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The Society Pages: A Justice Society of America Retrospective – “Hawkman” #26-36

By | February 19th, 2021
Posted in Columns | % Comments
[Featured image is the cover to “Hawkman” #35 by Ryan Sook, Mick Gray, and Dave Stewart]

Welcome back to the Society Pages, a column that looks back at the ‘modern’ history of the Justice Society of America. The main thrust of this column is to look at “JSA” and “Justice Society of America,” two ongoing series, written for most of their runs by Geoff Johns.

Despite Geoff Johns being off the title, I can’t quit things, and so we’re continuing our look through “Hawkman.” This is a transitional phase for the book, and these issues have never been collected, so these are likely relatively unknown stories. While some stuff is better than others, there is a lot of fun here, as well as a very mid-00s artifact.

'Hawkman' #28 Cover by Greg Land
Written by Josh Siegal, Ed Brubaker, Justin Gray, and Jimmy Palmiotti
Pencilled by John Byrne, Sean Phillips, Ryan Sook, Joe Bennett, and Andy Smith
Inked by Larry Stucker, Sean Phillips, Mick Gray, Ruy Jose, and Andy Smith
Colored by Hi-Fi, Brian Miller, John Kalisz
Lettered by Rob Leigh, Ken Lopez, Jared K. Fletcher, and Pat Brosseau

The series picks up just after the events of ‘Black Reign,’ and we see a creative team in flux. There are two issues by fill-in teams, both of which are actually a lot of fun, before we get to the new writing team, which will take the book through its ‘conclusion.’ But we’ll get to that in a month or so.

“Hawkman” #26 is written by Josh Siegal, better known for writing TV series like The Good Place and 30 Rock, and illustrated by comics legend John Byrne. How these two got paired up is absolutely a mystery to me, but the issue, which features a vampire that was, somewhat, subjected to the life of the undead by an action that Hawkman did 600 years ago. It’s a story that plays with Hawkman’s multiple lives in a new way, and features some classic Byrne art. Vampires and superheroes are two great tastes that rarely get placed together, and so it’s fun to see them come together. I’d also like to see Siegal do more at DC, and with the current plan of bringing in more TV folks, it seems like he would fit right in.

I was shocked, shocked I say, to see that “Hawkman” #27 was an Ed Brubaker/Sean Phillips joint. The issue, like #7 and #18 delves into a past life of Hawkman’s, with this issue falling right into the Brubaker/Phillips sweet spot of 1917. A tale of gangsters, molls, and the Pinkertons, this story is a noir lover’s wet dream. It’s a little slight in terms of connection to the overall “Hawkman” story, but that’s to be expected from an issue like this. Much like “Starman,” these issues are more to fill out the margins of the character and story than tell a tale that is going to push the story forward. Phillips does his usual schtick here, but damn is he the master of that schtick.

The only knock against this issue is the totally unnecessary reveal of past-Hawkman’s partner actually being Dashiell Hammett. These cute connections almost always are less impactful than the creators want them to be, and this is no exception. That said, it’s a fine detour before getting into a proper ongoing story.

Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray take over the series as of issue #28 and give the series a lot of forward momentum from the first issue. Gray and Palmiotti are joined for the first arc by Ryan Sook, and the story introduces a fair amount of new characters and gives St. Roch both some history and depth. There are seeds planted in these first few issues that are still paying out in #36 at the end of this week’s reading list.

Issue #28 introduces Detective Grub, who instantly falls into the ‘cop who hates capes’ trope, and does so pretty obnoxiously. He loses sight of the big picture over and over again because of how much he hates the Hawks. Now, I know that characters like this can elevate a story, but Gray and Palmiotti paint themselves into a corner almost instantly. He’s a new transplant from Gotham, so he has history with Batman, but also says shit like “Nothing like that happened in St. Roch before you showed up.” Bruh, you’ve been here like 5 minutes, you have no right to talk about ‘before’ the Hawks arrived. He’s also a character with zero depth or nuance; even later in the run when he has to work with the Hawks, he pulls the classic “this changes nothing between us” line and doesn’t hint at any growth whatsoever.

