Katar and Shayera Hol of Thanagar Appreciation Thread 2023

[Will Evans]

I agree. I feel they pushed Kendra more, but I never found her that interesting.

Unlike Katar and Carter in the modern age, we’ve seen Kendra and Shayera co-exist as Hawkgirl and Hawkwoman.

[MajorHoy]

Unlike Katar and Carter in the modern age, we’ve seen Kendra and Shayera co-exist as Hawkgirl and Hawkwoman.

What are you defining as "the modern age"?

Remember, up until the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths in late 1985 (cover-dated March 1986), the two resided on different Earths. Then, in the Last Days of the Justice Society special released a few months later (April 1986), Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl were taken away to fight a never-ending Ragnarök battle.

June 1989 was the start of the Hawkworld series that replaced Silver/Bronze Age Hawkman and Hawkwoman (Katar and Shayera) with new versions of those characters.

May of 1992 was when the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl returned from Ragnarök (in Armageddon: Inferno #4).

And in Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #3 (released in July of 1994) ALL the Hawks were merged together into a new, single Hawkman.

[Will Evans]

What are you defining as "the modern age"?

Remember, up until the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths in late 1985 (cover-dated March 1986), the two resided on different Earths. Then, in the Last Days of the Justice Society special released a few months later (April 1986), Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl were taken away to fight a never-ending Ragnarök battle.

June 1989 was the start of the Hawkworld series that replaced Silver/Bronze Age Hawkman and Hawkwoman (Katar and Shayera) with new versions of those characters.

May of 1992 was when the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl returned from Ragnarök (in Armageddon: Inferno #4).

And in Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #3 (released in July of 1994) ALL the Hawks were merged together into a new, single Hawkman.

Modern age: since the 21st century. January 1, 2000

[MajorHoy]

Modern age: since the 21st century. January 1, 2000

Actually, the year 2000 was the last year of the 20th Century, so January 1, 2001 marked the beginning of the 21st Century.
And since that issue of Zero Hour, I don't know if there is any true separation of the Hawkmen except in time.

With Kendra, she can be separate because she wasn't a physical reincarnation of Hawkwoman.

[bat39]

I agree. I feel they pushed Kendra more, but I never found her that interesting.

Well, there is an interesting aspect with Kendra in the whole "reincarnated couple but one of them doesn't remember" angle.

But yeah, that apart, I've always preferred Shayera as Hawkgirl. Frankly, my preferred set-up is Carter as Hawkman and Shayera as Hawgirl (or Hawkwoman).

[MajorHoy]

from History of the DC Universe Book Two (1986)

[Factor]

I find it funny that two cops from an advanced alien civilisation would come to Earth to learn from American cops lol.
I prefer the versions where they came in search of that Thanagarian criminal whose name I forgot.

[bat39]

I find it funny that two cops from an advanced alien civilisation would come to Earth to learn from American cops lol.
I prefer the versions where they came in search of that Thanagarian criminal whose name I forgot.

I mean, it's actually both. They came to earth pursuing Byth, and then ended up staying to study "earthly police methods".

Personally, I loved the JLU twist on Shayera's origin - that she was basically a deep-cover Thanagarian agent and, unknown to her, she was secretly preparing the ground for a Thanagarian invasion.

If I got a chance to script a Hawkman/Hawkgirl adaptation that's how I'd approach it actually. Shayera is undercover on earth with the false identity of Kendra Saunders. When she learns that archeologist and professor Carter Hall has got his hands on some Nth metal powered tech, she gets close to him in order to figure out what's going on.

[Factor]

I mean, it's actually both. They came to earth pursuing Byth, and then ended up staying to study "earthly police methods".

Personally, I loved the JLU twist on Shayera's origin - that she was basically a deep-cover Thanagarian agent and, unknown to her, she was secretly preparing the ground for a Thanagarian invasion.

If I got a chance to script a Hawkman/Hawkgirl adaptation that's how I'd approach it actually. Shayera is undercover on earth with the false identity of Kendra Saunders. When she learns that archeologist and professor Carter Hall has got his hands on some Nth metal powered tech, she gets close to him in order to figure out what's going on.

