REVIEW: Death of Hawkman #1 (of 6)
DC promised characters of legacy, of history and of import as part of their whole Rebirth program. Despite that statement, we are still waiting for the Justice Society to raise their collective heads. In the meantime, we have this mini series featuring one of the mainstays of the team in which, once again we get to see one of the things that Hawkman is known for…….dying.
At the start of the book, things are looking grim. Hawkman, along with Adam Strange, is a little bit worse for wear, with Adam helping a severely injured Hawk. From there, we get a recap as part of the story, which shows some of Adam’s journey to this specific point in time.
Marc Andreyko is the man DC have turned to in an effort to bring Hawkman back to the forefront. Part of this focus from DC may have something to do with Hawkman’s recent appearances in Legends of Tomorrow. Here, it is the more traditional character that we meet. Andreyko has recognised the history of the character by paring him with fellow Gardner Fox creation, the aforementioned Adam Strange. In fact, this first issue is more about Adam than Hawkman. Andreyko takes us through the life and times of a hero on downtime. Whilst there are some clever nuanced moments, I can’t help but feel I have been sold a book that is less than advertised: instead of a Hawkman story, you get the ordinary adventures of Ordinary Man! All kidding aside, the dialogue makes the book readable, even if at this early stage, there is not much of a story to really speak of.
Aaron Lopresti provides the art which fits the superhero genre well. I have seen Lopresti’s work on other books and whilst he may not be a top-tier penciller, his work is remarkably consistent. The figure work throughout the book works well, with a cartoony effect in some places. This effect is somewhat minimised by a standard approach to panels and camera angles, which works well to emphasize Ordinary Man’s mundane adventures. Lopresti is inked by Livewire who doesn’t do much to either accentuate or diminish the pencils. Colors are supplied by Blond who does well to give us the normalcy of Earth and the off-world aspects of Rann.
DC are in the midst of the final third act of Rebirth, with the majority of their previously announced books hitting the shops and our wallets. Still, it is good to see that they have learnt their lesson from New 52. Instead of getting an ongoing series, which somehow manages to get cancelled, DC are taking the “dip your toes in the water approach”. This is a great way to whet the appetite of the readers, but to fully the succeed the book needs to be of a high standard. This book isn’t there yet, but it is only the first issue. To determine success, the whole mini series will need to be taken as a whole, with this book hopefully enticing you to pick up the remainder of the run.
Writing -3 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by: Marc Andreyko
Art by: Aaron Lopresti
Cover by: Aaron Lopresti
Variant cover by: Walter Simonson
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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