{"id":32264,"date":"2025-02-20T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=32264"},"modified":"2025-02-19T18:03:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T18:03:02","slug":"golden-age-hawkman-archives-volume-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/02\/20\/golden-age-hawkman-archives-volume-1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Age Hawkman Archives volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Gardner F. Fox<\/strong>, Dennis Neville<\/strong>, Sheldon Moldoff<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-0418-1 (HB)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are many comics anniversaries this year. Some of the most significant will be rightly celebrated, but a few are going to be unjustly ignored. As a feverish fanboy wedged firmly in the past, I\u2019m again abusing my privileges here to carp about another brilliant vintage book, criminally out of print and not slated for revival either physically or in digital formats\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Although one of DC\u2019s most long-lived and certainly their most visually iconic character, the various iterations of Hawkman<\/strong> have always struggled to find enough of an audience to sustain a solo title. From his beginnings as one of the assorted second features in new anthology Flash Comics<\/strong> (the others being Cliff Cornwall<\/em>, The King<\/em>, The Whip<\/em>, spoof hero Johnny Thunder<\/strong> and Ed Wheelan\u2019s \u201cPicture Novels\/Minute Movies\u201d<\/em>), adding lustre to the soaraway success of the eponymous speedster helming the title, Winged Wonder Carter Hall<\/em> has struggled through assorted engaging, exciting but always short-lived reconfigurations.<\/p>\n

Over decades from ancient hero to re-imagined alien space-cop and post-Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong> freedom fighter, or the seemingly desperate but highly readable bundling together of all previous iterations into the reincarnating immortal berserker-warrior of today, the Pinioned Paladin has performed exemplary service without ever really making it to the big time. Hopefully that\u2019s all changed now, thanks to modern movie trends…<\/p>\n

Created by Gardner Fox & Dennis Neville, Hawkman<\/strong> first took to the skies in Flash Comics<\/strong> #1 (cover-dated January 1940, but actually on sale from November 20th<\/sup> 1939). He stayed there, growing in quality and prestige until the title died at the end of the Golden Age, with the most celebrated artists to have drawn the Feathered Fury being Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Kubert, whilst a young Robert Kanigher was justly proud of his later run as writer.<\/p>\n

Together with his partner Hawkgirl\/Hawkwoman<\/strong>, for over a decade the gladiatorial mystery-man countered fantastic arcane threats and battled modern crime and tyranny with weapons of the past before vanishing with the bulk of costumed heroes as the 1950s dawned. His last contemporary appearance was in All Star Comics<\/strong> #57 (1951) as official leader of the Justice Society of America<\/strong>, after which the husband-and-wife hellions were revived and re-imagined nine years later as Katar Hol<\/em> and Shayera Thal<\/em> of planet Thanagar. That was thanks to Julie Schwartz\u2019s crack creative couple Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert – a space-age reinterpretation which even survived 1985\u2019s winnowing Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong>. Their long career, regular revamps and perpetual retcons stalled during 1994\u2019s Zero Hour<\/strong> crisis, but they\u2019ve reincarnated and returned many times since. However, despite being amongst DC\u2019s most celebrated and visually vibrant strips over the years, Hawkman & Hawkwoman<\/strong> always struggled to retain sufficient audience share to sustain their numerous solo endeavours.<\/p>\n

This spectacular deluxe hardcover re-presentation of their formative years (collecting appearances from Flash Comics<\/strong> #1-22, spanning cover dates January 1940 to October 1941) opens with a fond reminiscence by artist Moldoff (Batman<\/strong>, Black Pirate<\/strong>, Sea Devils<\/strong>, Gang Busters<\/strong>, Mr. District Attorney<\/strong>, Moon Girl<\/strong>) in his Foreword<\/em> before the magic begins as it should with Fox & Neville\u2019s \u2018The Origin of Hawkman\u2019<\/em>. In an first epochal episode, dashing Carter Hall is a playboy scientific tinkerer and part-time archaeologist with a penchant for collecting old, rare weapons, whose dormant memory is abruptly unlocked by an ancient crystal dagger newly purchased for his collection. Through dreams, the dilettante realises that once he had been Prince Khufu<\/em> of ancient Egypt, murdered with his lover Shiera<\/em> by Anubis\u2019 High Priest Hath-Set<\/em>. Moreover, with his newly returned memories, Hall realises the eternal struggle is primed to play out once more…<\/p>\n

