Something Witty About Fight Or Flight

Sharon Parker deserved better.

[cxlvinklein-deactivated20190331]

[kevinsworldofcomics-blog]

Ah, Hawkman & Hawkgirl (here illustrated by Alex Ross). As a 10 year old reader, I found these characters’ origins clear and easy to follow.

In my old reprints, the Golden Age pair (Carter Hall & Shiera Sanders) were the reincarnations of Egyptian royalty. They lived on Earth Two and worked with the Justice Society.

The only confusing part for me was why Hawkman sometimes wore his helmet…

…and other times wore a yellow mask.

The Silver Age/modern pair (Katar & Shiera Hol) were police officers from the planet Thanagar who came to Earth to capture an intergalactic fugitive. They fought using medieval weapons from the museum they curated. Way cool. This pair lived on Earth One and worked with the Justice League.

Both versions of Hawkman were graced with the work of Joe Kubert, who by the time of the Silver Age was cranking out art master classes on a monthly basis.

Following Kubert was the bright, clean work of Murphy Anderson. 

How lucky were those 1960s Hawkman readers?!

Honestly, though I liked this character he wasn’t one of my top JLA members, so I didn’t closely follow all of his different series & miniseries; thus I never understood why I kept hearing people referring to the “mess” of Hawkman’s origin.

What mess? There was this guy (art by Brian Bolland):

And this guy (art by George Perez):

Easy.

Then I saw this. 

Huh?!?!?!

If 10 year old me was 100% clear, adult me would apparently fail the most basic quiz on the character.

I know Crisis on Infinite Earths wreaked havoc on a few characters, but this Tim Truman series came out post-Crisis and reaffirmed the Thanagar origin. Or so I thought…

DC’s recent Metal miniseries had the Hawks as ancient Egyptians who discover a crashed Thanagarian ship & get their powers that way. Art on this page by Joe’s son Adam Kubert:

Okay… so current status quo is a melding of both origins?

It’s all cleared up! Right? RIGHT???

One more Joe Kubert for the road… 

[motherboxing]

this is valid i’m valid

[cutlere]

Rene Lalique, collar

[noriannbraindripshere]

@gallusrostromegalus

[nthmetalhearts]

I’ve watched this clip a bunch since it first aired, becoming more and more convinced that this is a big Shiera and/or Kendra mood each time. “You think I’m scared of death? I’ve done it a million times. I’m fucking great at it. How many times have YOU died?”

[seawitchedd]

Edward Crutchley FW18

[shuosjoke]

@voidmothfashion

[whimsy-cat]

Wing shawls by MissMonsterMel. (shop) 

[girlin4colors-deactivated202005]

Hawkwoman | Ceridwen Alison Troy

[kirbycovers]

Super Powers #2 Vol. 2 (Oct. 1985)

[nthmetalhearts]

Katar and Shayera in their first appearance in Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #34, gathering intel for @maverick-ornithography‘s Academy of Bird Sciences.

[hawkmans]

So I noticed a lot of confusion when it comes to all the different hawks and well IT IS CONFUSING!! I’ve made some quick (really quick!) references for you guys in terms of the hawks in comics. Hawkman was first created in 1940 and his origin has flipflopped between a reincarnated prince and a thanagarian police officer so much that his history has become a mess! ugh!

A few more tips- Shayera Hol from the Justice League cartoon is inspired from the thanagarian origin of the hawks, however Shayera Hol in the comics is mostly from silver/bronze age or the modern age Hawkworld run. Shiera Hall and Kendra Saunders are commonly mistaken for Shayera Hol.

In the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us hawkgirl is Shiera Hall, her husband Carter Hall (Hawkman) had been killed.

The thanagarians and Kendra Munoz-Saunders are the only hawks who use guns. Carter and Shiera/Kendra Saunders use maces or various blunt/sharp weapons.

Kendra Saunders has a unique top which distinguishes her from other hawkgirls. She is also the only one with short hair.

If you have any questions feel free to ask!! I hope to continue to update this with more info (and better graphics!) All this info and MORE! Can be found here and here!

[nthmetalhearts]

This is a great guide! It does not, however, make mention of Sharon Parker, who (by a post-Crisis retcon) was Hawkwoman in the intervening time between Carter and Shiera’s disappearance alongside the JSA, and Katar and Shayera’s arrival on Earth in ‘89. (This is totally understandable since that plot point was hella confusing! But, you know, as a nerd it is my god-given right to be pedantic about comic book ladies who never get their due.)

[dinahsslance]

Kendra Saunders in Dark Nights: Metal #2

[nthmetalhearts]

Ame-Comi Girls is... a series I have HIGHLY mixed feelings about, but I will say this: I think Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey understood what makes Shayera such a fundamentally likeable character. You know:

That! 

This is from Ami-Comi Girls #13, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey, penciled by Horacio Domingues, and inked by him and Andres Ponce.

[nthmetalhearts]

I’ve been having a lot of feelings about this bit from Shadow War lately. Throughout that story is an underlying theme of displacement and disaster. Katar and Shayera are unmistakably positioned as immigrants, both in Shadow War and in the subsequent Hawkman v. 2 where they are, effectively, threatened with deportation back to a homeworld that wants them dead. (This is also a recurring threat in Hawkworld, incidentally.) What’s interesting about Shadow War and the stories that (narratively) came before it is that the Hawks are fleeing a specific kind of social upheaval - the rise of global fascism in the world where they’re from. Shayera’s absolute devastation at the dawning realization that everything they loved about their home is gone - that they’ll never share their culture with other Thanagarians, or see the places where they grew up, or live in a place where they’re really understood by the people around them ever again; there is no returning from this trauma and displacement to what they knew before - has always resonated profoundly with me for personal reasons. Katar’s quiet acceptance and determination as he shares her pain (“Our home has moved beyond our ability to alter it’s course”/”We, too, remain.”) is one of the moments in this story when I like him the most. 

Anyway this is from Shadow War of Hawkman #3, by Isabella, Howell, Alcala and Gold, published in 1985.

[nthmetalhearts]

“She is beautiful, she is terrible. She is Nike, winged goddess of victory! She is Valkyrie, chooser of the slain!” 

The Shadow War of Hawkman, by Tony Isabella, Richard Howell, Alfredo Alcala and Alan Gold. 1985.

[nthmetalhearts]

“Super-Heroes or Illegal Aliens?” 

Hawkman v. 2 #1, by Tony Isabella, Richard Howell, Don Heck and Alan Gold. 1986.

[nthmetalhearts]

1. Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty exhibit at the Met, 2011 2. Codie Young, photographed by Satoshi Saikusa for El País S Moda, Fall 2011