Board Review of Hawkman No. 11: "A Cast of Hawks"

By Tim Board

We all read comics books for different reasons. To experience the joy, the horror, the suspense, the exhilaration, the madness or the silliness. We pick up a comic book in expectation of how it will make us feel while reading it. We always have an opinion about it, whether it was good or bad. Some comics books surprise us, make us gasp in surprise, laugh out loud, and even get a bit emotional. When that happens, that comic book stays in our memory, making us smile when we remember back to when we first read it.

GREAT Robert Venditti Interview by Louie Hlad of The Beat

Check out the great interview with Robert Venditti by Louie Hlad of The Beat! Lots of information about where the series is heading and what we can look forward to. 
Interview: Robert Venditti on Merging the Earthbound with the Cosmic in Hawkman No. 1 

Talking about Hawkman and Hawkwoman!

 

Here are the times Yours Truly has been invited to a podcast, zoom chat, YouTube interview, or website article to talk about Hawkman over the years. It's been an honor each and every time. 

13th Dimension: Why Hawkman Matters 

13th Dimension: 13 Things You Didn't Know about Hawkman

13th Dimension: 13 Colorful - And Often Weird - Hawkman Designs 

Bleeding Cool: Hawkman's Ultimate Weapon: The Claw of Horus 

Bleeding Cool: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas on Hawkworld 

13th Dimension: Winging It: 13 Great Batman and Hawkman Moments 

13th Dimension: 13 Things We Want to See in the New Hawkman Series 

DC World: Confessions of a DC Geek: 

The Angrygeeks Show Podcast: Hawkworld

The Comic Source Podcast: Talking Hawkman with Robert Venditti 

The Comic Source Podcast: Hawkman Day with Robert Venditti
Comic Book University: Spotlight on Hawkworld 
DarkKnightNation: Let's Talk Comics with Hawkworld 
ComicManJake: Hawkman Day with Tim Board
Pop Culture Squad: Winged Passion – Tim Board’s Hawkworld 

Thinking Critical: Hawkman 80th Anniversary Special with Hawkworld's Tim Board 

The Kilted Lantern Podcast: A Hawkman discussion with Tim Board
The Comics Lair: A Hawkman Celebration with Robert Venditti, Tim Board, and Nancy Northcott 

I'm always up for a fun chat about Hawkman and Hawkwoman so send me a PM, DM, or email (houseofhawkman@gmail.com) to let me know when and where! 

Robert Venditti Interview with Jeffrey Haas

Jeffrey Haas did an interview with Robert Venditti to talk about the upcoming Hawkman series and also the current Damage series! Check out the Q&A!
Link: Soaring High with Robert Venditti 

Tim Board's Hawkworld Gallery Update

Curator Tim Board

Gallery Collection List

Board Review of Hawkman No. 10: "London Falling"

   It's a good thing February was a short month. The pressure in the current Hawkman story by Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch has been building up steam ever since the first issue and at the end of No. 9, you could start to hear that ear-piercing whistle starting to blow. Well, the lid just blew off in issue No. 10.

Board Review of Hawkman Vol. V No. 1

The first issue of Hawkman finally arrived this week. As a Hawkman fan, the last three months have been a time of speculating, hoping and guessing about what the new series will bring us. Over the course of the last three months, I have had the pleasure of meeting writer Robert Venditti on Twitter and later on The Comic Source podcast, tweeting and talking with him about what he is planning for the new series. The more news I heard, and the more information I received, the feeling that something special was going to be starting on June 13^th gradually intensified as the release day approached. It’s been three days since I first saw the book, and I have to admit that as a Hawkman fan, I was disappointed. I was disappointed in the fact that I had held my expectations too low. Nothing prepared me for what I experienced on June 13^th. Let me get into the details of the book, and I’ll explain more about what I mean at the end.

Ktar Deathbringer: Hero or Genocidal Murderer

In Hawkman Vol. V No. 7, released on December 12, 2018, Ktar Deathbringer appeared for the first time. According to writer Robert Venditti, he is the very first Hawkman, the Hawkman from which all other versions ever created came from. It is a shocking story about a murderous general who committed genocide with his army on planet after planet for many millennia. In this article, I want to take a look at the character and discuss why Venditti took the bold move of giving Hawkman such a dark, evil origin.

