Back Issue Review: Hawkman Vol. 4 No. 1

Hawkman's Series Included in List of Instant Classics

    People often ask me what I consider as the best Hawkman and Hawkgirl series in their 80+ years of history. Over the years, Hawkman has had six solo series, a few mini-series and several series in other books. Hawkgirl has also had two of her own series in the past. Some stand out more than the others. I always name Gardner Fox's two 3-issue series in the Brave and the Bold, Tony Isabella's Shadow War of Hawkman, Benjamin Raab's Legend of the Hawkman, and Robert Venditti's Hawkman Vol. V.     
   Hawkman Vol. 1 by Fox and Hawkworld by Timothy Truman could easily be on that list as well. John Ostrander's Hawkworld Vol. 2 started out well and peaked with the Escape from Thanagar storyline, while Hawkman Vol. 3 also had a good start with the battle with Count Viper, but both series struggled in the end. Geoff Johns' series has gradually paled over the years and while the art by Rags Morales is second to none, Johns' Hawkman did a lot of damage to the character. It suffers when compared to Venditti's series that came later. 
   A CBR article by Timothy Blake Donohoo put out a list of series that should be regarded as instand classics, and Truman's Hawkworld (#4) and Venditti's Hawkman (#1) both made the list. DC really screwed up when they decided to place the Hawkworld in the current time instead of making it a reboot, and they have been trying to fix that mistake for over 30 years now. Venditti's series had the misfortune of having to deal with the meaningless Year of the Villain/Secret Six story and then the Coronavirus, and DC did next to nothing to promote the series, so it ended before we could make it out of 2020. 
   We are quickly approaching 4 years without a Hawkman title, and nothing is on the horizon at this time. Hawkgirl had a series last year, but I personally would never recommend that to anyone. However, some fans appeared to have liked it so check it out at your own risk. Hawkman does have some gems in his history and I hope fans will check out the series I mentioned above. 

Here is a list of the series and comics that Hawkman has appeared in over the years. LINK 

Here is a complete list of Hawkman and Hawkgirl trades and collections that are out as of this date. The contents are listed as well. LINK 

Happy hunting! And here's to hoping DC will give Hawkman and Hawkgirl another series soon! 

Hawkworld News (March - April 2024)

The year 2024 has been rather quiet so far for Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Hawkgirl. The last two months had very little news or rumors of upcoming projects for the Hawks, but here is a look back at what we managed to find. 

Comics
The solicitations for June (announced on March 16) and July (announced on April 20) did not have any news for Hawkman or Hawkgirl. They have popped up in some cameos or as background filler for some covers or variants, but that's been it for a few months. Here are the trades of back issues that they will or might appear in.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1000: THE DELUXE EDITION (2024 EDITION) / August 13

     Hawkman and Hawkgirl appear in "Batman's Longest Case."

ELSEWORLDS: JUSTICE LEAGUE VOL. 1 (2024 EDITION) / Released August 20 

     Hawkman appears as Katar Johnson, a Native American warrior in "Justice Riders."

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE WORLD’S GREATEST SUPERHEROES BY ALEX ROSS & PAUL DINI (2024 EDITION) / Released August 20

     Hawkman appears on the cover. 

Articles

Note: Some of this is clickbait and not up-to-date. So don't hate me if you don't like the article. I'm only passing along what I found. 
10 DC Heroes the DCAU Could've Done Better (CBR)
Batman Secretly Dislikes 1 of DC's Most Influential Heroes (Screen Rant) 
The Nth Knight Rises in Jazia Axelrod and Amancay Nahuelpan's "Hawkgirl" (DC Comics)

10 Oldest Justice League Heroes in DC Continuity (Ranked by Age) / Screen Rant) 

10 Best World War II Movies Since 2015, Ranked (CBR)

Isabela Merced Can't Wait for People To Shout "Hawkgirl!" at Her (Collider) 

Hawkworld

Hawkworld Facebook hit 10,000 members in April. When I started the group back in 2016, I never imagined the group would grow so big, but there are many Hawkfans out there! The group continues to grow and many Hawkman/Hawkgirl creators such as Tony Isabella and Rags Morales also have joined. There are over 150 writers. artists, and editors who have honored the group by joining and sharing their work and backstories. Hawkworld Instagram and Hawkworld Threads also continue to grow. This blog also continues to get over 300 views a day and we're quickly approaching 500,000 views! Thank you to everyone for your support and come join us if you haven't already! 

