Art by Prentis Rollins (2017, Commissioned by Tim Board)

The Guide to the History of Hawkman and Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman: Chapter Six (Carter Hall III, Shayera Hol II, and Kendra Saunders, 2018-present)

 Chapter 6: Carter Hall III, Shayera Hol II, Kendra Saunders II (2018-present)

First Appearance: Hawkman (Carter Hall III) August 2017 
                             Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol II) February 2019 
                             Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders II) October 2017
Origins: General Ktar (Hawkman), Shrra the Herald (Hawkwoman), Lady Blackhawk (Hawkgirl)
Base: Various, Soarship (Hawkman), Thanagar Prime (Hawkwoman), Metropolis (Hawkgirl)
Team: Justice Society of America (Hawkman and Hawkgwoman), Justice League (Hawkgirl)


   With the unpopularity of the New 52 series, DC decided to reboot their universe yet once again. In May 2017, DC Rebirth kicked off. Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Hawkgirl got a major reboot to bring them into the new DC universe. I'll go through the comics and all the revelations in chronological order with some explanations and add some theories as we go. 

Dark Days The Casting (September 2017)

   In some time what appears to be between the 1920s and 1950s, Carter Hall III and Shiera Saunders II are leading a research team to find out more about the Nth metal. The team includes the Blackhawks, the Challengers of the Unknown, Red Tornado, Starman, and others. They eventually discover that the Nth metal is from the Dark Multiverse. They succeed in opening a doorway to it but run into the dark entity called Barbatos. Hawkman is able to beat Barbatos back with his Nth metal mace and seal the opening. They make another attempt by sending research teams in, but they are all immediately killed or simply vanish. After years of research, Carter decides he must go in himself. He leaves a record of his research with the Wayne family (possibly Batman's parents or grandparents) and goes into the Dark Multiverse. 

Dark Nights Metal #4 (February 2018)

   We're not sure what happened to Shiera, but she died sometime around the time when Carter vanished. Her death may have been the push he needed to go on in (my theory). When she died, two things happened. When the Hawks die, they reincarnate. It appears that they reincarnate at the same time and same planet, so if one dies before the other, that soul remains in a kind of stasis until the other dies and then they are reincarnated together. Eventually, Shiera is reincarnated, which means that Carter either died when he entered the Dark Multiverse, or something else happened. When Carter went in, he was captured by Barbatos and transformed into the Dragon of Barbatos, a giant Hawk creature that watched over the Forge of Worlds. Entering the Dark Multiverse or the transformation into a giant Hawk kaiju (take your pick) may have been a kind of death. So when this happened, Katar Hol III aka the Savage Hawkman was born. And this brought about Shiera's reincarnation as well. 


   When Shiera was reincarnated, something strange happened. She was split into two people; Shayera Hol of Thanagar and Kendra Saunders of Earth. This was done by the villain Perpetua and the power of the Totality (the oldest form of power in the universe) to keep Hawkgirl from repairing the Source Wall, providing a way for Perpetua’s resurrection. It's never clearly revealed how Hawkgirl had this ability to make her such a threat to Perpetua. Perhaps it had to do with her origin as a Herald angel of the God-entity we later saw in the Hawkman series. 

Shayera Thal of the Savage Hawkman series became Shayera Hol of DC Rebirth

   The Shayera Thal character from the Savage Hawkman series (2011-2013) was rewritten by James Tynion IV and she became Shayera Hol. She is the Empress of Thanagar who was married to the Savage Hawkman. After Despero destroyed Thanagar and killed her husband, she took her people to their original home, Thanagar Prime, and rebuilt her world. So with the DC Rebirth reboot in 2016, the Savage Hawkman was now the husband of Shayera Hol and was based on Earth for a time until he returned to Thanagar and died fighting Despero. In her desperation to rebuild Thanagar, Shayera misused the absorbascon and even attempted to imprison Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, and John Stewart when they discovered the truth. During their battle, the Justice League and Starman appeared. Starman explained to Shayera and Kendra that they had been split in two, so neither was a whole person, but he used his powers to separate them and make each woman whole again. This did two things. This cut Kendra out of the reincarnation cycle. She still had her memories of her past lives, but she was her own person with different desires and powers. Shayera was also made whole. She was the one who desired to be with Carter and continue with him in the reincarnation cycle. You can read the story of Shayera Hol and Kendra Saunders in full detail here. 

Thanagar Prime (Justice League No. 14, February 2019)

   Kendra's past is also a bit unclear. In the Metal series, she appeared as Lady Blackhawk, the leader of the Blackhawks. She joined the Justice League to defeat Barbatos but was transformed by him into Lady Blackhawk. The Nth Metal was fused into her body, making her incredibly powerful and giving her metallic wings on her back. With Wonder Woman's help, she was able to break free of Barbatos' control but she kept her powers. She became Hawkgirl and joined the Justice League after the Metal crisis. She had some sort of relationship with the Martian Manhunter and even had a son with him in an alternate universe, but that relationship appears to be over in the current DCU.

