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| Hawkman Vol. V by Robert Venditti, 2018-2021, 29 Issues, 4 Trades |
Here is the list on ScreenRant first. You can check out the article here for more details.
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| Issue No. 12 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
1. Hawkman fighting along his past selves. The sudden appearance of the Hawkman Kaiju from Metal was a jaw-dropping moment.
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| Issue No. 29 (Art by Fernando Pasarin) |
2. Hawkman and Hawkwoman were given a happy ending. I didn't think it was possible, but we got an extremely satisfying happy ending. This doesn't happen often with Hawkman.
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| Issue No. 26 (Art by Fernando Pasarin) |
3. Hawkman were runited with Golden Age's Justice Society. So great to see the old gang back together. Their battle against the villains in issue No. 27 was perfect.
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| Issue No. 26 (Art by Fernando Pasarin) |
4. Hawkman and Hawkwoman defeated the Lord Beyond the Void. I kind of expected this result, but the overwhelming power of the sheer numbers of the Hawks' past lives was amazing to see. There is so many stories and history to write about. Upcoming, Hawk writers, take note.
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| Issue No. 13 (Art by Will Conrad) |
5. Hawkman and Hawkwoman's love ended a war. With Bryan Hitch leaving the series, I kind of expected a letdown issue, but what we got hit everyone in the feels. An outstanding one-issue story that stayed with me for a long time.
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| Issue No. 5 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
6. The friendship between Hawkman and Atom was restored. That unexpected overjoyed brotherly hug. These two form one of the greatest friendships in comics. Shame on DC for shoving it aside for so long. We haven't seen it since either.
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| Issue No. 16 (Art by Pat Olliffe) |
7. Hawkman's friendship with The Shade. Venditti said in an interview that Hawkman always watches his loved ones die. This created a desire in him to find a friend who is immortal or close to it. That explanation about this new friendship hit a nerve with me.
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| Issue No. 1 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
8. Venditti's series started with Hawkman battling a winged gorilla. This happened right off the bat in issue No. 1. A great opening scene for a great series.
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| Issue No. 18 (Art by Pat Olliffe) |
9. Carter Hall showed incredible willpower when he defeated Sky Tyrant. People underestimate Carter's willpower. He's had millenia to strength it. Makes sense that he has one of the strongest minds in the DCU.
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| Issue No. 7 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
10. Hawkman's ultimate sacrifice was his true origin. Hawkman was a being created to serve his evil master. Shayera helped him break free and begin to atone for all the destruction he caused. There was good in this man, and Shayera saw it.
Here are some more amazing moments from the Venditti series that didn't make the list.
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| Issue No. 1 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
Hawkman's mace appears like a lightsaber.
In the very first issue, we see Carter Hall press the medallion on his chest and he instantly changes into Hawkman. When he is confronted by the Wingor, in two panels we see him grab the rod and it turns into a mace. Hawkman's control over the Nth metal and what he can do with it was greatly expanded to amazing effects in this series.
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| Issue No. 3 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
Hawkman's psychokinetic connection to his mace.
During a battle in the sky with the Feitherans, Hawkman drops his mace. It quickly comes back to him and he realizes that he can control its flight. For a guy who uses a heavy Nth metal mace way up in the sky, this made perfect sense and I wondered why it hadn't been done before.
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| Issue No. 6 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
The Soarship and all its amazing capabilities.
Hawkman goes to a planet in the Microverse to find a hidden weapon and rediscovers his ship that he had hidden in a previous life. The Soarship was absolutely amazing. It stored all the records of his previous lives. It was probably the universe's most valuable museum. It had shrinking abilities, a zeta beam engine, and it could beam up Hawkman instantly. I really hope we see this ship become Hawkman's base when he is in outer space from now on.
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| Issue No. 19 (Art by Pat Olliffe) |
Hawkwoman's humiliating Sky Tyrant in their battle.
When the Shade saw that Hawkman was in trouble, he contacted the Justice League for help. The Justice League, including Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) then contacted Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol) to help Carter. You can read how the split between the two Hawkwomen happened here, but it was brilliant for Venditti to bring in Shayera and establish the clear differences in the relationships he had with Kendra (not much) and Shayera (soul mates for thousands of years). Shayera was also looking for Carter, and 19 years of Kendra, it was so refreshing to see these two truly back together again. And the way she manhandled Sky Tyrant was a thing of beauty. Sky Tyrant ended up being skewered by his own mace and running away before he could be finished off.
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| Issue No. 8 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
The Kryptonian Catar-Ol
When DC Comics' solicitations for January 2019 came out, I just about fell over. It was a Kryptonian Hawkman, opening his shirt in the style of Superman. Venditti took the Hawkman's reincarnation and used it in a way that remains one of the most unique and exciting things about the character. We even got to see the character in action later in the series. He even turned out to be Lara Zor-El's teacher. This was pure fun and showed the potential of telling Hawkman's back stories.
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| Issue No. 21 (Art by Fernando Pasarin) |
Hawkman was friends with a few heroes over the years, but during the Silver Age, his friendships with Atom (Ray Palmer) and Adam Strange has continued to this day. Shayera calling in the two heroes for help brought so many memories. This is how you write a character without destroying his past.
