Release Date: January 1, 2025
Script: Jeff Lemire
Colors: Luis Guerrero
Cover: Cully Hamner
Editing: Andrew Marino, Katie Kubert
At the beginning of issue No. 3, we find Hawkman bound and taunted by three demons who are fighting over his Nth metal helmet, harness, and mace. They are amazed at its power and decide to take Hawkman and his weapons to their master. This master turns out to be Wotan, an old foe of Doctor Fate. They take Hawkman to the gates of Hell but decide to leave him there, not alive but not quite dead either. It appears to be a kind of purgatory that Hawkman will be trapped in forever. Suddenly, Hawkman hears a voice and it turns out to be Kid Eternity and she says she will break Hawkman out of there. This is where the issue ends. So it appears that Hawkman is not as dead as he seemed and he will be able to find a way back eventually.
Another interesting part of the issue was with Kendra Saunders aka Hawkgirl. In the debacle of the Hawkgirl series that came out in 2023, Kendra was bitter and angry at Carter and Shayera for leaving her on her own while they were able to finish their reincarnation cycle. This was brought up a couple times during the run and showed Kendra s a greatly unstable and angry character.
This Hawkgirl is different. She acknowledges that she cares for Carter, but as a brother. She understands that even though the reincarnation cycle is broken, they are still connected and she is determined to go help him. Another revealing moment is when Kendra talks about Shayera and how she is the one that is with Carter now. I saw a review that thought Kendra now thinking of Carter as a brother after their past lives as lovers made the whole thing seem incestuous. That was the farthest thing from my mind as I read this, but to each his own I suppose.
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| Hawkwoman will appear here! Green Lantern Corps No. 2 (release date March 12) |
Lemire is apparently planning to bring in Shayera at some point so a conversation between Shayera and Kendra will be interesting. Shayera Hol was in the solicitations for a Green Lantern March issue. It appears that she is currently on Thanagar and trying to save the planet (again), so maybe we'll see her later in the fall.
In the rest of the issue, Dr. Midnight figures out that Obsidian is behind Jakeem's coma, Sand has a thing for Jade but she's friend-zoning him, Wildcat shows a vulnerable side, and the JSA fights the Injustice Society in the Tower of Fate. There's a lot going on but Lemire handles it pretty well.
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| Hawkman Vol. V No. 1 (August 2018) |
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| Hawkman Vol. V No. 1 (August 2018) |
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| Hawkman Vol. V No. 3 (October 2018) |
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| JSA No. 25 (August 2001) |
Another thing is that Nth metal has been shown to have some effect on magic. Could he use that in his fight against Wotan? So much has not been explained about Hawkman's abilities with the Nth metal. I would love to see Lemire or another writer tackle that someday in a future story or series.
I'll admit I was slightly worried after reading issue No. 2, but it appears that Hawkman will find a way back. I hope he stays as a main part of the team for a while at least so we can see how his relationship with Kendra is resolved (finally) and the return of Hawkwoman. Lots to look forward to. In Lemire we trust!
Issue No. 4 is out on February 5th!
It's nice to see a writer actually know something about a character's history, like acknowledging the previous Hawkman series. My gripe would be when the lackey demons mention that they had healers heal Hawkman. It seems many writers forget about Hawkman's healing ability being almost on par with a character like Wolverine (I don't personally think Hawkman could heal himself from a single drop of blood, but...). So far I think the series has been pretty good. I was extremely worried after Lemire's godawful Black Label Question series caused me to loose all faith in him as a writer, but it seems like he's got a better handle on this book.
ReplyDeleteQuick note, The Demons Three are actually the followers of Surtr, apparently trying to free him through working with Wotan.
I forgot to mention it, but I did find it odd that The Demons Three kept referring to Hawkman as a Thanagarian even though Carter Hall is human. I don't think Hawkman Vol 5 said anything about him being anything other than human, but at this point it's not really a big deal, Carter Hall was a giant hawk demon so anything is fair game.
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