Panel Vision - Guide to Jonah Hex

Edited by Robert Beach 

This is going to be something of a different guide than usual. Most of the time in these guides I'm going through a list of characters with the understanding that I’m guiding you through a collection of characters or universe elements, so you’ll have a greater understanding the superhero mythos that’s come to dominate pop culture. However, seeking to capitalize on Jonah Hex’s appearance on Legends of Tomorrow, I had so many options to choose from. 

I decided it’d be easier than writing 5 different articles about the guy to just combine them all in a single guide to the various broad strokes stories of Jonah Hex. This is going to be part history, part recommendation list, part review, and who knows if people are interested. Maybe we’ll do it again when some other character with a lot of content to cover makes their debut. 

Cover Story - Top 20 Hawkman Covers

There’s really no need for a thesis at this point is there?  We’re in that dull part of the year where there’s not a lot of geek media to talk about and Legends of Tomorrow is still on so that’s what we’re talking about today.  I mean, this is the first time we’ve ever seen a big, live action, multi-hero team show come out of one of the big American comic companies so it’s a pretty major deal this show is still happening.  

Given that, I’m probably going to get around to dedicating a Cover Story to every member of the team and this week the character selection wheel has landed on Hawkman.  So, let’s dive into the shallow end and get the cover story on the top 20 Hawkman comic covers. 

Panel Vision - Legend of the Hawkman

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.

Panel Vision - Hawkworld

So, once again Hawkman has come stumbling into the world of DC live action television, this time through the lens of the CWniverse and its lead up to Legends of Tomorrow rather than his previous one-off appearance on Smallville.  Hawkman’s one of those weird comic book characters like the Fantastic Four or Green Lantern in that he’s been around for a long time but every time people try and slot him into a live action context it tends to end in disaster.  

In Hawkman’s case he kind of has a greater excuse than most given that his origin and history don’t even begin to make sense.  Seriously, I initially planned this as a “history of” article but the history of Hawkman is so needlessly convoluted and full of retcons and revisions not even I can really follow it.  Case in point: even though the latest version of the character seen on CW is the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian prince the version I’m spotlighting for this review is an alien police man.