Written by Mark Henely
This comic has a Hell of a title. Death of Hawkman. Damn… It’s the kind of title that will look very appealing on a trade paperback in Barnes and Noble.
It’s a title that promises a lot. It promises that Hawkman will die. That promise may not be filled. This is a comic book so there is guarantee that he will. Maybe he almost dies, but only loses an arm or something. Maybe he is killed, only to rise again. Maybe he changes his name to something else like Hawk Warrior or the Killer Hawk or the Big Hawk. What I’m saying is, this comic promises to be something big but could end up being absolutely nothing.
But, that’s why this comic book is most intriguing right now, in this phase of its life as a story. Right now, this is only one issue. We don’t know if this will be big or it will be a letdown. Once the graphic novel is out, for better or worse, the ending will be known and it will either be a “landmark” story or just a cool title. This is the only moment where this story could be anything.
So, what is it?
Death of Hawkman #1 is an Adam Strange story.
Adam Strange is a mildly obscure DC character. He is a normal archeologist who occasionally gets teleported into space to become Space Knight Adam Strange. Writer Marc Andreyko uses this fact in a fascinating way because he allows Strange to be the only superhero who really has time off from being a hero. He is just a regular guy on Earth. And this issue all about how he feels when he is on Earth and the longing that he feels to get back out there and live for real. He enjoys his time on Earth, but only because he gets to take a “brake” and be a Superhero sometimes.
Hawkman fans (if there are any true die hard Hawkman fans out there), might be disappointed in the fact that Hawkman takes a backseat in his own death story, but I think this is fascinating. I like Adam Strange and I want to see how he factors in. This is a story that is essentially one that tells you its own ending (if it follows through with it). The excitement comes from the twists and turns. And the twist that Hawkman isn’t even the main character is one that no one would be able to see coming.
Artist Aaron Lopresti also deserves some credit in this issue. He does a great job at framing action and pacing out the story. Also, he makes Hawkman look like a real badass in the opening fight scene. We need Hawkman to look impressive so it has a bigger impact when he eventually goes down. Lopresti has set the table very nicely for his downfall and I can’t wait to see it.
Rating: 8.5/10
