Hawkman #4 (Spoilers)

[Hawkman]

A day late with this, due to feeling a little under the weather. For the same reason, I'm going to try to keep the recap short this week.

• Issue begins on "A Faraway World," where giant, metal Hawkmen end up annihilating the planet.
• Flash to Thanagar, where Katar gives chase to Carter, thinking he's Byth.
• Carter eventually convinces Katar he's not his enemy, but "him" from another time and space.
• Katar tells Carter of his dreams of the "Deathbringers" (see the "Faraway World" above), the same beings Carter believes he needs to stop.
• Looking for his next clue, Katar "points" Carter in the right direction, then gives him a nudge... literally.
• Finding his next clue (a disc of some sort) beneath the giant, stone finger of a pointing Kalmoran, Katar is whisked away once again through time and space.
• Transplanted to Indonesia this time, Carter barely has time to recover before his blood activates the disc.
• Out of sorts, he's welcomed to the Microverse by none other than his good friend, Ray Palmer!

Probably my favorite issue so far. Venditti definitely covered the gamut of Thanagarian colloquialisms, which was both fun and impressive. Characterizations were good, too, with Katar feeling very much like his '90s incarnation to me. Shayera, too, despite her limited panel-time.

On art, I think this was Hitch's best issue yet. Thanagar looked great, and Carter and Katar's battle throughout the city had a real sense of motion to it.

Anyway, I've got to hit the sack, but I can't stress enough how happy I am with this series. Just a lot of fun all around. I think I've said this before on here, but it's not just a great Hawkman book, but a great comic book. Period. If you're not already reading it, you really should be.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

So far so good. I can see this series falling into the same trap that Hal Jordan & The GLCorps had of all spectacle with not enough heart, but, thus far, I am intrigued by Carter's quest for self, his search for his own heritage and purpose.

[Merrik]

*Spoilers*


So I've been buying the series so far, but hadn't had a chance to read it. Got a little backed up with other stuff to read. I'd say I'm a casual fan of the character, but not die-hard. Enough to buy four issues of the series to read at once, but not more so. So I finally sat down today and read the series so far and it's actually really fantastic. Like, I was fairly enthralled and was angry that there's only four issues so far lol. With the exception of issue 3 which felt like a lot of decompression/writing for the trade, everything's been firing on all cylinders and it's got me really interested more in the character and what's to come.

I have a NIGHTMARE of a time keeping DC continuity straight in my head. Can someone help me out?

Is the Carter Hall that is the star of this book, the ORIGINAL Carter Hall? The one that first appeared back in 1940 in Flash Comics #1? That ended up being designated as Earth 2 Hawkman until Earth 1 and Earth 2 were merged post crisis? I know he's all "Post Flashpoint" and stuff, but taking that into account, is this the very first original Hawkman?

That being asked, is Katar Hol that showed up at the end of issue #3 and that helped out Carter in this issue the original Katar Hol (that would have originally appeared in The Brave and the Bold #34) or the post crisis one (from Hawkworld forward).

I will say, I'm a fan of the reincarnation across time and space. The merging of ALL Hawkmen over the years from various times and spaces, even when they existed at the same time, makes the most sense to me (but again, just a casual fan). I'm really interested in that being explored a little bit more, so I'll definitely be hanging around to see where Venditti takes the character!

[Bored at 3:00AM]

*Spoilers*


So I've been buying the series so far, but hadn't had a chance to read it. Got a little backed up with other stuff to read. I'd say I'm a casual fan of the character, but not die-hard. Enough to buy four issues of the series to read at once, but not more so. So I finally sat down today and read the series so far and it's actually really fantastic. Like, I was fairly enthralled and was angry that there's only four issues so far lol. With the exception of issue 3 which felt like a lot of decompression/writing for the trade, everything's been firing on all cylinders and it's got me really interested more in the character and what's to come.

I have a NIGHTMARE of a time keeping DC continuity straight in my head. Can someone help me out?

Is the Carter Hall that is the star of this book, the ORIGINAL Carter Hall? The one that first appeared back in 1940 in Flash Comics #1? That ended up being designated as Earth 2 Hawkman until Earth 1 and Earth 2 were merged post crisis? I know he's all "Post Flashpoint" and stuff, but taking that into account, is this the very first original Hawkman?

That being asked, is Katar Hol that showed up at the end of issue #3 and that helped out Carter in this issue the original Katar Hol (that would have originally appeared in The Brave and the Bold #34) or the post crisis one (from Hawkworld forward).

I will say, I'm a fan of the reincarnation across time and space. The merging of ALL Hawkmen over the years from various times and spaces, even when they existed at the same time, makes the most sense to me (but again, just a casual fan). I'm really interested in that being explored a little bit more, so I'll definitely be hanging around to see where Venditti takes the character!

