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A while ago I saw a thread dedicated to comparing and contrasting Barry Allen and Wally West and I'm curious about the Hawkmen since from what I gather they do have fairly different backgrounds depending on the interpretation. I have always thought Hawkman looked really cool since Justice League animated series but haven't read many comics about him. All I really know is Katar has a rivalry with Green Arrow but that is about it
If i'm not mistaken what my uncle use to tell me is that Carter hall was the earth 2 Hawkman and Katar hol was earth 1 Hawkman
They're pretty much the same character at this point, just different reincarnations of the same person. Pre-crisis Katar was the one who had rivalry with Oliver and friendship with Ray Palmer, but post-crisis it's Carter.
Neither the Golden nor Silver Age comics were known for giving their characters much in the way of distinct personalities. The appeal was the high concept stories, powers and high adventure. However, once Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko proved the importance of giving heroes more depth beyond their costumes and power sets, Katar Hol settled into the more right wing, hard line establishment foil to Ollie Queen's kneejerk liberal. I'm no expert on Roy Thomas's extensive work with the Golden Agers, but I don't remember him giving Carter Hall a particularly distinct personality, but I could be wrong there. Paul Levitz didn't really do much to distinguish him from the other JSAers either.
However, once all the various Hawk-themed characters got rolled up into one, Hawkman's modern persona became more brooding, violent and soul searching.
pre-crisis , it's very simple
carter hall was an reincarnated prince from egypt on earth-2
katar hol was a alien lawman from the planet thanagar on earth-1
now it's just a mismash
[QUOTE=Dboi2001;5073648]A while ago I saw a thread dedicated to comparing and contrasting Barry Allen and Wally West and I'm curious about the Hawkmen since from what I gather they do have fairly different backgrounds depending on the interpretation. I have always thought Hawkman looked really cool since Justice League animated series but haven't read many comics about him. All I really know is Katar has a rivalry with Green Arrow but that is about it[/QUOTE]
As of now, there isn't too much of a difference because Robert Venditti split every difference and made it so they're all the same guy reincarnated across time and space. There are some nuances, but Carter was not very well defined until after Katar had been, so to be honest they've been pretty similar. The biggest changes are Katar was a space cop and Carter was a reincarnated warrior-poet, so at times the latter could be a bit more insightful than the former. Both were conservative to a degree (it got dialed up when in Ollie's presence to provide a counterpoint to Ollie who acted often as the writer's mouthpiece) and both were fiercely in love with their female counterpart. For actual characteristics, one's more Dirty Harry and the other Indiana Jones, but the differences don't really come up super often because he never holds a book particularly long and gets a lot of his time in team books.
For most of us, it really comes down to "I like Hawkman with this origin" and his characterization is kind of similar with the origin providing some additional flavor (alien v. reincarnation).
Geoff Johns blurred Katar into Carter a bit into an all-purpose Hawkman and Robert Venditti just drove it all home and took every mismatched Hawk and decided "it's all the same dude. He's a warrior poet who is a cop sometimes. Just go with it."
I highly recommend the current run, but if you're looking to read about Katar and Carter respectively as themselves(ish on Carter's part), read Hawkworld and later Geoff Johns' run. And anything you can get which Joe Kubert drew.
I'm a Carter Hall fan, but I'd be lying if I said he's wildly different as a person from Katar. There are some differences, of course, but if they didn't drop a first name in some stories, you'd be forgiven for wondering "so who is Hawkman in this?" You'd almost always need a context clue to give it away whereas with Wally/Barry it's very clear from mannerisms alone who is under that hood.
[QUOTE=marshal88;5073999]pre-crisis , it's very simple
carter hall was an reincarnated prince from egypt on earth-2
katar hol was a alien lawman from the planet thanagar on earth-1
now it's just a mismash[/QUOTE]
And a dumpster fire of a mishmash at that.
In Pre-Crisis, Earth-One continuity, Katar Hol took the name Carter Hall and Shayera Thal took the name Shiera Hall when they came to Earth--as super-heroes, they were known as Hawkman and Hawkgirl--their costumes were their police uniforms. They have anti-gravity belts and wings made of Nth Metal. They were both cops on the planet Thanagar and they came to Earth to study police methods and got set up at a job running the Midway City Museum. The Hawks used the Absorbascon to absorb the knowledge of all the Earth--which seems to also give them the ability to talk to birds. They had their own rocket ship and needed very little protection in outer space. Carter had black hair. Hawkman got membership in the Justice League of America--while Shiera, as Hawkgirl (later Hawkwoman), was a reserve member, then later had full status in the group. Their Thanagarian science was used in constructing the J.L.A.'s Satellite Sanctuary. By the 1970s, Hawkman's political views seem to be conservative which gets him into fights with Green Arrow, who is a liberal. However the two guys really love each other and their fights aren't that serious--just two bros messing around. Hawkman and Hawkgirl like to take ancient weapons from the museum when they go out on patrol.
In Pre-Crisis, Earth-Two continuity, Carter Hall was the reincarnation of Prince Khufu and Shiera Sanders was the reincarnation of his Egyptian love. Carter had blond hair. Carter is an archaeologist and has independent means. He invents Ninth metal (or Nth metal) which has anti-gravity properties. As Hawkman, he's the leader of the Justice Society of America--having been to more meetings than any other member. He also works with the All-Star Squadron. His costume is inspired by the Egyptian hawk god--Shiera later made a similar costume for herself so she could fight alongside her love as Hawkgirl (or Hawkwoman). Like his Earth-One counterpart, this Hawkman can talk to birds. He and Shiera prefer to use the weapons of the past--from their ancient arsenal--to fight villains of the present.