Trade Tales! - Hawkworld

Next up is a return to the DC Universe. This time, I’m looking at a character I’m not a big fan of: Hawkman. I don’t think he’s a lame character even though his mask is sometimes weird. All I know about the character is that he is pretty screwed up continuity-wise. And I thought Superman’s continuity  had issues!  I know that Carter Hall (or Katar Hol, whatever floats your boat) has gone through changes over the years. I even remember running across the confusion in Zero Hour, a crossover that was supposed to end the confusion. Spoilers… It apparently didn’t and this story here is kind of what started it.

A few months back, I was looking through some cheap trade paperbacks. I came across Hawkworld, a three-issue prestige miniseries written and drawn by Tim Truman. I had heard about the story, though I may had been confusing it with the series that spun out of it. Either way, the artwork looked nice, so I decided to pick it up. The miniseries was released in 1989, and it was supposed to be a total reboot of the character in the same way Man of Steel was to Superman. Truman, who has done a lot of work, wrote and penciled the mini. Inks were done by Enrique Alcatena and colors were done by Sam Parsons.

Hawkworld

Writer and Pencils: Timothy Truman

Inks: Enrique Alcatena

Colors: Sam Parsons

Letters: Tim Harkins

SYNOPSIS

Hawkworld follows a Thanagarian police officer named Katar Hol. He’s the son of Paran Katar, the esteemed scientist who created the wings for the Thanagarians. Katar’s a part of the Wingmen, cops who patrol the underbelly of Thanagar called Downside. There, the poor and the unwanted are left there to make a life for themselves. Katar’s first mission along with Commander Byth was to take out a gun smuggler. Afterwards, Katar heads topside to the high towers to live the life of a rich boy. Through his father, he ends up meeting Shayera Thal, a feisty but narrow-minded woman.

Things end up going bad for Katar, though. First, his partner, Kragger, is killed in Downside while investigating weapon smuggling. Then, Shayera and some of Paran’s friends are killed by a hidden bomb that was set up by the smugglers. This leads him and Byth to hunt down the people responsible. Katar finds one of the smugglers and kills him, but he’s then shocked to find that his father is one of the men. He flies back to his father’s home and realizes that his father had nothing to do with the weapons. He was trying to get the Downsiders supplies and medicine. Katar realizes that he and his father have been set up, but before he can do anything, he’s arrested and sent off to an prison island for 10 years.

While he’s on the island, he ends up running across a couple of aliens. He ends up killing one of them to steal some wings he was preparing, but R’d, the dead alien’s brother, tells Katar that the wings were for him. Even when Katar realizes he made a mistake, R’d forgives him and helps him get accustomed to the island. Eventually, R’d passes on and Katar is left alone. The decade passes and Katar is sent to live in Downside since his family is disgraced. He does have a plan in place to help the Downside and get his revenge on Byth, though.

At least this Shayera is nicer.

He ends up running a smuggling operation for the Downsiders to get them help. This gets the attention of another Wingman who is also named Shayera. It turns out that she was adopted by Shayera Thal’s father when she was killed years ago. They uncover the true story about Byth and his smuggling. Shayera gives Katar his weapons back and he goes to take down Byth who has been using body-altering drugs to get stronger. Katar’s able to defeat Byth, but Byth gets away and apparently escapes to Earth. In the end, Katar is given back his wings by the Thanagarians as he and SHayera take a shuttle to Earth to apprehend Byth.

OPINION

This was a pretty interesting read. As I said before, I’m not a Hawkman fan, so his world is pretty much alien to me. Plus, it gets confusing when DC can’t make up their mind on whether he’s a reincarnated Egyptian or a space cop. All I know is that the dude has wings, wears a weird mask, and was played by Michael Shanks on Smallville, okay? I didn’t know what to expect with this mini, but it did surprise me.

Truman took Hawkman’s world and reinvented it for modern times. From what I’ve read, the original Thanagar was a utopia a lot like Krypton. Truman decided to muck it up and turn the utopia into a colonizing, harsh, bigoted world and it’s something you quickly pick up on. Themes like colonialism, racism, and classism are mentioned here. Heck, it felt like looking to a mirror with all that’s going on today. It also seems like Paran, Katar, and some of the aliens are the only likable characters here. The rest of the Thanagarians are either bigoted, corrupt, or just bad. The dead Shayera is one big example.

The story is good for the most part. In some ways, it’s kinda like a Greek tragedy. Katar is a fine character. He’s an idealist who’s starts out holding Thanagar’s past up. In the first issue, he’s wearing this necklace of Kalmoran, the hero who helped Thanagar rise against its oppressors years ago. He firsthand sees that  this version of Thanagar is long gone and something worse has taken its place. He goes through a lot here and he does become better in the end. He isn’t turning into a superhero here; he’s just becoming a better man or Thanagarian.

The artwork is wonderful. It was the main thing that gravitated me towards the book. The artwork definitely sets up the darker, bleak tone for the story. The new look for the Hawks look pretty cool and militarized. The designs for the rich aristocratic folk looked like mixtures of clothes seen from other eras. Downside literally looks like a gutter. It’s overcrowded, war ridden, and a bit filthy. You don’t get a lot of action but what you do get is good at times. Other than Byth’s transformations and maybe some stiff action, the artwork is good.

Man, this alien version of crystal meth is weird, man!

As for any dislikes, I did think Byth was a little lame. I thought him taking those drugs and transforming himself into other creatures was weird. We did need a final bout though since this is a comic book, and that didn’t disappoint. It does end a little weird, though I’m guessing that was done to have it tie into the series that spun out of this. Also, what was up with the two Shayeras? I thought that was kinda weird for a guy to give the name of his dead daughter to his adopted daughter.

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In the end, Hawkworld was a nice read. If you’re looking for something that isn’t like most mainstream superhero comics, then this would be a good treat. Since the DCU app has the series that spun out of this mini, I’ll try to read that. Apparently, John Ostrander wrote on it, so it may be pretty good. Well, I need some sleep, so I’m outta here. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and don’t fall for the redhead who’ll beat the crap out of your helpless waiter. Chances are she’s not a good person.

Whelp, that date's ruined!