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| From issues, 1, 2, 4, 14 (Art by Bryan Hitch 1-2, 4), issue 16 (Art by Pat Olliffe) |
Hawkman's friendship network all over the world (Greece, Indonesia, England, Kenya).
During the series, we saw how Hawkman had friends all over the world. He had helped their ancestors and now they were there to assist him when he needed it. It makes sense to believe that Hawkman has such a network of friends all over the world and other planets as well.
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| Issue No. 2 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
Dr. Carter Hall being a world-famous archaeologist
It was touched on a bit during Johns' run, but Hawkman is a university professor and one of the most famous museum curators in the world. In issue No. 2, we saw the director of the British Museum defer to him as Dr. Hall. We haven't seen many scenes like this, but it left we wanting more stories about Dr. Carter Hall, the world-famous archaeologist and historian.
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| Issue No. 25 (Art by Marco Castiello) |
Shayera Hol's origin as a herald of God
We found out Hawkman's true origin in issue No. 7, but we finally got Shayera's origin as well towards the end of the series. Turns out she was a Herald, an angel who serves God in the Heavens. She was not suppossed to interact with Hawkman but she saw something in him that no one else did. Her presence woke Ktar up and led him to rebel against the evil Lord of the Void. Because of her involvement, she was punished and given the same curse of reincarnation. She vowed to help Hawkman atone for his deeds. You could say that Shayera was the driving force behind the story of Hawkman. Without Shayera/Hawkwowman, there would be no Carter/Hawkman.
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| Issue No. 23 (Art by Marcio Takara and Fernando Pasarin) |
Hawkman and Hawkwoman's love for each other after the fiascoes of the 2000s.
The novel idea of turning Hawkgirl into a woman who wanted no part of the destiny that Hawkman shared with her was unique and interesting at first, but it quickly grew old and exposed what makes the story of Hawkman so great. Without Hawkwoman, the story loses its heart. The two of them together is what makes their story interesting and different from the other heroes. Without the other, they could easily be replaced. And they were.
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| Issue No. 29 (Art by Fernando Pasarin) |
Instead of reincarnation, Hawkman and Hawkwoman were given a long life.
After Hawkman finally atoned for his sins, the curse of reincarnation was removed. His next life would be his last. Shayera would take her place as God's Herald once more. Seeing that they wanted to remain together for their last life, the god gave a long life, where "the years will be as days." In the final issue, we see them in the 40th century. They are very old, and enjoying their life together. Imagine the stories that DC could give us with this. It's a treasure trove of stories just waiting to be told.
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| Issue No. 29 (Art by Fernando Pasarin) |
Hawkwoman training (what appear to be) Legionnaires in the 40th century.
In the 40th century, Hawkwoman is old, but she is still spry enough to be instructing potential Legionaires. The Hawks have rarely ever had much contact with the Legion, but this could change in the future. Another great adventure waiting to be told.
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| Issue No. 8 (Art by Bryan Hitch) |
Hawkman's ability to time-travel or recover lost memories with locations or items.
During the series, Hawkman had the ability to touch certain items or go to certain locations and be trasported back to that time. He went back to ancient Egypt, Krypton when it was destroyed, and even Thanagar during the Hawkworld era. It appears that Hawkman left behind memory triggers and every time he finds one, he rediscovers something about himself. That was a brilliant way to introduce Hawkman's true origin.
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| Issue No. 18 (Art by Pat Olliffe) |
No mention of Kendra from anyone.
Venditti mentioned that He wanted to bring in Hawkwoman from issue No. 1, but DC didn't want him to use Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman at the start of the series because they were involved in Scott Snyder's Justice League story. Thankfully, Kendra was never mentioned and once Shayera showed up, their relationship was reestablished. Going forward, it seems best to keep Kendra out of the Hawks' stories and give her her own adventures. Venditti had the right idea and kept her out, and in so doing gave us a great love story. The writer of the recent Hawkgirl series was unable to do so and that failure left us with a bitter, angry version of Hawkgirl. I hope future Hawkman writers will keep Carter/Shayera and Kendra far away from each other.
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| Hawkman Vol. V Collage by Tim Board (2020) |
The Hawkman series by Venditti was a true gift to Hawk fans. I wish it could have lasted longer but it did well with 29 issues. My hope is that future writers for Hawkman will build on what Venditti left behind and give us some great stories in the future. What was your favorite moment from this amazing series? Please share in the comments!
😠Can you believe this load garbage? It's bad enough. They have to share junycoast but now they're D C's giving batwing lion mane. Batman has more than enough memberville villains for their role gallery. He can share those villains with his bad family. They don't need to take other villains from other heroes https://youtu.be/5Yh9uVNhENo?si=7-36X4xVlHg71l2E
ReplyDeleteGentlemen ghost Is what I meant to say
ReplyDeleteIt's the state of things in DC right now. Batman and his family have so many books and stories going on, I guess they need to spread out and take from other heroes. They're not using Hawkman anyway. It's just the way it is for now. Hawkfans know better.
ReplyDelete