That's actually a pretty cool idea and works very well for an adaptation. I've had an idea that it would be cool if the movie Hawks were each from a different planet, but fated to reunite against all odds. So archaeologist Carter Hall and Thanagarian Shayera would work pretty well.

For the comics, I actually like that Kendra is her own separate character now. It gives us the best of both worlds: a Hawk couple that usually operates together and are JSA members and an independent Hawkgirl that is free to join the JLA on her own and build on the identity that the DCAU made so iconic.
They just need to clarify once and for all that the "Kendra" who had a thing with Hawkman was really Shayera's spirit in Kendra's body and that by the time Kendra regained consciousness, she was free to set her own path.
With Kendra I would lean into making her a legacy of the OG Hawkgirl, but one that is no longer tied into the whole reincarnation thing. She'd be her own woman with different interests and ties (I loved the Black Hawks and Challengers of the Unknown connections, for example).

[Lucas 35]

That's actually a pretty cool idea and works very well for an adaptation. I've had an idea that it would be cool if the movie Hawks were each from a different planet, but fated to reunite against all odds. So archaeologist Carter Hall and Thanagarian Shayera would work pretty well.

For the comics, I actually like that Kendra is her own separate character now. It gives us the best of both worlds: a Hawk couple that usually operates together and are JSA members and an independent Hawkgirl that is free to join the JLA on her own and build on the identity that the DCAU made so iconic.
They just need to clarify once and for all that the "Kendra" who had a thing with Hawkman was really Shayera's spirit in Kendra's body and that by the time Kendra regained consciousness, she was free to set her own path.
With Kendra I would lean into making her a legacy of the OG Hawkgirl, but one that is no longer tied into the whole reincarnation thing. She'd be her own woman with different interests and ties (I loved the Black Hawks and Challengers of the Unknown connections, for example).

Why are you trying to create a problem that doesn't exist? Her whole story is about reincarnation, this was already resolved with the best possible explanation in the last run of Hawkman, what you are talking about would only end up creating several and diverse retcons, why then later would other authors surely want to touch this story and try to get back to the reincarnation business later

[Factor]

Why are you trying to create a problem that doesn't exist? Her whole story is about reincarnation, this was already resolved with the best possible explanation in the last run of Hawkman, what you are talking about would only end up creating several and diverse retcons, why then later would other authors surely want to touch this story and try to get back to the reincarnation business later

Dramatic much? I'm not creating any problems (I don't even have any power to if I wanted) LOL;
I just don't like the "solution" to have two reincarnations of the same character active at the same time.
I prefer Kendra and Shayera as separate individuals as that gives both of them more freedom to explore different things.
And what I wrote is very in line with what originally happened:

Kendra Saunders was a young woman who committed suicide. When her soul left her body, her great-aunt, Shiera Hall's soul, entered it.[1] Her grandfather, former OSS agent and globe-trotting adventurer Speed Saunders, recognized this change and encouraged his granddaughter to embrace her destiny as the "new" Hawkgirl.

For a long time "Kendra" was actually a reincarnation of Shiera inhabiting Kendra's memories and body, but they were eventually separated and Kendra regained agency:

Hawkgirl then became 100% Kendra Saunders as a result of Shiera Hall's soul leaving Kendra's body and moving on to the afterlife. Shiera hoped her passing on would finally remove the curse of Hath-Set.

But soon after that Kendra was killed and replaced by Shiera during Blackest Night/Brightest Day.
Continuity became even more of a mess later due to the New 52, but Rebirth established that Shayera is alive once again as the reincarnation of Shiera (past memories included).

I don't see how saying Kendra is her own separate self now, free from Shiera and her memories makes things any more complicated.
We already have Shayera for the reincarnation angle. Kendra can have her own narrative now.
I don't get how any of this would ruin anything or even contradict Venditti's run.

https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Kendra_Sa...h)#cite_note-5

[signalman112]

Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

HawksJLGL.jpg

[MajorHoy]

In the beginning, . . .

[Holt]

Post-Crisis Katar is getting a figure in the DC Multiverse line.

[MajorHoy]

Post-Crisis Katar is getting a figure in the DC Multiverse line.

Is that "post-CoIE" or is it more of a "post-Hawkworld" version?