The Guide to the History of Hawkman and Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman: Chapter Three (Katar Hol II and Shayera Thal, 1989-1996, 2003-2005)

 Chapter 3: Katar Hol II and Shayera Thal (1989-1996, 2003-2005)

First Appearance: Hawkworld Vol. 1 #1 (August 1989)
Origin: Katar Hol and Shayera Thal
Base: Thalrassa, Thanagar / Chicago, Illinois
Team: Justice League America

   Many centuries ago, the Thanagarians were enslaved by the Polara empire. One slave named Kalmoran rose up against the oppressors and led his fellow Thanagarians in a revolt. They eventually overthrew their rulers and returned to their homeworld of Thanagar. Kalmoran became their ruler and built great cities. Thanagar eventually became an imperialistic society and began conquering many worlds in the Polaris Galaxy. (*)

   In the early 20th century, a young scientist named Paran Katar traveled to Earth to scout the planet. While there, he met Carter and Shiera Hall, before they became the superheroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl. They had discovered the Nth metal from an archaeological site in Egypt but they were not sure how to use it. Paran showed Carter the powers it gave the wearer. (*) During this time with the Halls, Paran met one of their translators; a Cherokee woman named Naomi. They fell in love and were married. After a short while, Paran returned to Thanagar, taking Naomi with him. Paran went on to be a great scientist, using the Nth Metal to build the floating cities. Naomi hated life on Thanagar and when she became pregnant, she decided she would return to Earth with her child. Several months later, Naomi gave birth to a son and named him Katar after the Thanagarian tradition of giving the son the last name of the father. Paran refused to let Naomi take his son and he sent her back to Earth alone, and she was cut off from her son completely. (*)

From Hawkman Vol. 3 No. 6 (February 1994)

   On Thanagar, the winged forces were commanded by Commissioner Andar Pul. He became involved with a 13-year-old girl named Shayera Thal, the daughter of Thal Provis, the Administrator of Thanagar. Shayera became pregnant and gave birth to a girl. It would have been a huge scandal if the public found out, so Andar and Shayera abandoned their daughter in the Downside, the slum cities on the ground that were overrun by criminals and aliens who had been captured and brought in from other planets. (*) 

Hawkworld Vol. 2  No. 11 (May 1991)

   Katar grew up idolizing Kalmoran and desired for the authentic culture of Thanagar to be restored. He joined the wingmen police force and during his first mission in the Downside, he rescued a group of children from an arms smuggler. Drugs were rampant among those who lived in the floating cities, and Katar was no exception. At a party after his first mission, he was introduced to Thal Provis’ daughter, Shayera. She was a selfish, arrogant, and cruel woman who looked at the other aliens as worthless slaves. However, Paran and Thal hoped for Katar and Shayera to get together. (*) While the two were getting to know each other, Shayera was killed by a terrorist bombing. In trying to track down the killers, Katar mistakenly shot and killed Paran, his own father. It was revealed later that Byth, the commander of the wingmen, had set Katar up because he hated how Paran was always trying to help the aliens in the Downside and interfere with his smuggling operations. Katar was charged with the murder and sent to the penal island called the “Isle of Chance.” He would remain there for 10 years.

Hawkworld Vol. 1 No. 2 (September 1991)

   When Katar first arrived there, he noticed there were two aliens called Wingors living there. He discovered that one of them was building a set of wings. In a drug-addled state, Katar murdered the alien to take the wings for himself and escape the island, but the other alien revealed to him that his brother had been building the wings for Katar all along, as they already had organic wings on their back. The Wingor was a holy man named R’D Nar T’So and he became Katar’s teacher and mentor. Katar slowly recovered from his drug addiction, and he became skilled in the combat forms that T’So taught him. After a few years, T’So died, leaving Katar all alone on the island. (*)

   It was not long after, however, when he was finally released from the island. He was dropped off in the Downside, where he soon started an underground operation to help the aliens who were suffering under Thanagar’s rule. His operation eventually caught the attention of a winged officer named Shayera Thal.

