Shayera Thal: The Most Tragic Heroine in DC Comics History

   In 1989, comics fans were introduced to a new Hawkwoman in the Hawkworld series by Tim Truman. Shayera Thal was unlike any Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman we had ever seen in the 50 years since her debut in the 1940s. This Hawkman was brash, hot-tempered, and usually hit first before she thought to ask questions. She definitely kept Katar Hol/Hawkman on his toes and they often clashed over their very different ways of approaching a problem. She disappeared from comics in 1996, returned briefly in the mid -2000s before her death in the Rann-Thanagar War. Even after 20 years, Shayera remains one of the fans' favorite characters in the history of Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman.  

   On September 14, 2005, Shayera Hol/Hawkwoman was killed during the Rann-Thanagar War, ending the life of what has to be one of the most tragic characters in DC Comics history. On this 20th anniversary of her death, I want to take a look at her life, her struggles, and why she remains one of the most popular Hawk-characters in the 85-year history of the Hawkman and Hawkwoman. 

   Many comic book heroes were born from a tragic event, and it propelled them to become the heroes that we know and love. Superman lost his parents and home when Krypton exploded. Batman saw his parents gunned down in cold blood at a young age. Flash lost his mother in a murder when he was a boy. The list goes on and on. But all of these characters had a Jonathan and Martha Kent or a Alfred Pennyworth to help them thru the rough times. 

   Shayera Thal did not have such support. The cruelty and lack of any kind of love in her young life often makes me wonder how she did not turn into an all-out villain, dedicated to bring down those who made her life a living hell. 

Hawkworld #1

   Shayera's father was Andar Pul, the Police Commissioner on Thanagar and he was as corrupt as they come. Thal Provis was the Administrator of Protection and he had a thirteen-year-old daughter named Shayera. Andar Pul got involved with Shayera and she became pregnant. It would have been a huge scandal if it became public so Shayera had the baby in private. On Thanagar, there were the floating cities where the priviledged lived, and there was the surface slum cities called the Downside, where the unwanted, poor, and criminals lived. To protect their reputation, they basically gave the baby away to god-knows-who in the Downside, probably expecting the baby to die eventually. The cruelty is unfathomable and I wonder how in the world this baby girl survived in such a place. But she did. 

   Several years later, Katar Hol went down to the Downside in his first mission as a Thanagarian police officer. There was a gun smuggler who had taken a few kids hostage to avoid being caught but it was obvious that the police did not care one bit for a few orphans in the Downside. They went in with guns blazing and recovered the guns. Luckily, none of the children were hurt, and the police took them to an undisclosed place that would take them in in the Downside. Among the children, there was a 8 or 9-year old girl with red hair and green eyes; the future Shayera Thal.

Hawkworld #1

   Shayera Thal's mother was a priviledged and shallow woman who was cruel to the servants who worked in the Upside cities. However, her selfish life was cut short when she was killed in a suicide bombing at a restaurant. 

Hawkworld #1

   Her father survived the bombing and remembered his granddaughter who they had thown away in the Downside a few years ago. To replace the daughter he lost, he went Downside and found Shayera, who was a spitting image of her mother. He brought her to the Upside and raised her as his daughter. But it was not a happy reunion. Shayera loathed him and the first chance she got, she joined the Thanagarian police force and became an officer. 

Hawkworld #2

    At about the same time, Katar Hol, who had been set up by Byth and accused of murdering his own father, was finally released from his prison island after ten years. He was thrown into the Downside and he began helping the immigrants and aliens who were struggling to live in the harsh situations. Shayera discovered his activities and set out to arrest him, thinking he was smuggling drugs. 

Hawkworld #3

   But Katar showed her how he was distributing medicine and and other things that the sick needed. He asked for her help to bring justice to Byth. At first she refused but she gradually warmed up to him and helped him expose Byth's crimes to Thanagar. Byth escaped to Earth, where Katar and Shayera were assigned to capture Byth and bring him back. 

   When Shayera first appeared, she was already a tough-as-nails, no-nonsense woman. She had probably endured unimaginable obstacles to get to where she was and took crap from no one. Even though her grandfather had brought her out of the Downside, it appears that he pretty much neglected her and she fought her way through school and police training to get to where she was. Katar Hol was dedicated to helping those less fortunate and it took a while, but she eventually saw that he was sincere in what he was doing. She started to trust him and accepted him as a true partner and friend, probably something that she had never had before. 

Hawkworld Vol. 2 #7

   However, her time on Earth was not much better. Shortly after arriving, she fell in love with a Chicago police officer named Verzell Jones (Jonesy) but soon after they established their relationship, he was killed by Byth. During the run of the Hawkworld series, she discovered the truth about her father and mother, met her cousin Fel Andar, who would be a formidible adversary, and she constantly ran into trouble with the laws of America and was even apprehended a couple of times for not obeying orders. 

