Hawkworld Review of JSA No. 18

The beginning of the Justice Society has been going on for about six issues, but we finally got to see the original members, plus Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman, join forces to defeat Ultra-Humanite in this flashback story. It felt like a new version of the Justice Society's origin that we know so well, but in the end, writer Jeff Lemire managed to fit all the pieces in without messing up the original story. 

We rarely get any stories with Hawkman and Hawkgirl these days (No, I'm NOT talking about Kendra Saunders!), so it was nice to see Carter and Shiera in action together again. In the times that I've seen Jeff Lemire write Hawkman, he is usually depicted as a bit of a brute who doesn't think much before speaking. So much so that I sometimes wonder if Lemire has Carter Hall and Hank Hall (Hawk and Dove) confused. The last few issues have him and the Atom going at each other and Carter picking on him for his size. Sorry, but that just doesn't sound like a guy who has been resurrected countless times and should be beyond the boorish attitude. 

The issue did have a fair scene with the Hawks taking off with Green Lantern to chase down an airplane, and Hawkman taking out the plane while GL was incapacitated. The scene made me think of just how fast the Hawks can actually fly. I've never seen a discussion about Allan Scott's flying speed, but since he apparently does interstellar travel, it has to be pretty fast. 

How fast can Hawkman and Hawkgirl fly? I mentioned this in my article covering the abilities of Nth Metal, but his flying speed has been calculated to be anywhere between 200 mph and Mach 4 (3080 mph/4760 km/h). If Mach 4 were possible, Hawkman could fly around the Earth in just over an hour. 

The new group of heroes successfully stops the Nazis' attack on Gotham City and decides to form a new group, ending the story with them sitting around the table in the iconic All-Stars No. 3 cover shot. Since Wonder Woman left beforehand for Themyscira, Hawkgirl decides to sit out of the picture of "the little boys club." 

Back in the 2000s, Hawkman, Flash, and Green Lantern seemed to be the center trio of the JSA, but for the last decade or so, Hawkman has been shoved out and GL and Flash appear to be the leaders of the JSA. This is greatly disappointing since these three were the original chairmen of the JSA. Flash served as chairman for four issues, Green Lantern for one, and then Hawkman for a whopping 50 issues. 

JSA No. 17 (April 2026)

But that seems to be no more. Allan Scott and Jay Garrick are clearly the leaders of this JSA. To make matters worse for Hawkfans, they have been written out of the current lineup indefinitely, so they may or may not be back. Since this is the only place the Hawks were appearing on a semi-regular basis, it's pretty disappointing. Back to random covers, back panel fill-in shots, and one panel cameoes, I suppose. 

I wonder why DC has decided to give Allan Scott and Jay Garrick the lead in the JSA. DC Comics is overrun with Green Lanterns and Flashes as it is. This would have been a great opportunity to put in Hawkman and Doctor Fate (remember the movie?) as the leaders or guides of the JSA. That would have been interesting and expand the roster of DC a bit. But it is what it is. 

Also, why are Hawkman (Carter Hall) and Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) leaving? Nothing has been explained. I just hope that they left and went their separate ways. After the Hawkgirl series, I had the impression that Kendra was done with Carter and Shayera and was trying to find her own way. Let's hope that Hawkman is being pulled from JSA (since he can't be in 24 places at once like Batman) to set up the Thanagar story with Shayera and Horus. 

So the series was fair, not great, with Hawkman and Hawkgirl at least having a series to call home, but that's over. We'll have to wait and see where the Hawks show up next. According to the solicitations, that will be after June or later. It's up to the fans to keep the Hawks soaring. You can find Hawkworld on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and Reddit, so come follow the Hawks there! 

JSA No. 18
Release Date: March 4 / Cover Date: May 2026
Script: Jeff Lemire 
Pencils/ Inks: Gavin Guidry / Joey Vazquez
Colors: Luis Guerrero / John Kalisz
Letters: Steve Wands