Hawkman Unleashed: Board Review of Hawkman Vol. V No. 3

Hawkman No. 3 by Robert Venditti hit the spin racks on August 8^th, and for some reason, this issue felt different from the first two issues. I couldn’t put my finger on it for a while. I read it again and again, looking for the reason. And I think I figured it out. This may be a purely personal take on this version of Hawkman that Venditti has come up with. Caution: this review will be bursting with spoilers so if you haven’t read the issue yet, please go read it and then check out my review when you come across it again.

Five Years of Hawkworld

The first group head photo of Hawkworld / Art by Joe Prado

Five years ago, on January 15, 2016, I started the Hawkworld group on Facebook and the Hawkworld account on Twitter. It was just on a whim, to be honest. I had been bouncing around between groups and sites, looking for Hawkman, and it suddenly dawned on me to just start my own group. I had a bunch of ideas and things I wanted to do, and I didn't want to invade someone else's group, so I started Hawkman Winged Warrior.

Board Review of Hawkman No. 17: Darkness Within: Black Mantle

   Hawkman has been a hero who always seems to have a rage inside of him. We've seen stories where the rage came bursting out in full force. And when it's a character who carries around a spiked mace, the end result can be brutal. In the climax of the Shadow Thief story, we see it once again.

 

Board Review of Hawkman No. 13: "On Common Ground"

With the first year and the origin story of Hawkman completed, we wondered where writer Robert Venditti would take us for the standalone issue. After the big climax in the last issue, it's natural to assume that this issue would be a bit of a breather, but Rob stepped up and gave us one of the best issues in Hawkman's history. Some of the standalone issues from Hawkman Vol. 4 (2002-2006) are some of the best issues of the series, and this issue is right up there with those. Over the past year, Venditti has shown us what he can do when he can build up a story gradually, and now we see what he can do with one issue. This review is full of spoilers so if you haven’t read the comic yet, don’t spoil it. Go buy the comic, read it and then come back to read the review.

Soar!: Board Review of Hawkman No. 6

Exploration and Discovery: this has been the theme of the Hawkman series by Robert Venditti (writer) and Bryan Hitch (artist) from the beginning. Since the first issue, we have been getting one piece of the puzzle at a time as he travels through time and space, looking for clues about himself and a way to stop the Deathbringers coming his way. We received the news that Hawkman is going to discover his true origin in issue no. 7, but the issue No. 6 that came out today (Nov. 14) had more than its share of discoveries. It appears that Venditti is setting us up for some major developments in future issues. Here's a review of issue No. 6 so if you haven't read the issue yet, go pick it up at a comic store or get it digitally and come back afterward. Don't spoil it! Go read it first!

Board Review of Hawkman No. 20: Death's Doorway Part One: Passengers

Cover by Pat Olliffe, Tom Palmer, Jeremiah Skipper

The Sky Tyrant saga has become a battle between a Deathbringer and a Lifebringer. Ever since he accepted the “gift” of reincarnation, Hawkman’s mission has been to save lives, to save as many people as he took as the general of Lord of the Void’s Deathbringers. Once he completes that task, his next death will be his last. You could say that he has become a Lifebringer. Meanwhile, the Sky Tyrant is from Earth-3, where everything is backward, so when Hawkman was reincarnated on Earth-3, he was born evil. He was a Deathbringer again. As we saw in Hawkman No. 18, he was killed by a group of heroes led by Shadow Sheriff. But ever since then, he has been in the consciousness of the other Hawkmen who came after him, watching them save lives and bring their lives to an end, including Sky Tyrant. When the Batman Who Laughs infected Hawkman, Sky Tyrant took the opportunity to take over again, vowing to take as many lives as he can and live forever.