As if pre-destined, he bumps into equally reincarnated and recently-remembering Shiera Sanders<\/em> just as a terrifying electrical menace turns New York City\u2019s subway system into a lightning-fuelled killing field. The new couple soon deduce the deadly genius Doctor Hastor<\/em> is their reborn ancient nemesis Hastor and, after fashioning an outlandish uniform and anti-gravity harness from mystic Egyptian \u201cNinth Metal\u201d, Hall hunts the deranged electrical scientist to his lair. He\u2019s just in time to save mesmerised Shiera from a second death-by-sacrifice: mercilessly ending the cycle – at least for now…
\n\"\"
\nFlash<\/strong> #2\u2019s \u2018The Globe Conquerors\u2019<\/em> concentrated on fantastic science as Hall & Saunders tackle a modern Alexander the Great<\/em> who builds a gravity-altering engine in a ruthless quest to conquer the world, whilst \u2018The Secret of Dick Blendon\u2019<\/em> in #3 sees \u201cThe Hawk-Man\u201d expose a wicked scheme by insidious slavers turning brilliant men into zombies for profit, to gather riches and to ferret out the secret of eternal life.<\/p>\n

Sheldon Moldoff debuted as artist in Flash Comics<\/strong> #4, illustrating a splendidly barbarous thriller wherein the Winged Warrior clashes with \u2018The Thought Terror\u2019<\/em>: a sinister mesmerist enslaving the city\u2019s wealthy citizens, prior to \u2018The Kidnapping of Ione Craig\u2019<\/em> in #5 pitting the crimefighting phenomenon against \u201cAsiatic\u201d cultists led by legendary assassin Hassan Ibn Saddah<\/em>. These killers are determined to stop a pretty missionary and secret agent from investigating distant \u201cAraby\u201d<\/em>. Moldoff has received overly unfair criticism over the years for his frequent, copious but stylishly artistic swipes from newspaper strips – usually those of \u00a0master craftsmen Alex Raymond and Hal Foster – in his work of this period, but one look at the stunning results here as the feature took a quantum leap in visual quality should silence those quibblers for good.<\/p>\n

Maintaining the use of exotic locales, the story extended in #6 as Hall and Ione struggle to cross burning Saharan sands to the African coast before defeating Arab slavers and their deadly ruler \u2018Sheba, Queen of the Desert\u2019<\/em> before in #7 further exploring the mystical and supernatural underpinnings of the strip. These readily lent themselves to spooky tales of quasi-horror and barbaric intensity. Generally, \u201cThe Eerie Unknown\u201d and deluded dabblers in darkness were oft-used elements in Hawkman tales, as seen in \u2018Czar, the Unkillable Man\u2019<\/em>, wherein the Avian Avenger, back in the USA and reunited with Shiera, contests a merciless golem animated by a crazed sculptor aiming to get rich at any cost. Issue #8 offered another deranged technologist as Professor Kitzoff <\/em>– \u2018The Sunspot Wizard\u2019<\/em> – alters the pattern and frequency of solar blemishes to foment riot, madness and chaos on Earth… until the Winged Wonder intervenes, after which in \u2018The Creatures from the Canyon\u2019<\/em> Hawkman repels aquatic invaders living in the depths 5,000 feet below Manhattan Island after they decide to expand their ancient empire upwards…<\/p>\n

Bidding for an old firearm at an auction in #10, Hall is inexorably drawn into a maddening murder-mystery and hunt for a lost Colorado goldmine in \u2018Adventures of the Spanish Blunderers\u2019<\/em>, before \u2018Trouble in Suburbia\u2019<\/em> manifests after a hit-&-run accident draws plucky Shiera into a corrupt and convoluted property-scam. Boyfriend Carter is quite prepared to stand back and let her deal with the villains – even if Hawkman must exert some surreptitious muscle to close the case. Another murderous scam then involves an old High Society chum as \u2018The Heart Patient\u2019<\/em> reveals how a devious gold digger and a rogue doctor serially poison healthy young men to fleece them into paying for a cure, whilst in #13, \u2018Satana, the Tiger Girl\u2019<\/em> preys on admirers for far more sinister reasons: pitting Hawkman and Shiera against scientifically hybridised killer-cats…<\/p>\n

