Marvel Comics have announced a new, five-part “Darkhawk” miniseries by writer Kyle Higgins and artist Juanan Ramirez, the creative team behind the final story in April’s “Darkhawk: Heart Of The Hawk” one-shot. Pepe Larraz has redesigned the character and Iban Coello will provide the cover art for the series.
The new “Darkhawk” series will see a new character, Connor Young, become the titular hero after his predecessor, Chris Powell, sacrificed himself during the events of Higgins and Ramirez’s one-shot story. The series will see Chris’s memory-housing amulet seeking out a new owner, and decide on Connor. The amulet’s choice will complicate the high schooler’s life further, as his promising basketball career has just been thrown into question after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
For anyone unfamiliar with the character, Higgins explained that the Darkhawk technology doesn’t turn the user into Darkhawk, instead “what happens, is that they instantly transport and swap places with an Android, which the user — in the case of humans because of their biology and incompatibilities with the technology — still controls with their consciousness.” With this in mind, Higgins started to ask multiple questions that the series will answer: “what happens when that user has a neurodegenerative condition? How does it affect his abilities? His ability to sync with the android? Are there enhancements? Detriments? What does it mean for his multiple sclerosis?”
Darkhawk was created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Mike Manley and debuted in his self-titled series in March 1991. The new “Darkhawk” #1 is scheduled for release in August. You can read the full quotes from Higgins, and see both Larraz’s designs and Ramirez’s penciled preview pages here.