A Guide through the History of Hawkman

DC Comics’ Hawkman is a character who has been around for over 80 years. During those 80 years, he has been rewritten, rebooted, and rebirthed. He has been given several different origins and names. He has been the victim of Crisis events, crossovers and tie-in stories. For the casual reader, it’s understandable that his continuity seems confusing, crazy and convoluted. After the Metal series in 2018, Robert Venditti was given the task of writing a new version of Hawkman. Venditti set out to give us a version with a new origin, but he figured out a way to include all the other past versions as well. Every Hawkman you have ever read can be included in his new origin. As a Hawkman fan and self-appointed guide, it’s my hope that comic book fans will pick up Venditti's series and discover what a fascinating hero Hawkman is. To help other fans understand the character as easily and as possible. I have made a chart to show where all of his past stories interact. To make it as simple as possible, I have divided all of the Hawkman versions into five categories:

Win a Copy of Hawkman Awakening Signed by Robert Venditti!

 Hawkman Day 2021 is coming soon! November 20 is the 82nd anniversary of Hawkman's first appearance in Flash Comics No. 1! The cover date is January 1940, but according to Grand Comics Database, the actual release date was November 20, 1939. So Hawkworld has always celebrated Hawkman's anniversary on this day. 

This year, we have a special giveaway contest to celebrate! Here's your chance to get a copy of Hawkman Awakening (issues #1-6) of Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch's Hawkman! And it will be signed by Venditti himself! One winner will be randomly chosen on November 20! To enter, just come over to Twitter and retweet the contest tweet and leave a comment! Hawkfans will be posting a bunch of things to celebrate Hawkman's birthday so come over and join! See you there! 

CBR: The Year-of-the-Villain Tie-In Almost Ruined Venditti's Hawkman

Hawkman Vol. V No. 17 (December 2019)

 

   CBR put out an article today about the ridiculous amount of tie-ins that come with events in recent comic events. Instead of helping the event, the tie-ins are mostly unnecessary and ruin other series. The article brings up as an example, Robert Venditti's Hawkman run in 2019. During 2019, DC Comics had a year-long event going on called the Year of the Villain. It started with a group of six heroes who turn evil. Hawkman was one of them. There was a 4-issue miniseries called Hell Arisen that was supposed to feature the six heroes, but it completely flopped and DC lost so much interest that Hawkman (Sky Tyrant) didn't even show up in the last two issues. 

Hawkman 80th Celebration: Hawkman: The Flight Continues

Art by Adam Kubert

“I am Carter Hall. I am Hawkman.

I am made to soar.”

                  From Hawkman Vol. V No. 1 (August 2018), Writer Robert Venditti

Hawkman Unleased Part Three: Soaring to New Heights

By Tim Board

Hawkman Unleashed Part One: The Reason and The Components of a Hero 

Hawkman Unleashed Part Two: Breaking Down Hawkman's History 

On March 14, 2018, the new Hawkman series by Robert Venditti was announced. About a month after the announcement, I had the huge privilege of joining Rob and Jace Milam on The Comic Source podcast to talk about the upcoming series.
During the podcast, Jace said, "...ten, fifteen years from now when someone asks Tim which Hawkman run he should read and Tim says, "Read Venditti's run. That's where it's at."
We're two years into the run and I'm there. Rob's run on Hawkman has become the definitive run for comic book fans to find out about Hawkman. There have been many great series in the history of Hawkman and this does not take anything away from those fantastic stories. But Venditti's run has brought it all together, connected everything, and explained the great characters of Hawkman and Hawkwoman. This is the fifth series titled Hawkman and usually, it would be Vol. 5, but since the very beginning, I've been calling it Vol. V in honor of Venditti. For the third and final article, let's take a look at what Venditti has brought to the origin/purpose, secret identity, love, powers, weapons, locations, villains, supporting cast, and death/reincarnation of Hawkman.

Thoughts on the Continuity of Hawkman and What's Ahead

The continuity of Hawkman has always been an issue when discussing the character. There's no denying that Hawkman and Hawkgirl's story is confusing, whether you're a new fan or a veteran. When DC Comics announced the new series with Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch, most Hawkfans immediately started speculating. Which Hawkman will be used? How will it fit in Hawkman's history? Will this mess things up even more? There are many questions as we get closer and closer to the June 13th release date.