On a Wing and a Prayer: Hawkman Appreciation!

[The_Greatest_Username]

I really like Booth's commission sketches, they're very kinetic.

[liwanag]

thanks to mr mermaid for helping me find this thread

[nj06]

This thread makes me crave a Hawkman relaunch with a motivated creative team dedicated to expanding and enriching the Hawkman mythos. I want Thanagar and the Thanagarians to be a major/significant force within the DCnU cosmicverse. And I want Shayera back as well, with red hair! I think there is a ton of potential with this mythos and I hope to see it developed more.

[The_Greatest_Username]

A Hawkman and Hawkwoman series (probably titled Hawkworld for the sake of being simple) starring Katar and Shayera is a huge void I feel in my comic readings.

What creative team would you put on a book like that? I would like to see Marguerite Bennett and Rags Morales (really original artist choice, I know).

I would first give Katar and Shayera some immediate form of transport from Thanagar to Earth and back so that stories can be told on both locations. They could explore Thanagar's colonization of other planets and classism among those planets like the original Hawkworld did. They could also have a lot of cool guest-stars from other planets like Adam Strange, Starfire, Kryptonians, Lanterns, and Martian Manhunter. It would be a great way to explore the space side of DC.

[liwanag]

[JLange]

Not to be negative, but the New 52 Hawkman is a mess. In my opinion (not that many will agree with me), Johns run was amazing (after the character being a hot mess in the 90's with all the convoluted origins, contradictions, reboot-fitting, etc.). He streamlined him and made sense out of the mess. I hope that they can decide on a clear direction on him from here on. It saddens me because Hawkman was always one of my favorite characters that I have always wanted to see elevated and succeed.

[The_Greatest_Username]

I think Lemire's JLU has helped streamline Hawkman some. The biggest problem was the lack of a clear direction in the early stages of his ongoing. It literally went nowhere until around the #0 issue, but that bit wasn't exactly the gold standard of story telling.
The next time they do a Hawkman ongoing, they need a killer first issue.

[liwanag]

Not to be negative, but the New 52 Hawkman is a mess. In my opinion (not that many will agree with me), Johns run was amazing (after the character being a hot mess in the 90's with all the convoluted origins, contradictions, reboot-fitting, etc.). He streamlined him and made sense out of the mess. I hope that they can decide on a clear direction on him from here on. It saddens me because Hawkman was always one of my favorite characters that I have always wanted to see elevated and succeed.

i agree. i feel that the different takes on who hawkman tends to polarize his fans. i hope that dc can do to hawkman what they did with green lantern rebirth. it is hard though to satisfy everybody.

visually, hawkman looks good and probably can carry his own line of merchandise, if only a sufficient number of people gets interested in him (and be able to sustain those numbers).

[Kuwagaton]

Not to be negative, but the New 52 Hawkman is a mess. In my opinion (not that many will agree with me), Johns run was amazing (after the character being a hot mess in the 90's with all the convoluted origins, contradictions, reboot-fitting, etc.). He streamlined him and made sense out of the mess. I hope that they can decide on a clear direction on him from here on. It saddens me because Hawkman was always one of my favorite characters that I have always wanted to see elevated and succeed.

Nightwing sucked in the New 52, and now he has one of the best comics. Why not Hawkman? Frankly I'd like to return to his original look though, I think he looks a bit try-hard right now.

[liwanag]

it does feel sometimes that hawkman is a cross between wolverine and archangel, but i tend to like the idea that his wings be made of nth metal.

[Energist]

Not to be negative, but the New 52 Hawkman is a mess. In my opinion (not that many will agree with me), Johns run was amazing (after the character being a hot mess in the 90's with all the convoluted origins, contradictions, reboot-fitting, etc.). He streamlined him and made sense out of the mess. I hope that they can decide on a clear direction on him from here on. It saddens me because Hawkman was always one of my favorite characters that I have always wanted to see elevated and succeed.

Just curious, but why do you think he's a mess now? As someone who's kept up with him since the start of The New 52 (and before, for that matter), I don't really get this criticism.

I also admit that it kind of irks me how Johns gets so much credit for "cleaning up" Hawkman's continuity. All Johns did was bring Carter back instead of Katar, and semi-merged them physically. The majority of the legwork involved in straightening out Hawkman's post-Crisis continuity, though, was done by John Ostrander in the Hawkworld ongoing series years before Katar was ever shipped off into the limbo that Johns pulled Carter out of.

[nj06]

i agree. i feel that the different takes on who hawkman tends to polarize his fans. i hope that dc can do to hawkman what they did with green lantern rebirth. it is hard though to satisfy everybody.

visually, hawkman looks good and probably can carry his own line of merchandise, if only a sufficient number of people gets interested in him (and be able to sustain those numbers).

I would love it if the bold occurred. I think Hawkman serves as a great way to expand on the cosmic side if the DCnU. I would love to know more about Thanagar's history and its relationship with other DC races. I would also like to see more Thanagarians introduced, both friend and foe.

[liwanag]

what can dc do to make hawk man more "accessible"? i like the rich potential stories of a thanagarian warrior, and i also like the resurrecting egyptian prince angle. lots of world building could be done...

[Mar-Vell]

The best thing DC can do at this point, and thank heavens for the new 52, is to totally forget about the Egyptian angle, and move forward with the Thanagarian warrior. The reboot provided for Hawkman's story to be uncomplicated, and it should stay that way. The potential is limitless now. I want to find out more about him on Thanagar during his days before coming to Earth.

[MrHashasheen]

The best thing DC can do at this point, and thank heavens for the new 52, is to totally forget about the Egyptian angle, and move forward with the Thanagarian warrior. The reboot provided for Hawkman's story to be uncomplicated, and it should stay that way. The potential is limitless now. I want to find out more about him on Thanagar during his days before coming to Earth.

I feel like you're coming from this with a biased perspective. It's okay, I feel the exact opposite in that the Egyptian angle provides far better story potential.

IMO, if they're unwilling to keep them in seperate universes, they could perhaps try keeping them in seperate time periods, or use that as a definitive separation. (Note that I'm not suggesting this for New 52, just thinking aloud).

Like, have Carter and Shiera as a modern day duo, and then introduce time-traveling Katar and Shayera (reincarnation-not), from a futuristic Thanagarian Empire. Maybe they're on a mission to save Thanagar from itself (peaceful utopia turned militarist empire was a hallmark of Thanagar continuity wise, IIRC). Maybe they're hunting for criminals escaped through time and space. Maybe they're just seeking to live in a more peaceful time, only to find out things aren't as peaceful as they hoped. Live-action archeology? Recovering an intact Absorbacon to rebuild their people in the future?