   In the Hawkman series by Venditti, Carter returned from the Dark Multiverse and set out to discover his true past and his past lives. During the series, Hawkman had two ways of remembering his past lives. One way was that he naturally retained some memories through each life. The other way was that he put his memories into artifacts or locations. When he came across those things or places in later lives, he would remember them. This is apparent in the very first story of Hawkman in Flash Comics No. 1 (January 1940) when he came into contact with an Nth metal knife and remembered his past life as Prince Khufu of Egypt. In Hawkman No. 7 (February 2019), he remembered his first life as Ktar Deathbringer.

"The Years will be as Days"

   In Hawkman Vol. V, Hawkman finally reunited with Hawkwoman in Hawkman No. 24, when she came to rescue him from the Sky Tyrant (an evil version of Hawkman) and they confirmed their love for each other. They were captured by the Lord of the Void but they defeated him with the full power of their lives over the years. The effort killed them and they once again appeared before the god-entity. The entity told Hawkman that he had finally atoned for all of the deaths he had caused and that he could now finally pass into eternity and be at peace. Shrra was to be returned to her position as a Herald. He was ready to send Hawkman into the afterlife, but he sensed Carter and Shayera's desire to live one last life together. The entity sent the two Hawks to the time when they were the happiest, and they ended up back in the 1940s as members of the Justice Society and began their final life together, finally free from reincarnation.


   The final issue of Venditti's run shows how Carter and Shayera were given an extremely long life. The entity that gave them their final life told them that the years would be like days. They lived through the 20th century and beyond and we finally see them in the 40th century. Both are gray-haired and old. Hawkman has many battle scars over his body. He is now a historian, keeping records of all they have seen and experienced. Hawkwoman is still as sprite as ever, training the younger generations how to fight. They embrace as they watch the sunset, happy that they have had this long, final life together. 

Hawkgirl Vol. 2 #1 (September 2023)

   In the following crossover events such as Death Metal, Infinite Frontier and Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Hawkman and Hawkwoman had very few appearances, but Hawkgirl's (Kendra Saunders) story has continued. She remained a member of the Justice League for a few years, but she and the other members were placed on prison planets by Pariah. Hawkgirl was on her own prison planet and found the Vase of Mortality. She drank from it and appeared to have ended her reincarnation cycle in her own way. She eventually returned to her universe and defeated the Great Darkness with the Justice League and other heroes. 
   With Hawkman and Hawkwoman back together and free from the reincarnation cycle, Kendra moved her base to Metropolis and appears to be no longer with the Martian Manhunter. After the event of Absolute Power, Hawkman and Hawkgirl join the Justice Society, while Hawkwoman is on Thanagar with the Green Lantern Corps. Stay tuned for updates! 


Important Moments:
2017: Carter Hall III enters the Dark Multiverse (*)
2017: Kendra Saunders II appears as Lady Blackhawk (*)
2017: Kendra is transformed into an evil Hawkgirl but rescued by Wonder Woman (*)
2017: Carter Hall is transformed into the Forger of Worlds (*)
2018: Hawkman is rescued from the Dark Multiverse (*)
2018: Kendra joins the Justice League (*)
2019: Hawkman discovers his true origin of Ktar Deathbringer (*)
2019: Shayera Hol II first appearance (*)
2019: Kendra reveals her feelings for the Martian Manhunter (*)
2019: Starman makes Shayera and Kendra separate and their own complete person (*)
2020: Shayera is reunited with Carter (*)
2020: Carter and Shayera die while defeating the Lord of the Void (*)
2020: Carter finally atones for his sins and they are released from reincarnation (*)
2021: Carter and Shayera are revealed to still be living in the 40th century (*)
2023: Kendra moves to Metropolis and begins her new life (*)

Crossover Events
   Dark Nights Metal (2017-2018) 
   Doomsday Clock (2017-2019)
   Year of the Villain (2019-2020) 
   Dark Nights: Death Metal (202-2021)

Comics series to find Carter Hall III, Shayera Hol II, Kendra Saunders II:
   Dark Days The Forge (2017)
   Dark Days The Casting (2017)
   Dark Nights: Metal (2017-2018)
   Hawkman Found (2018)
   Justice League (2018-2022)
   Hawkman Vol. V (2018-2021) 
   Dark Nights: Death Metal (2021-2023)
   JSA Vol. II (2024-present)
   
DC Database Profiles 
Carter Hall I / Carter Hall II (1939-1994, 2001-2011)
Katar Hol I (1961-1988, 2015)
Katar Hol II (1989-1996)
Katar Hol III (2011-2018)
Carter Hall III (2018-present)

Shiera Sanders (1939-1994, 2010-2011)
Shayera Hol I (1961-1988, 2015)
Shayera Thal (1989-1996, 2003-2005)
Kendra Saunders I (1999-2010)
Kendra Munoz-Saunders (2012-2017)
Kendra Saunders II (2018-present)
Shayera Thal-Hol (2019-present)

   Hawkman is a character that has been in American culture for almost 100 years. As the years have gone by, the character has evolved in many ways, but the core of the character that Gardner Fox created so many years ago remains the same. Here's to hoping that the characters will continue to soar and capture the dreams and fascination of comics fans all over the world. As Robert Venditti wrote in Hawkman Vol. V, Hawkman was made to soar.

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