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| Hawkman | |
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 Cover art for Hawkman #1 (May 2002). Art by Andrew Robinson. | |
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Hawkman is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940. Over the course of the character's publication history, due to a series of reinventions of the character following the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover and series, Hawkman is known as having one of the most confusing backstories of any character in DC Comics.
Although iterations of Hawkman appeared throughout the character's publication history, they are commonly characterized as hawk-themed warriors with a preference for archaic weaponry, large wings with a harness attached to it, and possessing Nth metal, which is a special metal with gravity-negating effects. Most iterations are also connected as being involved in a cycle of reincarnations, characterized as sometimes having reoccurring elements within their lifetimes. Among the reoccurring includes a romantic connection to reincarnated Hawkwoman or Hawkgirl and an affiliation with superhero teams such as the Justice Society of America and Justice League, often serving as the team leader in the former.[1]
The character is often depicted as either the human archaeologist Carter Hall, the modern-day reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian prince named Khufu, or as a Thanagarian police officer Katar Hol from the planet Thanagar. Both iterations of the character, at times, interchangeably used the names of one another. The 2019 Hawkman series reconciles the character's histories, retroactively revealing his incarnation as Ktar Deathbringer, an alien murderer cursed to atone for his crimes by saving as many people as he helped slaughter under the service of an alien god.[2] The series reveals that the curse reincarnates the character across time and space, occasionally allowing multiple incarnations to coexist.
The character has been adapted into other media numerous times, with significant appearances in the animated Justice League Unlimited cartoon, which featured Hawkgirl as a main character, as well as several DC Universe Original Animated Movies. In live action, the character first appeared onscreen in the two-part 1979 TV special Legends of the Superheroes by Bill Nuckols appearing alongside Adam West and Burt Ward as allies Batman and Robin. Hawkman was later portrayed by Michael Shanks in Smallville and by Falk Hentschel in The CW's Arrowverse family of shows, with both versions favoring the ancient Egyptian version of the character. Hawkman made his cinematic debut portrayed by Aldis Hodge in 2022's Black Adam set in the DC Extended Universe.
- ^ "DC Infinite Universe Encyclopedia: Hawkman". 2021-05-14. Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
- ^ Hawkman (vol. 5) #7 (December 2018). DC Comics.