That's it for this report. Stay tuned for more Hawkman/Hawkgirl news here on Hawkworld! 

Hawkman's Powers from Black Adam

 There is a YouTube channel called All Powers Explained. The video listing all of Hawkman's powers, abilities, and weapons from Black Adam was posted about a year ago. Pretty good collection! Too bad we won't be seeing it again. 

Hawkworld News (January-February 2024)

   Two months of 2024 have already passed, but things have been pretty quiet in Hawkworld. Unfortunately, there has been zero news about Hawkman, Hawkwoman, or Hawkgirl coming up in the comics. There may be tiny cameos here and there, but nothing has been really worth checking out. There appears to be some sort of bounty hunter called "The Thanagarian" (or so I've been told) in a (where else?) Batman book, but it is probably completely unrelated to any of the Hawks. I guess DC didn't have enough material for the two dozen Batman books so they have started strip-mining other heroes' properties for stories. 
   News has been slow about the Superman Legacy movie has well. I guess they have started filming or will be soon. There are a few articles about Isabel Merced working out or trying on her Hawkgirl helmet for the first time but that's about it. There are the usual comics sites' top ten whatever lists, and Hawkman shows up on those sometimes but it's pretty easy reading. About a month ago, Aldis Hodge was doing the interview rounds for his new movie and he got the inevitable questions about Hawkman. The only news we got was that there is nothing happening at the moment, and that he would love to move on and play Green Lantern John Stewart if he could. It looks like the Aldis Hodge-Hawkman ship has sailed. A quick Hawkman news search will bring those up if you want some extremely light articles. I'll list a couple of links to the articles that have come out in the last month or so. 

   We may hear something later on in the year, but so far, the solicitations for comics up through May have revealed nothing. The wait continues. 

   In the meantime, there are some great Hawkman and Hawkgirl stories out there. I've compiled a list of all the Hawkman and Hawkgirl trades with the contents listed as well, so if you want to know what to look for, check out the list. If you haven't read Robert Venditti's Hawkman series yet, it's alvailable in four volumes. I can't recommend this one enough. As for the recent Hawkgirl series, the trade is supposed to come out in April, but I do not, repeat, do not recommend it unless you're a completist and must have it for your comics collection. 
   If you see Hawkman or Hawkgirl pop up somewhere in the comics, let me know in the comments and I'll try to let all the Hawkfans know. Hawkworld on Facebook has passed over 9200 members, and Hawkworld on Threads is slowly climbing to 1,000 followers (745 at the time of this writing). Come join or give Hawkworld a follow if you haven't already. 
   As Better Midler would probably say, the fans are the wind beneath Hawkman's wings, so it's up to us Hawkfans to keep Hawkman and Hawkgirl soaring. Jim Lee won't be at the top forever, and it's always the darkest right before the dawn. Or in DC's case, after the Dawn. Keep soaring! 

Aldis Hodge Has Bad News for Hawkman Return in James Gunn's DC (Exclusive)

Superman: Legacy’s Isabela Merced Has Tried on Her Hawkgirl Helmet 

Art by Prentis Rollins (Commissined by Tim Board)

Aldis Hodge Wants To Join The DCU... as John Stewart

Photo from the toofab website

   I've been getting some Aldis Hodge stuff in my news feed lately, and none of it is all that good. Yes, most of it is clickbait, but when there is little to no news coming from anywhere about Hawkman, you pick up some stuff when it pops up.  
   Aldis Hodge played Hawkman in Black Adam over a year ago. He did a great job with it and his performance was one of the highlights of the film.  But the movie came out right when DCEU was imploding on itself and James Gunn appeared to erase everything and start from scratch. Sort of. But with his favorite pieces. 
   It's becoming clear that there were some plans for a Hawkman spinoff in some form, but that has all been scrapped. Hodge says that there were some plans, but he hasn't heard anything from Gunn. 

