Hawkman (2002 Series) #21

November 2, 2003

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Taking Off the Mask (The Headhunter Part II)

Hawkman faces off against a dark foe with designs on his past and future.

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Rags Morales
Inks: Michael Bair
Colors: John Kalisz
Letters: Bill Oakley
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: John Watson
Publisher: DC Comics

After I began writing these advance reviews, I have found myself sometimes trying to come in at the middle of a story, hoping to comprehend what is going on. The best endorsement I can give Hawkman #21 is that, unlike other times I’ve come in during the middle of a story, I want to go get the back issues to find out what happened before.

Kendra Saunders, alias Hawkgirl, arrives home from a date to find her partner beaten and bloodied, with a hooded man holding a long blade to his neck. Although I’ve only read a few issues of Hawkman before, I’ve long followed these two characters in JSA and I understand the dynamic between them, which works well here. We see Kendra trying to fight what she sees as a destiny she does not want, whereas Carter Hall (Hawkman, for the uninitiated) is dealing with the fact that the woman he has loved for thousands of years no longer wants to be with him. The action stuff in this title is good, but a little difficult to follow without knowing the previous storylines. The character stuff needs no preamble, though – it works beautifully. Anyone who’s been trapped in a relationship can relate to Kendra, anyone who’s loved someone who doesn’t love them back can relate to Carter. Many of us can relate to both.

I’ve watched Morales’s artwork since his old days at Valiant, and he’s really showing his stuff here. The dark scenes are never too dark, the cemetery scene is appropriately spooky and the last page, including several old DCU characters, most of whom I recognize, was great.

Hawkman is a character that suffers not because of the creative team (not the current creative team, at any rate), but because he’s well known for having a confusing continuity and because he’s never been quite as big an icon as even DC’s other second-string A-list (Flash, Green Lantern and the like). Neither of those factors are a deterrent to reading this series – people who want good superhero action with good characterization could do a lot worse than look into this title.

The other endorsement I can give Hawkman? I want to see what happens next.

Rating: 7/10