Hawk and Dove

Hawk and Dove
Hawk and Dove breaking through a ceiling
Dove (Don Hall, left) and Hawk (Hank Hall, right) from their first appearance in Showcase #75 (June 1968)
Art by Steve Ditko
Group publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceShowcase #75 (June 1968)
Created by
In-story information
Member(s)Hank Hall and Don (Donald)[1] Hall
Hank Hall and Dawn Granger
Sasha Martens and Wiley Wolverman
Dawn Granger and Holly Granger
Hawk and Dove
Series publication information
Publication date(Volume 1)
September 1968 – June/July 1969
(Volume 2)
October – December 1988
(Volume 3)
June 1989 – October 1991
(Volume 4)
November 1997 – March 1998
(Volume 5)
September 2011 – March 2012
Number of issues
6 (vol. 1)
5 (vol. 2)
28, plus 2 Annuals (vol. 3)
5 (vol. 4)
8 (vol. 5)
Creator(s)
Collected editions
Hawk and DoveISBN 978-1-56389-120-5

Hawk and Dove are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates, they appeared in Showcase #75 (June 1968) during the Silver Age of Comic Books.[2] The duo has existed in multiple incarnations over the years across several eponymous ongoing series and miniseries, and has also appeared in a number of recurring roles and guest appearances in titles such as Teen Titans, Birds of Prey, and Brightest Day. The duo originated as teenage brothers Hank Hall as Hawk and Don Hall as Dove. Following Don's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), Dawn Granger assumed the role of Dove in Hawk & Dove #1 (October 1988). The mantle of Hawk would later be taken up by Dawn's sister Holly Granger in 2003 after Hank was killed during 1994's Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! until her death and Hank's resurrection in Blackest Night (2009). An unrelated team consisting of military cadet Sasha Martens as Hawk and rock musician Wiley Wolverman as Dove also appeared as the focus of a 1997 miniseries. The pairing of Hank and Dawn serve as the current and most commonly published incarnation of the team.

Inspired by the emerging political divides of the 1960s between pro-war hawks and pacifist doves, the central concept traditionally revolves around two young heroes with contrasting personalities and diametrically opposed ideologies who, by speaking their superheroic aliases, are transformed and granted power sets of heightened strength, speed, and agility. With Dove embodying reason and nonviolence and Hawk embodying force and aggression, the two heroes complement one another to effectively fight evil. With the introduction of Dawn Granger, it was revealed that Hawk and Dove's powers are derived from the Lords of Chaos and Order.

Though the duo's ongoing titles have all been relatively short-lived and their guest appearances in other titles sporadic, the heroes have experienced a storied and sometimes tragic history. Multiple characters have worn the respective titles of Hawk and Dove at one time or another and the legacy has experienced death, resurrection and even Hank's own descent into madness and subsequent transformation into the mass-murdering villain Monarch and later Extant.

Hank Hall, Dawn Granger, and Don Hall made their live-action debuts in the television series Titans, played by Alan Ritchson, Minka Kelly, and Elliot Knight, respectively.

  1. ^ Brightest Day #4 (August 2010)
  2. ^ Markstein, Don. "Hawk and Dove". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved April 2, 2020.