Hawkgirl might be most high-profile and star-studded relaunch that absolutely everyone seems to have ignored.
Walt Simonson and Howard Chaykin have probably created more comics on their own than the entire remainder of DC’s creative lineup combined. (That is, of course, an exaggeration, since they’ve got the absurdly prolific Kurt Busiek and Keith Giffen working for them.) Putting them on a mid-range book like Hawkman seems odd, and switching the series over to Hawkman’s partner and lover is even stranger.
I have to admit I’m not a huge Howard Chaykin fan. He’s always seemed like the runner-up to Frank Miller, both as a writer and artist. His in-your-face style can be good, but is best taken in small doses. (Embarrassing confession: I haven’t read American Flagg.) But my love for Walt Simonson easily makes up for that – he was one of my favourite artists way back when he was drawing X-Factor. In a way, I wish the two had switched duties: Chaykin’s story might be a bit crazier, while Simonson’s art is always wonderful.
But that wasn’t to be, so we’ll have to make do with the actual book we got. Which isn’t bad, but isn’t particularly great, either.
Since it’s One Year Later, things have changed. Hawkman is missing, though no one is saying where he went. Kendra has taken over his job at the museum, and maintains his duties as St. Roche’s winged protector. She’s begun having disturbing dreams about winged skeletons, and the museum is experiencing unexpected and mysterious earthquakes. Weird things are going on.
And that’s about it. This is what we call The Setup Issue. It’s disappointing, yet understandable: This book features one of the biggest OYL shifts, yet it feels less abrupt and mysterious than those seen in Detective Comics or Aquaman. Simonson takes time to establish the new status quo, in terms of both setting and character. Kendra’s an appealing character, a take-charge and intelligent woman who’s convincing as a lead character instead of just a sidekick. Her museum co-workers are pretty dull, but there’s a nicely cynical and suspicious cop for her to play off of.
It’s odd, when you think about it: Many of today’s writers are accused of spending more time on setup than action, and some fans seem to long for the old school approach to superheroes. Walt Simonson is a pretty old school kinda guy, yet he’s turned in a script with only five pages of the costumed hero. To be fair, he spends a lot of time on setup and exposition, though it’s not as well-developed as it could be: It’s here Simonson shows off his old-fashioned tendencies, offering lots of expository monologues and thought balloons that tend to seem dated nowadays.
Chaykin’s art still looks nice. He still manages to mix dark and gritty with clean and light, usually finding the right balance for scenes. And while his Hawkwoman might fall a tad on the bosomy side, mild-mannered Kendra is attractive yet realistic. If there’s a flaw, it’s that he falls back on tight facial closeups too often – it’s an effective tactic, but not when it’s happening every other page.
This was one of the OYL relaunches I most anticipated, and I have to admit some disappointment at the final product. Part of that lies in perhaps unfair expectations: So far, Simonson and Chaykin are aiming for more of a mystery and suspense book than an all-out superhero book, than that takes some time to establish. While I admit that I might not bother with a second issue from a lesser creative team, these guys are too good to turn in a so-so product on a regular basis. There’s definite potential here; hopefully it breaks loose soon.