I read the first few issues. Have up to #4 i think, but I am not overly impressed with Hawkman. The writing is good, but the character confusion irks me.
You see, back in the Golden Age of comics... Carter Hall was an archeologist who discovered Nth metal in a tomb in Egypt. With his wife in tow, he became Hawkman. Found out he was the resurrected spirit of a pharoah. Joined JSA too.
Now, in the 60's, Gardner Fox and Kubert, who worked on the original Hawkman, came up with the idea for a revamped version. Katar Hol was from the planet Thanagar, a nice utopic society. When it was attacked, he used wings and Nth metal, invented by his father to fight back the attackers (Manhawks). He was the most honored policeman on Thanagar, and he met and married Shayera Thal, another young officer. They came to earth in search of a fugitive shapeshifter and took up roles working at a museum. Used weapons from the museum to fight bad guys.
In 1987, DC was going post Crisis. Miller Changed Batman's origin, Byrne changed Superman, there was Emerald Dawn, Wally West was the Flash, and Tim Truman was given permission to change Hawkman. Thanagar was no longer a paradise, but a corrupt planet where Katar's family was among the aristocracy. As an officer, Katar goes on a mission to stop an alleged anarchist. He kills the person, who turned out to be his father--a man trying to make peace. Katar is placed in exile and becomes a fucked up dude. He is brought back by Shayera Thal--not his intended love (she was killed in an explosion), but Shayera's bastard daughter. Weird huh? So they go and track down that shape-shifting dude to earth, not married, and housing powerful weapons.
It would have stopped there, but DC made Hawkworld a series. Thus, Katar just came to earth, instead of having been there since the 1960's. that caused a lot of confusion, because it meant the Hawkman in the JLA was someone else. A huge discrepancy. DC simply told readers that Carter Hall, the Goldern Age Hawkman, was acting as a liason with the JLA on those missions. Continuity be damned. Course it messes up stories with Hawkman and Adam Strange and the Atom.
DC realized people were not buying the shit. So in Zero Hour, they made all of the Hawkmen and women into one God Entity. It still sucked, even as they tried to tie up loose ends. Hawkman was now officially not to be touched. Too messy.
So Geoff Johns is remaking the JSA. He has a Hawkgirl again, and the question was, where would he go for Hawkman? He had hypertime and other elements as easy resources, but instead of fixing the situation, he decided to resurrect Carter Hall, figuring his Golden Age status would fit in better with the JSA.
And what of the strong guy who could talk to birds and fly to Thanagar? Still gone, but I think he was the best. At least before Truman fucked him over.
Oh yeah. I collect Legion, Batman (Jeph Loeb run), and League of Extraorinary gents. Need the second Promethea Hardback.
