Originally published on Patreon
With Black Adam coming out soon it's time to start the build-up towards the new movie. DC are pretty good at doing tie-in comics for their films, and I've always found that they've been good ways to not only build excitement, but to add further depth to the stories that unfold on the big screen.
This new series is set to take a look at the four members of the Justice Society that will be appearing in the film, Hawkman, Atom Smasher, Cyclone, and Doctor Fate.
This issue examines this version of Hawkman, and begins with him patrolling the skies as he's been invited to attend a special event at St Roch museum. Arriving at the event, and meeting up with his friend and ally, he discovers that there are some unusual objects on display, including kryptonite, Nth metal, and an object called 'the champion', which is a powerful mineral in the shape of a very familiar lightning bolt.
When a criminal, Jim Craddock, steals the artefact, Hawkman manages to retrieve it; but Craddock dies in the chase. However, when his spirit begins to pass over into the afterlife he's approach by powerful beings, who offer him a new chance at life if he returns to earth and kills Hawkman. And thus we get to see the first interaction between Hawkman and Gentleman Ghost, as shadowy forces move behind the scenes in order to prevent him from being able to interfere in their future plans.
Whilst this issue isn't perfect, it's quite a good introduction to this new version of this character, and one that I enjoyed. But there's something about it that just feels a little flat in some places. I think because this isn't part of the main DC universe, so it's having to set up a lot of things all its own, it has to slow down at times to explain things, and to establish its own versions of stuff.
This isn't a slight on the writing at all, as Bryan Q. Miller and Cavan Scott do a good job, but it's a part of the process of recreating stuff we already know. Such as when we get to see the creation of Gentleman Ghost. I wouldn't have minded if Craddock had simply shown up as Gentleman Ghost after dying; but because this is a new version we had to show how that happens, what his powers are, and what his motivations are going to be.
Overall, I had a pretty good time with this book, and it was nice to see what kind of person this version of Hawkman is going to be like. He seems different from the main DC version, but that's not a bad thing. As a fan of all of the characters that are going to be featured in this series I'm very much looking forward to seeing what they're all going to be like.
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