Looking Back at Hawkworld 2025

   The Year 2025 is coming to a close, so it's time to take a look back at some of Hawkworld's highlights and lowlights of the year. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and even Hawkwoman continued to appear in comics here and there throughout the year, including the JSA series, some unannounced cameos, and a few covers and variant covers. Hawkgirl made her silver screen debut in Superman, the horrid Absolute Hawkman appeared, and the wait for a Hawkman series entered its sixth year. I've made a list of highs and lows for the year. If you have a certain highlight or lowlight you would like to add, please leave it in the comments below! And now, the highlights first...

Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl (Superman 2025)

   One major highlight of 2025 was the appearance of Hawkgirl in the Superman movie and the Peacemaker TV series. It was the first-ever live-action Hawkgirl on the movie screen, so it was a memorable event for Hawkgirl fans. Isabella Merced played Hawkgirl, although she didn't have that big of a part. There were a few action scenes in which she was involved in and we got to see her flying and swinging the mace. There were some criticisms about the appearance. Her costume, of course, looked nothing like anything that she's ever worn in the comics. In the movie scenarios, she worked for Max Lord, so she wore a black and white uniform along with Green Lantern and Mr. Terrific. The helmet was pretty accurate, and I thought Merced did very well with what she was given.

   The second thing that was criticized was the shrieking that she did. It was way over the top and reminded many fans of Black Canary, but without any Sonic power behind it. It just scared the crap out of everybody. That one shot of her screaming with her mouth wide open was all over the Internet. Not a great look. And then there was the scene where she apparently murdered the dictator of the fictional country in the movie. I suppose they were trying to emphasize the fact that she's not like Superman and that she has no qualms about killing. If she is in the next Superman movie, this might be brought up. I keep remembering the scene where Wanda in the Avengers movie couldn't control her powers and accidentally killed a whole bunch of people. This became the incident that triggered the whole Civil War event, basically. It would be odd for the DC Universe to just shrug off all the death that occurred in the first Superman movie, but who knows?

But overall, it was good to see Hawkgirl finally get her chance to shine in a movie. Now we'll see if this will lead to Hawkman showing up somewhere down the line.

   Another highlight was the DC Finest’s Hawkman Wings Across Time. These collections of comics, starting from the 1930s up to 2011, have been fantastic. The steady output has been very impressive for DC. Wings Across Time covered the Silver Age Hawkman, appearing in six issues of the Brave and the Bold (#34-36, #42-44), Hawkman meeting the Atom for the first time, the four Mystery in Space issues, and then the first 11 issues of Hawkman Vol. 1.. I guess it'll depend on how well this first book sells, but there have been many Hawkman series that have not been collected even once. This includes The Shadow War of Hawkman, Hawkworld Vol. 2, Hawkman Vol. 3, and others, so if DC can keep this going, which is a big if, we have a chance to finally get these issues reprinted for the first time since they were first released. DC Finest was a bright spot in a rather bleak year

From Green Lantern Corps No. 2
(April 2025)

   The next highlight was the return of Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol II) in the first issue of the Green Lantern Corps series. There was some debate about her interactions with Jon Stewart in the first three issues. Jeremy Adams was the writer, and many thought he was trying to bring back the romance from the Justice League animation series of the 2000s. That series is now over 20 years old, and the young people who grew up watching the Shayera Hol-Jon Stewart romance are now starting to write DC Comics, so it makes sense that they would want to bring that relationship into the comics. I'm not saying that this is what Jeremy Adams is doing, but the thought did cross my mind. And the three issues that Hawkwoman appeared in had a lot of something going on between the two. John Stewart dreaded meeting Shayera again, which means that their last meeting did not end well for whatever reason. In was one scene where they were hiding in some kind of closet, and they just stared at each other from extremely close range. Shayera is just giving him the stare down while Jon Stewart looks extremely uncomfortable. So maybe he's the one who broke it off, and she was saying something about it in a nonverbal way. At the end of the story, they're having dinner together, and they're talking like old friends. So who knows what's going on between these two?

   In the first three issues, Thanagar has been destroyed, and Shayera asked for the Green Lantern's cooperation to save as many Thanagarians as she can. When they go to investigate the destroyed planet, which was destroyed by a Green Lantern that turned red, we find a giant egg made of nth metal at the core of the planet. The planet of the egg-like sphere starts to move, and a gargantuan being with a hawk head merges. It is Horus, the god of Nth metal and with a connection between Thanagar and Egypt. It's anybody's guess because none of this has been explained in great detail.

From Green Lantern Corps No. 3
(June 2025)

   Jeremy Adams said in an interview that he hopes to write a Hawkman/Hawkwoman series. I suppose this was his way of getting DC's attention so they would be interested in giving the green light for a Hawkman series, but so far, he has not been asked to do one.