Hawkworld Vol. 2 #28

   After a time, Katar and Shayera fell in love. They rebelled against the Thanagarian government and decided to make Earth their home. This may have been the happiest time in Shayera's life. It didn't last long though. The Thanagarian government made a deal with the US government and now they were fugitives on Thanagar as well as Earth, and they had nowhere to go, but Carter Hall and Shiera Saunders helped them escape. At the end of the Hawkworld series, they basically had no home, were being attacked everywhere they went, and Shayera appeared to have been killed by Count Viper. 

Hawkworld Vol. 2 No. 32

   At the beginning of the Hawkman Vol. 3 series, we found out that Count Viper and Shayera had switched bodies and Shayera was now in the body of an old man, dying from a series of heart attacks. With the help of Katar's mother, Naomi, she was able to return to her body and she was back together with Katar. It didn't last long though. 

Hawkman Vol. 3 #6

   Soon after they were reunited, the Zero Hour Crisis in Time event took place. Shayera lost her wings and the ability to fly right before Katar merged with the Hawk god and Carter Hall. After the event, Katar grew more and more distant. Shayera tried to help him but he was slowly going insane and finally rebuffed Shayera's help. She finally separated from Katar and moved away.

Hawkman Vol. 3 #19 

   Shayera ends up moving to Detroit and joined the police force there. Even though she had lost her wings, she continued to fight for the poor and unfortunate in Detroit, just like she used to do on Thanagar. She heard that Katar needed help in Chicago so she went to assist him. They were finally reunited one last time before Katar was sent into the Hawk Realm to save his sanity. This would be the last time Shayera and Katar were together. 

Hawkman Vol. 3 #33

   After Katar's "death," Shayera returns to Detroit and spends a few years there. A few years later, Shayera hears of a new Hawkwman and Hawkgirl in St. Roch, Louisiana, so she goes down there to see if she can find out what happened to her Katar. She senses Katar in Carter, but realizes that he is a different person. She finally accepts that her Katar is truly gone. Byth reappears and after they capture him, Shayera takes the Thanagarian spaceship and takes him back to Thanagar. She planned to return to Earth, but something happened on Thanagar. Maybe she was arrested herself and forced to join the Thanagarian army. Or perhaps they refused to give her passage back to Earth. There is no mention again of her father or grandfather, so it can be assumed that they were dead. With no other options left, it is possible that she joined the army and waited for her chance to return to Earth. She never did get that chance. 

Rann-Thanagar War No. 3

   Shortly afterwards, the Rann-Thanagar war begins. Adam Strange recruits Hawkman (Carter Hall) and Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) to help end the war, and the three Hawks are reunited on Rann. During the war, Komand'r betrays Carter and his team, and she kills Shayera. Shayera dies in Carter's arms, hoping that she will see her love again in the next life. It is the end of a tragic, lonely life full of more hardships than anyone deserves to ever have. 

Rann-Thanagar War No. 5

   This character has to be one of the most tragic heroes in DC history. The way she was born in scandal, discarded by her own family, raised in poverty, and struggled in the police force. She finally found a good reason for living in her love for Katar Hol, but even he rebuffed her as he went insane. She lost her identity as Hawkwoman and her true love. She continued to look for a place where she could belong, moving to Detroit and then back to Thanagar. She never really fit in anywhere, as it was her nature to question and rebel against those who tried to control her. It left her scarred, bitter, angry, and unforgiving. But she still did what she could, first in the Detroit police force and then finally in the Thanagarian army before the Rann-Thanagar War finally took her life. 

Rann-Thanagar War No. 5

   But she remains popular among Hawkfans because of her no-nonsense approach, her hit-first-ask questions-later metality, and the vulnerable side of her that desperately wanted to be accepted and loved. Every time she appeared in a story, she was the center of the action and her unpredictability made her a joy to read.

Art by John Watson

   In Robert Venditti's Hawkman Vol. V,  the new reincarnation of Hawkwoman returns in issues 19-29. I saw the old Shayera Thal in this version of Hawkwoman and was thrilled to see her return in some way.  Her love for Hawkman was finally answered and she was reunited with her true partner. While the tragic and sad life of Shayera Thal ended 20 years ago, I hope this new version will continue to fly together with Hawkman and reach the happy ending that Venditti gave the Hawks at the end of his series five years ago. 

Art by Marco Castiello

   So that is the tragic and sad but heroic history of one of the greatest characters in DC Comics. Shayera recently appeared in Green Lantern Corps and is currently searching for a new planet for Thanagarians. I hope DC Comics will recognize the amazing character they have in Shayera and bring her to the forefront of DC's stories more often. Bring back Hawkwoman, DC! 

Green Lantern Corps No. 1