Hawkworld

[Shellhead]

I just started re-reading Hawkworld yesterday. I was searching my comic boxes for something I hadn't read in a while, and this fit the bill. Ever since Hawkman returned to the JSA a few years back, I've been thinking that his continuity was a hopeless mess, and that Hawkworld was the reason.

But having re-read the classic Hawkworld mini by Ostrander and Truman, I remembered how much care and effort they put into this series. There was a deep reverence for the early work by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, along with a very gritty modern sensibility and some very mature themes. And by mature, I mean intelligent and challenging ideas, not mere gore and nudity.

Now I'm into the actual Hawkworld series, and it's off to an amazing start. When Katar and Shayera start reading through the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, it's startling how they challenge and wrestle with those ideas, drawing stark comparisons between the ideals on paper and the realities of life in Chicago. It's not as wild or fun as what Ostrander and Truman did with Grimjack, but I actually think that it's better.

[FanboyStranger]

The Truman-Ostrander Hawkworld series was a great book by itself. The problems came after they left and DC kept trying to shoehorn it into standard continuity, particulary in Zero Hour.

[Joshua Pantalleresco]

I find it funny that Hawkworld's ideals and questions have if anything more merit today then they did back then. This was a brilliant series that ended too soon. One of my all time favorites.

JP

[Shellhead]

When I re-read old comics, I like to read the letter pages. It's interesting that the letter page for Hawkworld reflected some issues that are still lively at CBR.

Most letters were enthusiastic about Hawkworld, especially the strong writing. A few were disturbed by the violence and other adult themes, like Katar's drug addiction before he became Hawkman. At least one guy seemed outraged at the interracial relationship between Sheyera and the cop. And there were often complaints about old continuity being disrupted, even after the first annual resolved those issues, and even as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman got major re-boots just a couple of years earlier.

[Slam_Bradley]

Add me to the list of Hawkworld lovers...at least through the first year and a half of the continuing series.

I thought the mini was brilliant, and really didn't necessarily mess with existing continuity that much.

The continuing series certainly did mess with continuity, but I didn't care. The writing was strong, the art was good and I'd never liked Hawkman anyway.