Hawkworld Vol. 1 No. 3 (October 1989)

   Shayera Thal had been abandoned by her parents in the Downside but when she was still young, she was one of the children who was rescued by the police force during Katar’s first mission. She was taken to an orphanage in the high towers, but after her mother was killed in the terrorist bombing, her grandfather Thal Provis came looking for her. He gave her her mother’s name and raised her himself, but she had no knowledge of who her real parents were until much later. When she came of age, she joined the police force and soon became aware of Katar’s underground activities and suspected he was smuggling drugs and weapons.
   The two met for the first time when Shayera confronted Katar about his operation. She soon realized that Katar was working to help the sick and helpless aliens. Shayera discovered who Katar was and she revealed to him that she was one of the kids he saved during his first mission. Shayera gave a pair of wings to Katar so that he could finally confront Byth. After a massive battle, Byth was defeated but escaped to Earth. (*) Katar was celebrated as a hero on Thanagar and returned to the wingmen with Shayera as his partner. They were given the task of traveling to Earth to capture Byth and bring him back to Thanagar. (*)

Hawkworld Vol. 1 No. 3 (October 1989)

   After they arrived on Earth, they settled in Chicago where the Thanagarian ambassador to Earth was based. They joined Chicago’s police force and began to learn about America and its laws and customs. Katar was especially shocked by the Constitution of the United States. He wondered how such a fragile system with such lofty ideals could survive. A short time after they were there, they discovered the history of the Golden Age Hawkman and their connection to Paran Katar (see the Golden Age Hawkman/Carter Hall’s story). (*) Katar also discovered that he was half-human. They gradually rebelled against the Thanagarian government, so Andar Pol (Shayera’s father) sent Fel Andar (Shayera’s cousin) to kill them but they defeated him and sent him back to Thanagar. (*) Finally expressing their love for one other, Katar and Shayera wanted asylum on Earth, but the American government made a deal with Thanagar and ordered them to be arrested and sent back to Thanagar. Now fugitives, Katar and Shayera escaped into the Netherworld, a district in Chicago that was run by metahumans, psychics, and castoffs.

Hawkworld Vol. 2 No. 4 (September 1990)

   In Netherworld, they ran into the Count Viper, a villain with the ability to swap bodies with others. During a battle with the Count, Shayera appeared to have been killed and Katar was badly wounded. Carter Hall I came to Katar’s aid and took him to Naomi, Katar’s true mother. (*)

   

   Seven months later, Katar reappeared in a new costume with a deeper connection to animal avatars. (*) After defeating Count Viper, he was reunited with Shayera, but he began to struggle more and more with dreams of a Hawkgod, and the true nature of the being was revealed.

Hawkman Vol. 3 No. 6 (February 1994)

   According to Thanagarian theology, the beginning of Thanagar came from 14 gods; seven brothers and seven sisters who created Thanagar and the entire universe. Many millennia passed in harmony but the brothers and sisters began to fight and despise one another. After many centuries of war, they split into two groups, the seven virtuous beings chose realms of light and the seven sinful beings chose realms of darkness. The Thanagarians believed this to be heaven and hell, but Paran Katar believed them to be different dimensions that were held apart by time and energy. He also discovered that one of the virtuous beings, a Hawkgod, had been captured and chained in one of the dark realms, so Paran found a way to defy the laws of physics and make this Hawkgod the source of Nth metal’s anti-gravity power. (*) 

Hawkman Vol. 3 No. 12 (August 1994)

   About the time when the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time event started in 1994, everything started to get distorted. Disruptions in time began to be more frequent, and these disruptions caused the chained Hawkgod to start to gain back control. Anyone who wore the Nth metal was plagued by dreams and visions of the Hawkgod, as it started trying to use them to help him break free. Naomi buried Shayera’s wings and gravity belt in a pit as a ritual to appease the Hawkgod and save Katar and Shayera, but this gave the Hawkgod the power to finally break free and enter this realm. Katar used the full power of the Nth metal to draw the Hawkgod to him and the two begin to battle. During the battle, Carter Hall I and Shiera Sanders appeared with the Waverider who had discovered that some of the disruptions in time were being caused by the reincarnations of the Hawks over the centuries. Carter and Shiera joined Katar in the battle with the Hawkgod, as all the past forms of the Hawks were being pulled into one. As instructed by Katar, Mongrel, a mutant from the Netherworld with darkforce energy, blasted Katar, Carter, Shiera, and the Hawkgod to completely release it from its imprisonment. (*) (*) 

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time No. 3 (September 1994)

   This had several consequences. The Hawkgod passed through Katar, Carter, and Shiera and returned to its own Hawk realm. Carter and Shiera were apparently killed, but Carter’s consciousness was merged with Katar. Katar became a new version of Hawkman. He no longer needed metal wings but he had organic wings that grew out of his back as he needed them, and he also had the eyesight of a hawk which gave him the ability to read people’s auras. (*)

Hawkman Vol. 3 #0 (October 1994)

   Right after the Hawks were merged, Katar discovered that he was the sole beneficiary of Carter and Shiera Hall’s penthouse in the center of Chicago. He used this as his base for the remainder of the series. (*) But gradually, Katar’s ability to read other avatars drove him insane. In order to keep himself from killing others and to avoid going mad, Katar had the Martian Manhunter and Arion use their powers to send him to the Hawk realm. This essentially killed Katar Hol II. (*)

