Understanding Hawkman: Part 2.c – More Family

Welcome back to another installment of the Hawkmanology Project.  In our last part of this chapter we focused on the son of Hawkman, Hector Hall.  In this we will look at more members of his extended family.  One thing to remember with Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Sheira) through the years is that they did not have children until this past reincarnation, so the family aspect is new to their long lives.

 

Northwind – Norda Cantrell is the adopted son of Carter and Sheira Hall.  He comes from the hidden city of Feithera and is born of a native Feitheran mother and a human father.  The Halls often travelled to that hidden land and over time they eventually adopted Norda.  Norda was already caught up in the curse of Hath-Set, and he would stand in opposition to his eventual friend and teammate, Hector, the birth son of his adopted parents.  Norda along with several other sons and daughters of the JSA formed a group of their own called Infinity, Inc.  They eventually disbanded and Norda was not seen for some time.  He was next seen as an ally of Black Adam in Khandaq, his form radically changed to the appearance seen above.  We learn that Feithera was destroyed by the actions of humans and their entire race went through hyperevolution to survive.  His people still reside in Khandaq.

Fury (Lyta Trevor-Hall) – Lyta is the daughter of the Golden Age Heroine, Fury, and was raised by Derek and Joan Trevor (aka Joan Dale, Miss America).  Along with several other sons and daughters of the Golden Age heroes she joined the group Infinity, Inc, taking the name of her mother: Fury.  It was while a member of that group that she met and fell in love with Hector Hall, eventually becoming pregnant with his child before his death.  It was later revealed that Hector had gone on to take the mantle of the Sandman and had been visiting Lyta.  Eventually she joined him in the dreaming where they finally married.  She had a prolonged pregnancy while in the Dreaming before Hector’s spirit was cast away by a returning Morpheus of the Endless and Lyta was banished from the dreaming.  Their son Daniel was finally born, but his ties to the Dreaming were powerful.  He was kidnapped and Lyta was forced to play a part in the killing of Morpheus of the Endless, causing her son Daniel to take his place.  Lyta was lost for many years afterwards before Hector, now returned to life as Dr. Fate, found her and they enjoyed a short time of happiness together before they were killed by a rampaging Spectre.  Hector and Lyta’s souls were seen departing to the Dreaming once again, their family reunited.

 

Daniel, Dream of the Endless – The son of Hector and Lyta Hall spent most of the time in his mother’s womb while they resided in the realm known as the Dreaming.  Lyta was pregnant for far longer than a normal term as the child became connected with the Dreaming.  He was kidnapped shortly after being born and used in a revenge plot against Morpheus of the Endless, Lord of the Dreaming.  His ties to the Dreaming and his role in this plot marked the child, Daniel, as the new avatar of Dream of the Endless, replacing Morpheus.  A child who was never given a chance to grow up became one of the most powerful beings in creation, but he did reach out at the end of the lives of his parents to bring their souls to reside with him within the Dreaming.

OK, we’re going to end this part of the chapter now and next we’ll discuss the various close friends and allies of Hawkman.

Understanding Hawkman: Part 3.b – More Villains

 

Welcome back for another installment of Hawkmanology.  At this time we’re going to revisit the villains of Hawkman with a focus on a recent storyline.  A couple years back the creative team of Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Michael Bennett put together an ambitious, mulit-part story bringing back several of Hawkman’s enemies from years past; many of whom had not been seen since the Golden Age.  This storyline is collected in a trade paperback titled “Rise of the Golden Eagle.”

Leading this motley crew of hired thugs is a man who also plagued Batman and other heroes back in the Silver Age:

The Fadeaway Man – Dr. Anton Lamont was an art history professor who came into the possession of the Cloak of noted occultist Alessandro Cagliostro.  Lamont learned of the Cloak’s mystical properties and used it to lead a life of crime.  The Cloak of Cagliostro has many abilities, but most notable is it’s ability to teleport its wearer anywhere in the world.  Lamont used that particular ability to become a master thief, running afoul of the likes of Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Batman.  Looking to retire, Lamont took up an offer for one last job: to completely and utterly destroy his old foe, Hawkman.   He assembled a collection of villains from Hawkman’s past for the job and they seemed to succeed; but Hawkman returned with a vengeance, brutalizing the Fadeaway Man and his allies and taking the Cloak of Cagliostro as his own.  At last sighting, the Fadeaway Man managed to steal the Cloak back, but what he decided to do afterwards has yet to be written.

Lion-Mane – Ed Dawson was an archaeologist and a big-game hunter who came into contact with a meteorite with mystical properties called Mithra.  This turned Dawson into a were-lion, with the beast’s power and ferocity amplified a hundred-fold.  Lion-Mane would clash with Hawkman many times, and after the Hawkworld re-imagining we discover that Lion-Mane is a Lion Avatar, just as Katar Hol was a Hawk avatar.  The character went unused for years until he became one of the Fadeaway Man’s mercenaries.  Lion-Mane added his incredible savagry to that group, but he would soon find that his savagry was no match for an angry Hawkman.  The last time we saw Lion-Mane he was horribly beaten and possibly blinded in one eye.  His whereabouts since are unknown.

Hummingbird – Not much is known about this character, save for the fact that she is…well, not entirely sane.  That may actually be an understatement.  When she was a child she witnessed her mother kill her father (over pancakes…seriously), and she then tied her mother to her bed and set her on fire so that her father wouldn’t be lonely in the afterlife.  She is an absolutely brilliant inventor, but she makes a point to invent devices such as cluster bombs designed to bring as much pain, death and destruction as possible to her targets.

Lasso – I have to admit…I know little to nothing about this character, Lasso.  I know that he is  villain from Hawkman’s golden age.  He was one of the mercenaries brought together by the Fadeaway Man to take Hawkman down once and for all.  For all of his troubles, Lasso ended up a snow bunny.

Satana – She is as stylish as she is utterly evil.  She is one of Hawkman’s villains from way back in the day, brought together under Fadeaway Man’s banner to end Hawkman once and for all.  Satana fancies herself as a sort of modern day Circe, using her science to meld humans with animals, all under her control.  She, undet the guidance of Hawkman’s foes, used her science to breed a version of the dreaded Manhawks.

Manhawks – The Manhawks are vicious, carnivorous hunters who plague system after system in the galaxy.  They will find a world to conquer like locusts and then wear masks with the face of those that they are about to conquer.  This species cannot be reasoned with; they know no compromise; they exist merely to conquer.