Previously on Panel Vision I discussed the 1989 comic Hawkworld, a dark, gritty reimagining of
the Hawkman characters and mythos that was informed by the stylistic trends and
affects of Judge Dredd, Bladerunner, and
Soylent Green. However, despite being critically well
regarded and establishing a handful of still relevant things Hawkworld really didn’t leave that big a
footprint on the comics landscape or Hawkman in particular. It spawned an ongoing comic that lasted
for a few years followed by a new Hawkman comic in 1993, which has been
rightfully forgotten by all good and descent comic fans, and then that was
it.
By 1997, when DC made a major shift in writers and series
spearheaded by Grant Morrison’s relaunched Justice
League of America comic, Hawkman had more or less passed on from continuity
and would stay there for about 4 years.
In 2001, Hawkman returned with a back to basics look and a strained
attempt to combine all the most popular elements of his mythos at the
time. Though interesting that Hawkman
is pretty inhospitable to new comers, which is a shame given how much he
incorporated from the Silver Age character while elevating the material through
modern writing sensibilities.
Thankfully, in 2000 there was an exceptional mini-series that did just
that: Legend of the Hawkman.