Continued below

The issue also introduces Domina Paris, a singer that Carter starts dating before she gets killed by the ‘Angel Killer’ – more on him shortly. Carter accurately realizes that his life is doomed to repeat a pattern of sadness, and decides to do something about that. Instead of chasing Kendra and her feelings for him that don’t exist, he decides to give love with someone else a try. As if her haunted visions weren’t enough of a red flag, the way she talks it is abundantly clear that she’s going to die sooner than later.

I get what Gray and Palmiotti are trying to do here, but they just execute it so clumsily. The story itself is intense and captivating, but their scripts just read like boilerplate superhero stuff. That said, this is a self-contained story that manages to impress through the sheer amount of new stuff that is introduced or seeded here, and how the book manages to both build on what came before but shift to something new. St. Roch gets a lot of attention, too, and it gives the city slightly more intrigue than just “Not New Orleans New Orleans,” which is essentially what the city has been up to this point.

Sook does some amazing work here, which should come as no surprise, but he deftly blends the action with a real tinge of horror, which helps this story feel unique and also give the book some space from the Johns run, which didn’t fall into as dark territory. Sook, unlike Joe Bennett, who will follow him on this book, also doesn’t use every opportunity to draw Kendra through an unrepentant male gaze. She’s still drawn as sexy, but isn’t objectified in every panel. Sook pops back up for one issue before departing, in the continued saga of Sook being announced as an ongoing artist and then turning in just a couple of issues.

Giving Carter the new love interest here is probably the best thing that Palmiotti and Gray do in this entire run, if only because it allows the story to change from ‘Carter tries to get Kendra to love him’ for a few issues. This story continues to rear its head throughout the following issues, too, though by the end of #36, it seems like we’ve likely heard the last of Domina.

Following the introductory 4 part story, #32 is as a classic ‘Hawkman and Atom’ story, and one that goes full on insane sci-fi, featuring Antarctica, Nazis and aliens and aliens becoming Nazis in Antarctica. The relationship between Carter and Ray Palmer is always a good time, and the issue follows up a bit on Ray’s cameo from a few issues earlier. Gray and Palmiotti don’t overplay their relationship too much, and it reads as a relatively authentic friendship.

The issue is the first of the run to feature Joe Bennett art, and this is the best issue he does in his run thus far, which returns with issue #35. Benentt, aside from oversexualizing Kendra, makes Carter a grimace machine, all but eliminating Sook’s expressive nuance. Bennett has gotten better over time, but his work here is fine; Sook is just a hard act to follow.

Issue #33 is a crossover with “Monolith.” Now, if you’re anything like me, you have no clue what “Monolith” is, despite being an adult when that series was published. It was at a time when DC was allowing some of their writers to publish creator owned books as part of the ongoing DC line, and so Gray and Palmiotti currently have the rights to the character, which seems like something that would never happen in 2021. The character is a golem from the 1930s who is somehow back to life, and…that’s about it.

This is the only time that Gray and Palmiotti don’t over-explain literally everything in their comics. Here are two panels from #32:

Yet, in issue #33, there is almost no attempt to tell us who these two female characters that take up the first five or so pages, and even Monolith himself is given very little to do. It’s bizarre how little is here and, even though Andy Smith does a perfectly cromulent issue, it is as forgettable an issue as you’ll find here. That is especially hard given that this also features Solomon Grundy, but there’s almost nothing here to stick with you.

The final two issues of this week begins a longer story featuring the Fadeaway Man, who was teased earlier in the run and, while the story begins to flesh out Kendra’s pre-Hawkgirl life a bit and remind us that she has a daughter, not much happens here, aside from forcing Carter to deal with a reanimated Domina and a Deadman appearance. These issues are fine, but it seems very much like a filler two-issue arc to get us ready for what comes next.

Speaking of that, the next run was collected before, and so when we return to “Hawkman” in a few weeks, we’ll, hopefully, get a more memorable story.


//TAGS | The Society Pages

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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