Hawkman by Geoff Johns #13-22 Review

 

[Hawkman : Killers // The Thanagarian]

• Hawkman #13 - Killers, Part I : "Hunted Hawks" = Sheeeit! The Nedal reveal had me shaking! EVS art was great, and the pacing was on point throughout the entire issue. I had to go back and reread the first 12 just to get the full cover-up: Nedal hired Warwhip to deliver the telegram and lure Kendra's parents back to St Roch, where Nedal himself killed them. Johns seems to be fascinated with the morality of should superheroes kill, since this is one of the main themes going on in the JSA title. We get some more answers about the Absorbacon, it restored her full memories of her killing the officer (maybe it was suppressed?). Warwhip's line about the rats makes a lot more sense now. As for the other stuff, Oliver Evans is still missing (was it an art error at the end of the last book?), Jaiyta and Carter subplot romance is addressed (and concluded?), and Gentleman Ghost has finally been brought into the fray.
• Hawkman #14 - Killers, Part II : "Haunted Hawks" = Wow , this was fantastic! Don Kramer on pencils was a very seamless transition from EVS. The only issue I could point out is the flip flop between stances on killing by Carter and Kendra, it's very sloppy and inconsistent. Gentleman Ghost is a delight to read, and he becomes the Hawks own personal Mxyzptlk by the end of this chapter. The death of Jaiyta messed me up, and the fact that they used it to wrap up her storyline is very unfortunate. The death of Nedal was great (more use of the trope where the villains kill other villains), and Craddock's final mic drop is perfect: "Many heroes make enemies that last a lifetime. But you, the both of you, your enemies last forever. Farewell, Killers." The last page reveal sets up some good speculation: if this is Shayera Thal, then has she come searching for her husband, Katar Hol (who got fused with Carter into the Hawkgod, and then rebooted during the JSA arc). Great two-parter, I would put this up with Slings & Arrows as the best of the series so far.
• Hawkman #15 - The Thanagarian, Part I : "Wings Of Fury" = History lesson! And I've been following the entire time! Shayera was so much fun, and the interaction with the Hawks was fantastic! The last page reveal had me shaking, but I sadly got it spoiled for me when I checked the wiki for the cameos in the flashback sequence. Surprised we didn't get any Fel Andar references, I would love to see that get a follow up at some point. Can't help but wonder what Danny's arc will be after the death of Jaiyta, and I'm happy to see Shadow Thief back. He was one of my favorite parts of that first arc.
• Hawkman #16 - The Thanagarian, Part II : "Hawk VS Hawk!" = Great final page! The Animal Man sequence was easily the standout, and I loved getting the need to know on the post-Morrison lore. I had no idea they introduced the Red during this era (I thought it was a N52 thing), and I had only known it as the morphogenetic field. Glad he mentioned the Yellow Aliens, and the Avatar stuff is actually really interesting. The interactions between Carter and Kendra are super healthy now: he respects her boundaries and their rapport has improved significantly. Pissed that I had the reveal spoiled for me, but this is still a super fun arc.
• Hawkman #17 - The Thanagarian, Part III : "In This Life Or The Next" = What a wholesome arc. I absolutely loved the character of Shayera, and I think it's so great that they reconciled the incarnations. Katar lives on in Carter due to the spirit-merge, but the lore differentiating them post-crisis still makes sense! However, I do think it still is cool that Vendetti incorporated the incarnation across space and time so that Katar and Carter are variations of the primordial Ktar Deathbringer, since it allows them to retain their relevancy and merit. The Snyder stuff gets messy, and I need to reread that JL Hawkworld arc + the whole run in general. The action and art were fantastic in this issue, and I super stoked to see how this leads up to Rann-Thanagar War.

[Hawkman : The Headhunter]

• Hawkman #18 - "Bloodlines" = Huge change of pace for this series, and the whole interaction with Jonas felt very Shakespearian in nature. I hit the end of the issue only to be downright confused, but the interaction with Ray and the fascinating exploration of how Carter deals with his immortality in a way we've never seen before was thought-provoking to say the least.
• Hawkman #19 - "Hunting for History" = Very solid issue. I loved all of the lore dumps, tying together the threads set up in JSA; a whole unified ancient history of the DC universe! The exploration of Kahndaq, paving the way for Black Reign has me so excited. I feel like we've been setting this up since Black Adam's first appearance in JSA #6, and looking back at Johns' bibliography you can tell he loves using that character. This Headhunter teasing seems interesting since I have no idea who he is. Who did he kill and boil/dismember?
• Hawkman #20 - The Headhunter, Part I : "Pray For Angels" = What the heck is going on? Voodoo rigamarole in excelsis. Who is Pani? What is Tsanta? Like genuinely what the heck is going on. The university/slice of life sequences were great, and I love the interactions with Ray in this series. The fashion choices of Carter and Kendra are so much fun as well, and depict a lot about their character. The mentions of silent film got me giddy: we know Johns is a film buff with his dialogue for Sand in JSA.
• Hawkman #21 - The Headhunter, Part II : "Taking Off The Mask" = The soap continues! I get Kendra's frustration, but come on, after all you and Carter have been through you have got to cut him some slack! Tying Headhunter into the past incarnations of Carter brings some new momentum, and I'm eager to uncover whatever the heck is going on. Who are the voices speaking to Headhunter? Is that Pani? The convo's with Ray are always wonderful, and the fact they brought back issue 18 gets me interested in how Johns is going to wrap this up before Black Reign.
• Hawkman #22 - The Headhunter, Part III : "Blood & Lies" = Dang man! I hate seeing my boy like this! Battered and mentally broken, Hawkman has embraced the 90's edge; the Savage Hawkman is back. I can't help but wonder if Black Adam had anything to do with this, or if the Headhunter coming out of the woodwork was just a coincidence right before Black Reign. The Headhunter lore dump was sufficient, but no answers on any of the colorful words like Pani and Tsanta.