While Hodge has thrown his name in the hat for the DCU’s John Stewart, he hasn’t fully closed the door on returning as Carter Hall/Hawkman. He recently admitted that he “would like to finish out the plans that we had for Hawkman, and sort of revisit them, because there’s such a body of depth when it comes to his whole storyline and all that kind of stuff.”

   So Hawkman isn't happening, and he's ready to move on. That doesn't mean he's moving on from DC. It just means the he would rather play John Stewart if he's offered the chance. He seems to be letting Gunn know about his desire in some of his interviews. Hodge has already been the voice actor for John Stewart in the 2022 DC Animated Film, "Green Lantern: Beware My Power."
Looking back on the movie, Black Adam had a lot of bad luck. The movie was initially scheduled for December 2021, then July 2022, and finally released in October 2022. If it had been released as scheduled, it could have avoided the DCEU implosion. But...COVID. Then China got all upset about Pierce Brosnan being pals with the Dalai Lama and refused to release it in the theaters. If China had released it, The movie would have passed $400 easily. Bad decisions were also made with the plot, especially the overemphasis on the family in Kahndaq, especially the boy. It could have been a better and shorter movie without it. 
   Hawkgirl is in the plans for the Superman movie that's coming out next year, but we have heard nothing about Hawkman for quite some time. I believe we've seen the last of Aldis Hodge as Hawkman. At this point, I'll be shocked if they suddenly announce him as Hawkman for the DCU. 

LINK: Green Lantern: Black Adam Star Wants to Play the DCU’s John Stewart

No Plans for Hawkman in the DCU...Yet

Aldis Hodge said in a recent interview that there have been zero talks about him joining the DCU as Hawkman. It's looking more and more like his run as Hawkman will end with one movie. The movie came right when the DCEU was imploding and it looks like the JSA, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and others will be swept under the rug by James Gunn. At this point, I'll be shocked if anything happens with that cast again. And even if Aldis Hodge returns, there's a good chance that it won't be as Hawkman. 

Fans are keep an eye on what they are doing with Hawkgirl but personally, I'm not not expecting much there. Hoping for the best, because that's all we can have at this point. 

Aldis Hodge Has Bad News for Hawkman Return in James Gunn's DC (Exclusive) 

8th Anniversary of Hawkworld!

 

Commission by Prentis Rollins (Made specifically for Hawkworld)

     Hawkworld is celebrating our 8th anniversary today! It all started on Facebook on January 15, 2016. It's been eight years of ups and downs, but overall it has been an amazing time. It's been one of the most unbelievable experiences of my lifetime, and it has soared higher than I ever imagined when I started it. Of course, it would have never gotten off the ground and it wouldn't have lasted this long without all the fellow fans who have joined, followed, and contributed their art, cosplays, figures, comics, and opinions. So much has happened over the last eight years and I'm sure to forget some things but here's a look back at the highlights. 

Happy 2024 from Hawkworld

Happy New from Hawkworld! May the year 2024 be safe, healthy, and happy for you and your loved ones.

(First sunrise of 2024 taken at Kirishima, Japan)

Nighthawk and Cinnamon in Superman #9

   For those of you who know Hawkman and Hawkgirl's history, or if you read my History of Hawkman, you know that Nighthawk and Cinnamon are past lives of the Winged Wonders. The two make a surprise entrance in Superman #9 so we definitely want to check this out. Many thanks to Hawkworld Facebook member Ruben Rex Gomez for bringing it to my attention! Link: Superman #9 (League of Comic Geeks) 

Screen Rant article: Justice League's Best Forgotten Heroes are Back to Save the DCU... From Superman?!