No, this technically isn't the original Carter Hall from the 1940s because he died during Zero Hour, along with Sharon Sanders, the original Hawkgirl. He's been reincarnated several times since then across time and space. However, he has all of that Carter Hall's memories and is gaining the memories of all his various other reincarnations as he goes this time. His Geoff Johns-era reincarnation was also Carter Hall, but with the memories of all his prior selves already intact, whereas Kendra couldn't remember any of them until right before they both died and were reincarnated again during Brightest Day, then rebooted by Flashpoint.

As for Katar Hol, I'm not sure exactly what the exact plan is here. From the Hawkman write-ups appearing in the back of all DC comics this week, it seems that, like Carter Hall's three separate reincarnations, Katar Hol also underwent three different rebirths as the classic Thanagarian space cop of the Silver Age, the grim n' gritty space gestapo of Hawkworld and the savage exiled prince of the New 52.

Obviously, there's a lot of timey-whimeyness afoot with all these concurrent and over-lapping reincarnations that Venditti will have to sort out, but, as it stands, this is probably the best idea thus far. Geoff Johns's initial mingling of the ancient Egyptian origins with the otherworldly Thanagarian origins only went so far. It appears Venditti intends to explain all the time shenanigans as part of whatever new mythology they are building here.

[kcekada]

DC's continuity aside, this version is supposed to encompass all the past (and future) versions of the character in exisiting DCU. I didn't read issue 4 yes, but I guess Carter was Katar in the past? I'd love to see DC restore a proper Earth 2 with the original JSA, but it's looking kinda doubtful. So far, I am enjoying this series -- even though I'd rather Katar was Hawkman and Shayera was Hawkgirl/woman.

[Vordan]

I’m kind of curious as to how reincarnating across space works. There can be two people at the same time with the same soul? It was cool to see Hawkwoman again.

[MajorHoy]

. . . but I guess Carter was Katar in the past?

It almost sounds like Carter was Katar in the past, present, and future.
(I haven't read it yet; I'm trade-waiting this before I decide.)

[Ra-El]

Maybe I'm jumping ahead, but whatever the Deathbringers are, I think Carter was one of them.

[Hawkman]

Is the Carter Hall that is the star of this book, the ORIGINAL Carter Hall? The one that first appeared back in 1940 in Flash Comics #1? That ended up being designated as Earth 2 Hawkman until Earth 1 and Earth 2 were merged post crisis? I know he's all "Post Flashpoint" and stuff, but taking that into account, is this the very first original Hawkman?

The way I'm reading it is this is this Carter Hall. He is who he is, but he's also the other Carter Hall you mentioned, as well as Geoff Johns's rebooted Carter Hall, circa 2001. He's none of them and all of them at once.

Personally, I love the idea, in that if you're a fan of one Hawkman, you're now a fan of all of them (an umbrella I fell under already, anyway). He's now the one character--at least that I'm aware of--in comics who isn't completely distinct from any of his other incarnations.

That being asked, is Katar Hol that showed up at the end of issue #3 and that helped out Carter in this issue the original Katar Hol (that would have originally appeared in The Brave and the Bold #34) or the post crisis one (from Hawkworld forward).

This one's a bit easier. He's the Hawkworld Katar Hol that appeared post-Crisis. That being said, though, this Carter is also the Silver Age Katar Hol as well.

How all this works is yet to be explained from A to B, and who knows if Venditti will ever even get around to a formal explanation. For now, though, it's just reincarnation across time and space. Personally, I'm satisfied with that reasoning, however vague it may be. Sometimes, though, the less said, the better.

[JLH]

It was great seeing Katar and Shayera again, even if only briefly.

[Godlike13]

This was cool. Nice to see a Hawkwoman finally pop up.

[Merrik]

Thanks for the explanation guys. That is how I was reading it and interpreting it, but I just wanted to clarify with one or two people who were more knowledgeable on the character than I am. For the moment, I have it about as straight in my head as I think it's going to get! Ha! And like I said, I'm around for the ride after reading these first four issues!

[MajorHoy]

. . . I'd say I'm a casual fan of the character, but not die-hard . . . I have a NIGHTMARE of a time keeping DC continuity straight in my head . . .

DrNewGod hates it when I post these, but if you weren't familiar with this, it might help to explain how some of us talk about Carter and Katar becoming the same character in the past. It shows what they did to all the Hawkmen/Hawkwomen/Hawk-chillen in 1994's Zero Hour: Crisis in Time:




and that led to

[DrNewGod]

DrNewGod hates it when I post these, but if you weren't familiar with this, it might help to explain how some of us talk about Carter and Katar becoming the same character in the past. It shows what they did to all the Hawkmen/Hawkwomen/Hawk-chillen in 1994's Zero Hour: Crisis in Time:




and that led to

You're now doing this just to mess with me. Aren't you?

[MajorHoy]

You're now doing this just to mess with me. Aren't you?

Not really . . . but I now apologize to you (sort of) each time I use them.