 
At the end of Hawkwoman's appearance in the first three issues, Horus tells Shayera that he is going to go out into the universe to find a new planet for the Thanagarians and that he will call on her when he finds one. This happened back in April, and there was no mention or follow-up of any kind until December. Which leads us into maybe what was a kinda sorta highlight for this year.

   DC is doing an event where many of the heroes are fighting each other for something that has to do with Darkseid, and Hawkman goes up against Aquaman. I'll talk more about this in the list of lowlights, but during the fight, Horus suddenly appears out of nowhere, and he gives Hawkman his powers and mentions Shayera as Carter Hall's wife. Now this was a big surprise and an extremely rare mention of Hawkman and Hawkwoman's relationship. We’ve heard almost nothing since the most recent Hawkman series ended in 2020. This issue was also written by Jeremy Adams, so fingers are crossed, but I'm hoping he's trying to set up a Hawkman/Hawkwoman series where they try to build their planet way out in the universe somewhere. Maybe the series could even be called Hawkworld. That would be an extremely interesting setup for Hawk fans. Wings crossed!

   The last highlight that I'll mention is the Hawkworld fans and supporters who have stayed together or joined us over the years, including many new followers this year. The Facebook group has soared past 16,000 members, and the other social media sites continue to grow as well. I'll list the links to the social media sites below if anyone is interested in following Hawkworld on their preferred social media sites. I closed down my Twitter account two years ago because the site had just become too toxic and depressing to even visit. But many Hawkman fans and creators are still on Twitter/X so I started Hawkworld back up again a couple of months ago. I haven't been very enthusiastic or diligent in posting updates, but there is a Hawkworld account on X again if anyone wants to join. If I see some members joining up again, I'll start posting more regularly there.

 
The Hawkfans have been great this year, sharing their favorite art, figures, collections, and comic book moments. Even though there hasn't been a Hawkman comic book for over 5 years now and the most recent Hawkgirl series ended 2 years ago, the Hawkworld fan sites have been very active, which is pretty amazing. So the Hawkworld fans have definitely been a highlight for 2025.

   And now the lowlights.

   The following list is purely personal opinion. I'm sure many of you will not agree with some choices and have some things that I might not even have on my list, but these are the moments from the past year that really made me think about whether I wanted to continue doing Hawkworld. Yes, it's gotten to that point now, but I'm still here, so it is what it is.

Absolute Evil No. 1
(December 2025)

   The worst moment of 2025 for me was the appearance of Hawkman, if you can call it that, in the Absolute Universe. This Absolute series has apparently just taken off and has been a huge seller for DC Comics, so it's probably not going to go away anytime soon. The main characters of DC Comics, mainly Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and others, have been drastically rewritten and changed, but as a whole, they remain heroes at their core. Their looks and methods may be different, but they are still heroes. This is from what I've read from the interviews and what other fans have been saying about the Absolute series, because I have found no interest in any of it, and I only bought the Absolute Evil issue because they finally brought in Hawkman.

   I was hoping that they would bring in Hawkman because, in this kind of setup, he would be absolutely fantastic with his power set and personality. But boy howdy did DC take it way too far in the wrong direction.

 
   In the Absolute Evil issue, we see the first scene of Hawkman from the 1950s. The Justice Society went into hiding to avoid having their secret identities revealed by the American government. But we find Golden Age Carter Hall, wearing his yellow cowl, ratting out and betraying his fellow teammates of the Justice Society, and agreeing to turn in anyone who does not agree with the American government. Even the way he's drawn in this one panel just makes him look like a complete jerk.

Then we jump ahead about 70 years, and he's still around. He looks completely different. He's got some kind of metal wings. He looks like the love child of the Predator and the Mummy. For whatever reason, he's wearing what looks like a Blackhawks uniform. He's working for the Justice League now, but this is the Absolute Universe Justice League, so it includes all the villains of that universe. It appears that he is their errand boy and doing whatever they want him to do. Pretty pathetic.

In the first shot that we see of him, he is carrying the dead body of Oliver Queen. He throws it on the table, and Oliver Queen has a huge hole in the side of his head, undoubtedly caused by Hawkman's. mace. There is nothing heroic or likable about this character, and I don't see him having any sort of prolonged part in this universe. Some are saying that he could be a double agent or something, and that he would turn out to be good, but first impressions are extremely powerful, especially if you don't have your own regular series in the regular universe to give a contrast to the readers. There hasn't been a Hawkman Series in five years, so this is the first look at Hawkman for many. It's pretty disappointing when DC has to build up its favorite characters by destroying others. And from a Hawkman fan’s point of view, this is what they're doing. The Justice League animation series did untold damage to Hawkman by making him a creepy stalker, and that has stuck with many fans who grew up watching that series, and many still see him as a creepy stalker. DC Comics has taken a character that had a very forceful and strong conviction about what he is doing and an incredible love and partnership with an equally impressive superheroine, and they turned it into something completely unlikable and villainous. Apparently, Hawkman is appearing in the Absolute Superman series for a couple of issues next year. I'm assuming that Superman is going to wipe him out, or something's going to happen, and this character will quickly be erased. To be honest, I wouldn't mind that at all.

