl (cameo)
Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU #1 (August 8), Hawkman (cameo)
Superman Lost #7 (October 10), Hawkman (cameo)
Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #1 (October 10), Hawkman (cameo)
Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #6 (October 10), Hawkman/Hawkwoman: The Changeling (backup feature, digital version only)

Art by Fico Ossio

Batman / Superman: World's Finest #20 (October 17), Hawkman/Hawkgirl cameo)
Justice League vs. Godzilla Vs. Kong #1 (October 17), Hawkman (cover), Hawkgirl (covers, supporting character)
Jay Garrick: The Flash #2 (November 21), Hawkman (opening scene appearance)
Justice League vs. Godzilla Vs. Kong #2 (November 21), Hawkgirl (supporting character)

Justice League vs. Godzilla Vs. Kong #1 (Hawkgirl)

#1 (Hawkman)

#1 (Hawkgirl)

#1 (Hawkman)

#1 (Hawkgirl)

#2 (Hawkman)

Jay Garrick: The Flash #2 (December 19), Hawkman (fight scenes)
Justice League vs. Godzilla Vs. Kong #2 (December 19), Hawkgirl (supporting character)
Superman #9 (December 19), Nighthawk/Cinnamon (supporting characters)

Nighthawk and Cinnamon (Superman #9)

Hawkgirl Vol. 2 (Cover Dates: September 2023-February 2024)
The best thing about the Hawkgirl series was the art by Amancay Nahuelpan. It was a bit odd at times but it was far, far better than the writing. Here is the house ad and the 20 covers that came out during the run.