Hawkman Vol. 3 No. 33 (July 1996)

   As for Shayera, her relationship with Katar started to break down before Zero Hour. Katar became increasingly distant and unresponsive to Shayera. After he became a new Hawkman, he completely shunned her and she left Chicago. She moved to Detroit and joined the police force. She occasionally returned to Chicago but felt like she was just in his way. However, right before Katar was sent into the Hawk realm, they expressed their love for each other once again. (*) Shayera returned to Detroit and worked there as a police officer until 2004 when Thanagar contacted her to go to Chicago to recapture Byth. She got her wings back and appeared before Carter Hall II and Kendra Saunders I. (*) After capturing Byth, Shayera left Earth for good and returned to Thanagar. She joined the Thanagarian Army and fought with Carter and Kendra in the Rann-Thanagar War. During the war, she was betrayed by Blackfire (Komand’r) and died in the arms of Carter. Captain Comet sent her body into the Polaris sun, the traditional final resting place of Thanagarian heroes. And so ended the life of one of the most tragic heroes in DC Comics. (*) 

Rann-Thanagar War No. 5 (November 2005) 

   Note: As mentioned in Part 3, Hawkworld was originally intended to be a retelling of the Silver Age Hawkman and set in the 1960s, but DC Comics decided to put the story in the current year it came out (1989). This made it necessary to rewrite the Golden Age's Hawkman and Hawkgirl, introduce the imposters Fel Andar and Sharon Parker, and rewrite, reboot, and erase other stories of Hawkman's past. It was not until Geoff Johns and Robert Venditti actively brought in the reincarnation angle as a way to bring it all together in some form that helped the storylines connect. 

   The original Hawkworld series by Tim Truman is one of the greatest comic book series ever by DC Comics and one has to wonder how Hawkman and Hawkwoman's history would have changed if they had set the story in 1961 as originally planned. 

Important Moments:

1989: First appearance of Katar Hol II (*)

1989: First appearance of Shayera Thal (*)

1990: Carter Hall II is revealed to be the Hawkman during the Golden and Silver Age. (*)

1991: Hawkman uses the Katar weapon for the first time. (*)

1992: Fel Andar murders Sharon Parker (*)

1992: Katar Hol II Appears in the Justice League series for the first time. (*) 1993: Naomi Carter appears for the first time. (*)

1994: First appearance of the Hawkgod (*)

1994: Katar Hol II, Carter Hall I and Shiera Sanders are merged (*) (*)

1995: Shayera Thal separates from Katar Hol II and moves to Detroit (*)

1996: Katar Hol II is sent into the Hawk Realm (*)

Crossover Events
   Millennium (1988): In a reboot told in Hawkworld, it is revealed that Fel Andar and Sharon
      Parker (the imposter Hawkman and Hawkowman) appear in this series.
   Invasion! (1988): Fel Andar And Saron Parker (cameo)
   War of the Gods (1991): Katar Hol II and Shayera Thal help Wonder Woman
   Armageddon 2001 (1991): Event crossover in Hawkworld Vol. 2 Annual 2
   Armageddon Inferno (1992: Carter Hall I and Shiera Sanders return from Ragnarok
   Zero Hour (1994): During the event, Katar Hol II and Carter Hall I are merged with a Hawk
      avatar.
   Eclipso: The Darkness Within (1992): Katar Hol II and Vril Dox lead the Earth's heroes                against Eclipso
   Underworld Unleashed (1995): Event crossover in Hawkman Vol. 3 No. 26-27

Comics series to find Katar Hol II and Shayera Thal:
   Hawkworld Vol. 1 (1989)
   Hawkworld Vol. 2 (1990-1993)
   Hawkman Vol. 3 (1993-1996)
   Zero Hour: Crisis in Time (1994)
   Justice League America (1990-1996) 

Click here to go to the other chapters. 
Prelude: The Origin of Hawkman and Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman
Chapter 1: Carter Hall I and Shiera Sanders (1939-1994)
Chapter 2: Katar Hol I and Shayera Hol I (1961-1987, 2015)
Chapter 3: Katar Hol II and Shayera Thal (1989-1996, 2003-2005)
Chapter 4: Carter Hall II and Kendra Saunders I (1999-2010)
Chapter 5: Katar Hol III and Kendra Munoz-Saunders (2011-2018)
Chapter 6: Carter Hall III, Shayera Hol II, Kendra Saunders II (2018-present) 
Or you can read the complete guide!