Alienness was built into the concept of Hawkman.
His 1940s Flash Comics co-star was a Joe College regular guy speeded up, but Hawkman was steeped in the weird and the mystical.
Even though costumed crimefighters were known for their unconventional attire, Hawkman’s outfit — bare-chested, bird-headed, giant wings spread — was notably bizarre-looking. And his origin as a murdered warrior reincarnated from thousands of years ago made him even more of a “man out of time” than Captain America.
The ancient past and/or exotic worlds were a milieu particularly suited to this winged weirdy. So it’s nothing out of the ordinary when, in Flash Comics 77 (Nov. 1946), Carter Hall finds himself in Iran during the Middle Ages.
When he’s presented with a medieval Persian manuscript that carries his own fingerprint, Hawkman swallows a powder that transports him back to the 8th century. Saving the chemist Omar from death at the hands of his rivals, the Winged Wonder tracks down the manuscript and accidentally leaves his fingerprint on it during a fight. Then he invents the very powder that sent him to the past, and uses it to return to 1946.
“Whew! What a mix-up!” remarks his girlfriend Shiera when Hawkman explains.
Twenty years later, Hawkman’s co-creator Gardner Fox would have the Atom routinely exploring the ages through the “Time Pool.” But he could just as easily have done the same thing with Hawkman and his “time powder.”
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| Hawkman by Don Newton |
Michael Fraley wrote: I prefer the golden age version by Neville or Moldoff, but it always kind of tickled me that they could never come right out and say that Hawkman was patterned after the Egyptian god Horus. Chances are, Mom and Dad in 1940 would hear darling Billy trying to pronounce "Horus" and have the proverbial cow.
ReplyDeletePaul Zuckerman wrote:
ReplyDeleteI do prefer the scientific Hawkman over the mystical version-same with GL. I guess I always preferred an SF approach, even if rooted in its own mysticism of sorts, over the supernatural. But, from the few stories of the original Hawkman that I read, it I didn't think that most of his stories-at least, after the first few Fox tales-really got into any of that anyway. One thing about the early strip--the Hawk was very virile and it was loaded with implied sex. When I saw the Moldoff-drawn Raymond-influenced (though I didn't know that then) Hawkman story in the Feiffer book-whew! OK -- I was only 13, but it definitely had more of a sexual undercurrent than anything current. And the relationship between the Golden Age Hawks was not that of a married couple! Of course, the later stories were toned down significanlty.
I replied:
That sexual overtone was carried over from the Flash Gordon strip, I suspect. I was surprised at all the libido running riot in that strip.
Bob Bailey wrote:
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Dan
Jim Hampton wrote:
ReplyDeleteI love the time travel conundrums like that
Michael Fraley wrote:
ReplyDeleteI do believe that this is the first time that I've seen the words "comics historian" and "tickled" in the same breath. This should happen more often.
Ellis Rose wrote:
ReplyDeleteI still like a lot the ancient mystical Egyptian connections of the Golden Age Hawkman (Earth-2). And while I liked the more scientific version of the Silver Age Hawkman (Earth-1), he did not feel like he was ours. Instead, he was Thanagar's and could have been called back at any time that Thanagar wanted him and Shayera back.
Also, in hindsight, for going out of their way to avoid the mystical Egyptian origin and replacing it with an extraterrestrial sci-fi origin, they offered a large number of Silver Age Hawkman stories that had ancient cultural storyline connections and were heavily invested in Hawkman's use of ancient battle weapons. DC just could not quit its love for those ancient connections.
ReplyDeleteBob Doncaster wrote:
The time Hawkman took a powder
Jim Thompson wrote:
ReplyDeleteVon Daniken reveals, ANCIENT ALIENS HAVE FINGERS!
Jeff Patrick wrote:
ReplyDeleteI would imagine Fox thought the Time Pool made more sense for the Atom, considering the scientific orientation iof Ray Palmer vs. the mystical bent of Carter Hall. It certainly made more sense than Batman and Robin time traveling via hypnosis!
Chris Nowlin wrote:
ReplyDeleteIt's a common trope that the hero finds evidence of themselves having been in the past. I'm reminded of this issue of Detective Comics from 1961 where Batman and Robin find ancient Egyptian murals depicting them.
Kenneth W. Lieck wrote:
ReplyDeleteAnd his mace was a window into the Force he held during the Thanagar Wars so long ago and far away...
Johnny Williams wrote:
ReplyDeleteDan, my first look at a Hawkman was in The Brave and The Bold #34. He had no ‘wings’ on his headpiece and as I was at the time a very young consumer of superhero lore, I was just getting used to Joe Kubert’s highly stylized, and brilliantly beautiful, artwork. I did adjust quickly and embraced and liked Carter’s sci-fi origins and affiliations. The fact that he and his wife Were aliens But weren’t here to spy on us for future conquest, but to study and compare law enforcement techniques, because they were basically ‘Cops From Space’ was a fun concept to my younger self.
In the first appearance of the Silver Age Atom in Showcase vol 1 #34 they reprinted a picture of the JSA from an All-Star Comics cover to show us the original Atom, and I got my first look at the Golden Age Hawkman there too. I found his headgear a little bit unpleasant. It was like you were literally looking down into the beak/mouth of a hawk, as opposed to the newer Hawk’s lower face exposed look. I didn’t know anything about the character though and assumed kinship with the Hawk I knew.
Wrong.
A few years later, in Jules Feiffer’s landmark ‘The Great Comic Book Heroes’ I encountered the Golden Age Hawkman in a bit more details. I’d had sort of confusing experiences with him up until then, having seen him in flashbacks in the periodic Double Flash crossovers and an appearance in the annual JLA/JSA meetings. In all of those appearances he’d worn different headwear in each. The ancient Egyptian background of the Golden Age Hawks was fascinating, But, the boy-me preferred the more science fictiony ‘Cops From Outer Space’ angle of our Silver Age iteration.
ReplyDeleteMike Woolson wrote:
Plus those early stories "reincarnated" a lot of Foster and Raymond panels...