On our Earth, at least, his transition from comics' golden age to its silver age was more than a little problematic. In the 1940s, Hawkman had a mystical origin; Carter Hall was an adventuring archeologist who was also the swashbuckling reincarnation of the Egyptian god Khufu. The 1960s reintroduction of the character recast him as an alien policeman in keeping with the era's space-age bent. However, while these origins couldn't be more different--a difference that numerous later re-imaginings and reboots have tried to reconcile--I don't suppose that's what has prevented this from being a more successful franchise. Rather, I think it's less about the differences between his two competing origins and more about their similarity to the origins of other flagship DC properties.
Modern, post-Crisis-on-Infinite-Earths depictions of the Justice League have repeatedly portrayed its members as a godly pantheon. Each has a unique origin, powers, and aesthetic--at least except for Hawkman. We need a space policeman, you think--oops, we've already got one in Green Lantern. OK, we'll play up the demigod angle--oops, that's Wonder Woman's turf. It's hard to put your finger on who Carter Hall is supposed to be, the niche he's intended to fill.
To my mind, I think that all of the ingredients for a legendary comics run (or movie series) are there--they're just not being used in the proper proportions. Hawkman needs to be DC's "Conan The Barbarian." Or, more to the point, he needs to be their John Carter--Warlord of Mars. Because as I've noted above, it's not just about juggling plot elements--about reconciling the detritus of years of convoluted continuity. It's about crafting a memorable and compelling aesthetic. And I can envision one that allows DC to pick up several threads or story arcs from both the Golden Age and Silver Age to create a story that could almost live entirely outside of the mainstream DC universe.
Simply put, Carter Hall needs to get lost. Or, perhaps more appropriately, he needs to get Lost.
Do you know what a space policeman and a reincarnated god both have in common? Well, it's certainly not relatability. Now, having said that, I realize we're talking about a comics company that has successfully made us care about the daily trials of an invincible farm boy alien and an orphaned billionaire. But there's no denying that an everyman hero has a lot of appeal. So rather than starting off in uncharted territory, what if Hawkman came from simpler beginnings?
Consider his near-namesake, Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter. The eventual warlord started off as a Civil War soldier who, through unexpected misadventure, found himself transported to the savage red sands of Mars (also know as Barsoom). There, he encounters a wide array of dangers posed by the local fauna as well as several warring humanoid races--and even finds love in the arms of an alien princess. Imagine, if you will, what would happen if you superimposed this dynamic over Carter Hall's curious life (or lives). What if Hall didn't start off as either an alien or a demigod? What if he started off as an earthling who would go on to become both?
He could still be a policeman, mind you--or some lawman in general (sheriff, detective, etc.). The epoch you pull him from is kind of irrelevant if, as I'm supposing, you'd deposit him on some alien landscape in a forgotten past--maybe thousands of years ago. And what if that doomed alien planet happened to be a place called Thanagar? And what if, brought together by his leadership, its inhabitants trekked across the stars to an early Earth where--even after his departure back to his own time--he was remembered with almost god-like reverence?
Let's see how many boxes that checks - Thanagar, policeman, demigod, ancient Egypt. I could see him getting really good with a mace and sword over years of mortal combat bringing order to his adopted world. And the other elements of the Hawkman mythos--the wings, Nth metal, and more--could easily be the trappings of the exotic environment he tames before leading an exodus from it. Check, check, check and check.
What appeals to me most about this remix isn't just the fact that it recombines the various elements of his origin(s) in a different way. What I like is that it takes a character that has, at times, been rather stiff and plants him firmly in a sexy space opera. This wouldn't be extraterrestrial life imagined as gleaming white corridors on modern steel-gray spacecraft. This would be a blend of alien tech with swords and sorcery--monsters and mayhem, blood and sand. This is Carter Hall on the cover of a heavy metal album, mace raised above his head--Princess Shiera clasping her arms around his chest. Definitely not your father's (or grandfather's) Hawkman--but one I'm sure they'd enjoy reading.
Nevertheless, as we'll find with many of the suggestions in this series, I'm doubtful that this idea could work here and now--as the window of opportunity for such a re-imagining has probably passed for several reasons. First there's Disney's 2012 John Carter movie, which struggled to recoup its $350 million budget at the box office--leading to a huge write-off. Second, there's the fact that DC appears to have found itself a different hero to cast in a similar light--Jason Momoa's Aquaman. So, at least where the big screen is concerned, this slant on Carter's adventures would be unlikely to find either a backer/budget or a niche. (Unless maybe they found a way to combine their stories? Hmmm. I'll have to think about that one.)
Among my Instagram posts, I know I recently mentioned having picked up the "Kill Island" TPB from Frank Cho's run on Savage Wolverine. Looking at that art--of Shanna The She-Devil, Logan, the dinosaurs--I'll confess that I'd be intrigued to see how he (Cho) would adapt the above concept in comics form. You'd have to tread carefully in memorializing that era of pulp science fiction without indulging in sexism or misogyny. But much of modern pop culture manages to revisit older concepts while subverting expectations and updating morays/themes, so I'm confident it could be done here too.That's not to say that the recently launched Hawkman comic by Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch--shown alongside the Cho Wolverine spread above--won't blow up. Their solution to Hall's existential conundrum, while different than what I describe, is certainly novel and could raise his profile within the DC universe by tying him to the prehistory of the line and the massive eons-spanning threat of the Deathbringers. It's a more reserved and reflective take on the character than what I've envisioned, but that doesn't mean it's less likely to be successful.
No, I think that the real problem is that Carter Hall never seems to be the right man at the right place at the right time--at least not in this neighborhood of the multiverse. Ironic that a guy who has been reincarnated, rebooted and reinvented so many times can't seem to catch up with the law of averages. But in the end, every dog--er, hawk--has his day. Who's to say that this isn't his? Predictably, only time will tell.
Next time: What if Moon Knight had made it into the Marvel Netflix roster instead of Iron Fist?
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