\u2018The Awesome Alligator\u2019<\/em> sees an elder god return to Earth, inspiring and equipping a lethal lunatic in a plot to conquer America with ancient secrets and futuristic super-weapons. None of those incredible threats could withstand cold fury and a well-wielded mace, however…<\/p>\n

At this time the Pinioned Paladin usually dispatched foes of humanity with icy aplomb and single-minded ruthlessness, and such supernatural thrillers as #15\u2019s \u2018The Hand\u2019<\/em> gave Fox & Moldoff ample scope to display the reincarnated warrior\u2019s savage efficiency, as when he tracks down a sentient severed fist stealing and slaughtering at its inventive master\u2019s command. In #16,\u2018The Graydon Expedition\u2019<\/em> reinforces the hero\u2019s crusading credentials after ferociously independent Shiera Saunders goes missing in Mongolia, and the Winged Wonder undertakes a one-man invasion of a fabulous lost kingdom to save her. Flash Comics<\/strong> #17 offered \u2018Murder at the Opera\u2019<\/em>, putting the bold birdman on the trail of an arcane Golden Mummy Sect<\/em> with a perilously prosaic origin and agenda, whilst #18 has him investigating skulduggery in the Yukon after the philanthropic Miss Saunders rushes north to offer aid to starving miners during \u2018The Gold Rush of \u201941\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Evidently capable of triumphing in any environment or milieu, Hawkman next derailed deranged physicist Pratt Palmer <\/em>in #19, when that arrogant savant attempts to become the overlord of crime using his deadly \u2018Cold Light\u2019 <\/em>discoveries. One month later, \u2018The Mad Bomber\u2019<\/em> sees the Avian Ace ally with a racketeer to stop mad scientist Sathan<\/em> destroying their city with remote-controlled aerial torpedoes, after which Hawkman must end the tragically terrible accidental rampage of an extraterrestrial foundling raised by a callous rival for Shiera\u2019s affections in \u2018Menace from Space\u2019<\/em>…
\n\"\"
\nThis high-flying compilation concludes with October 1941\u2019s Flash Comics<\/strong> #22 and \u2018The Adventure of the Killer Gang\u2019<\/em>, wherein stubborn Shiera witnesses a bloody hijacking and determines to make the bandits pay. Although she again helps Hawkman deal with the murderous vermin as a civilian here, big changes were in store for her…<\/p>\n

Already in All Star Comics<\/strong> #5 (July 1941) she had first worn wings and a costume of her own, and in Flash Comics <\/strong>#24 (December 1941) she would at last become an equal partner in peril and fully-fledged hero: Hawkgirl<\/strong>. Sadly that\u2019s a tale for another volume…<\/p>\n

Exotic, engaging and fantastically inviting, these Golden Age adventures are a true high-point of the era and still offer astonishing thrills and chills. When all\u2019s said and done it\u2019s all about the heady rush of raw adventure, but there\u2019s also a fabulous frisson of nostalgia here to wallow in: recapturing that magical full-sensorium burst of smell and feel and imagination-overload that finds kids at a perfect moment and provokes something visual and conceptual that almost literally blows the mind.<\/p>\n

We re-read stories hoping to rekindle that instantly addictive buzz and constantly seek out new comics desperately hoping to recapture that pure, halcyon burst, and these lost mini-epics are phenomenally imbued with everything fans need to make that breathtaking moment happen. Hopefully DC will realise that one day soon and revive these compelling compulsive collections: either in solid form or at least as digital editions…
\n\u00a9 1940, 1941, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gardner F. Fox, Dennis Neville, Sheldon Moldoff & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-0418-1 (HB) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. There are many comics anniversaries this year. Some of the most significant will be rightly celebrated, but a few are going to be unjustly ignored. As a feverish fanboy wedged … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Golden Age Hawkman Archives volume 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,351,75,305,76,69,225,127,148,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-apes-monkeys","category-crime-comics","category-dc-horror","category-dc-superhero","category-hawkman-hawkgirl","category-mystery","category-nostalgia","category-romance","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8oo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32269,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32264\/revisions\/32269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}