Aquaman No. 12
(February 2026)

   The next lowlight was the DC K.O. series that is currently going on. I am really burnt out on hero against hero series and storylines. I know this is the strength of some writers, and they do a very good job with it, but can we find writers who can take a hero and build up their story in a positive and uplifting way? Thankfully, Hawkman and Hawkgirl have not completely disappeared, so there is some hope that a writer who truly knows and loves the characters will appear someday with a really great series. The fight took place in the Aquaman series (That was our first clue), and then the solicitations for 2026 revealed the winners ahead of time, so we knew in advance who was going to win. However, this issue was also being written by Jeremy Adams, so I had a little hope that at least it would be a good fight.

   The setup was best two out of three, so whoever kills the other twice advances to the next round. I have not been reading Aquaman, but apparently, he has some kind of elemental power now called the Blue. He has complete control of all water. I thought this was Mera’s superpower. The first fight is in the desert, which seems to favor Hawkman, but that doesn't matter. Aquaman just pulls up water from the Earth and drowns Hawkman quite easily.

 
   Before the second round, Horus, the Hawkgod of Nth metal, appears before Carter Hall and gives him his powers. So basically Hawkman now has the power of a god. Okay, I thought, this is getting good! The second fight starts, and Hawkman takes Aquaman up into outer space, where there is no water, but Aquaman simply sucks the water out of Hawkman's body, and it's game over. Two straight easy defeats.

DC K.O.

   I had gotten somewhat interested in the event, and I wanted to check out how the other fights went, so I went to the reviews. There were eight matches in all, including fights like Superman vs. Captain Adam, Wonder Woman vs. Lobo, and so on. Every matchup went to the full third match, which means that every hero got at least one win to show off what they can do. The only matchup of the eight that ended in two easy wins was Aquaman vs. Hawkman. It's like adding insult to injury. Hawkman was the only character of the 16 left who couldn't get a single win. Harley Quinn even got a win against Zatanna for crying out loud. We did get that little scene with Horace and a little confirmation of Carter and Shayera's relationship, but that was it. Hawkman had absolutely no chance and could do very little against Aquaman, who apparently is more powerful than anybody else now. Most comic book fans and reviewers seem to enjoy this issue, and I am very happy for them, but I did not. It was like a slap in the face.

JSA No. 3
(March 2025)

   The next lowlight would have to be the JSA series. It pains me to say this because I really like Jeff Lemire as a writer. But this JSA series, which has been out for a little over a year now, has been a disappointment. For whatever reason, Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders II) is in the Justice Society with Carter Hall. Their characterization in the series has been a bit insulting as far as Hawkman is concerned. Hawkman doesn't seem too intelligent a character, and Kendra keeps talking down to him. At least they don't appear to be interested in each other in any way, and they haven't made Hawkman a creepy stalker once again, but he has been significantly powered down and is not too bright a character in this series. The series has reached 14 issues so far, and they have been missing or barely used in many of them. The story has now moved to the 1940s, and we have Carter Hall and Sierra Hall together now, so maybe it will improve. But I have to say that the characterization of Hawkman in this series has been a disappointment.

The final Hawkman-titled book
(Released November 2020)

   The last low light of 2025 would have to be the lack of a Hawkmans series. The last Hawkman series ended in November 2020, and the most recent Hawkgirl series, which I thought was a complete disaster, ended in December 2023. Scouring the DC solicitations list each month and picking through all the Batman has been quite a chore.

   My hope for a new Hawkman and Hawkwoman series has not been extinguished, so I keep my eyes and ears open for something to come up, but the wait continues. The characters of Hawkman and Hawkwoman have so much potential, and I hope to see their adventures together. I'm not that fond of Kendra Saunders as a character or as a partner to Hawkman. I believe this character has run its course, but DC has decided to make her the central Hawk character for now. Nothing ever stays the same, so I have hope that it will come back around to Hawkman and Hawkwoman someday, but for now, the monthly ritual of picking through the solicitations and looking for any mention of Hawkman or Hawkwoman continues. 

   For those interested, I have a page of the comics where Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Hawkgirl have appeared. If you want to see where they were in 2025, click here! 

   The year 2025 was a very mixed bag for Hawkworld, in my opinion. There were some good moments, and there were some pretty disappointing moments. BComics fans who love the characters continue to see them soar high again someday. There's always a high point after a low point. We are definitely at a low point right now, so we’ll keep our heads up and continue to hope for the best. May we see the sore Hawks soar high in 2026! 

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