Back Issue #97 by TwoMorrows Publishing

HAWKMAN IN THE BRONZE AGE! July 20

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BIRD PEOPLE ISSUE: Hawkworld! Hawk and Dove! Nightwing! Penguin! Blue Falcon! Condorman! featuring Dixon • Howell • Isabella • Kesel • Liefeld McDaniel • Starlin • Truman & more!

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Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

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“Christmas in the Bronze Age!” Go behind the scenes of comics’ best holiday tales of the 1970s through the early 1990s! And we revisit Superhero Merchandise Catalogs of the late ‘70s! Featuring work by SIMON BISLEY, CHRIS CLAREMONT, JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍALÓPEZ, KEITH GIFFEN, the KUBERT STUDIO, DENNY O’NEIL, STEVE PURCELL, JOHN ROMITA, JR., and more. Cover by MARIE SEVERIN and MIKE ESPOSITO!

“Marvel Bronze Age Giants and Reprints!” In-depth exploration of Marvel’s GIANT-SIZE series, plus indexes galore of Marvel reprint titles, Marvel digests and Fireside Books editions, and the last days of the “Old” X-Men! Featuring work by DAN ADKINS, ROSS ANDRU, RICH BUCKLER, DAVE COCKRUM, GERRY CONWAY, STEVE GERBER, STAN LEE, WERNER ROTH, ROY THOMAS, and more. Cover by JOHN ROMITA, SR.!

“Batman AND Superman!” Bronze Age World’s Finest, Super Sons, Batman/Superman Villain/Partner Swap, Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane go solo, Superman/Radio Shack giveaways, and JLA #200’s “A League Divided” (as a nod to Batman v. Superman)! Featuring work by BRIAN BOLLAND, RICH BUCKLER, GERRY CONWAY, JACK KIRBY, GEORGE PÉREZ, JIM STARLIN, and more. Cover by DICK GIORDANO!

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“Comics Magazines of the ’70s and ’80s!” From Savage Tales to Epic Illustrated, KIRBY’s “Speak-Out Series,” EISNER’s Spirit magazine, Unpublished PAUL GULACY, MICHAEL USLAN on the Shadow magazine you didn’t see, plus B&Ws from Atlas/Seaboard, Charlton, Skywald, and Warren. Featuring work by NEAL ADAMS, JOHN BOLTON, ARCHIE GOODWIN, DOUG MOENCH, EARL NOREM, ROY THOMAS, and more. Cover by GRAY MORROW!

“Bronze Age Adaptations!” The Shadow, Korak: Son of Tarzan, Battlestar Galactica, The Black Hole, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Worlds Unknown, and Marvel’s 1980s movie adaptations. Plus: PAUL KUPPERBERG surveys prose adaptations of comics! With work by JACK KIRBY, DENNY O’NEIL, FRANK ROBBINS, MICHAEL W. KALUTA, FRANK THORNE, MICHAEL USLAN, and sporting an alternate Kaluta cover produced for DC’s Shadow series!

“Eighties Ladies!” MILLER & SIENKIEWICZ’s Elektra: Assassin, Dazzler, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Lady Quark, DAN MISHKIN’s Wonder Woman, WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS and ADAM KUBERT’s Jezebel Jade, Somerset Holmes, and a look back at Marvel’s Dakota North! Featuring the work of BRUCE JONES, JOHN ROMITA JR., ROGER STERN, and many more, plus a previously unpublished cover by SIENKIEWICZ.

“All-Jerks Issue!” Guy Gardner, Namor in the Bronze Age, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson, DC’s Biggest Blowhards, the Heckler, Obnoxio the Clown, and Archie’s “pal” Reggie Mantle! Featuring the work of (non-jerks) RICH BUCKLER, KURT BUSIEK, JOHN BYRNE, STEVE ENGLEHART, KEITH GIFFEN, ALAN KUPPERBERG, and many more. Cover-featuring KEVIN MAGUIRE’s iconic Batman/Guy Gardner “One Punch”!

“Bronze Age Halloween!” The Swamp Thing revival of 1982, Swamp Thing in Hollywood, Phantom Stranger team-ups, KUPPERBERG & MIGNOLA’s Phantom Stranger miniseries, DC’s The Witching Hour, the Living Mummy, and an index of Marvel’s 1970s’ horror anthologies! Featuring the work of RICH BUCKLER, ANDY MANGELS, VAL MAYERIK, MARTIN PASKO, MICHAEL USLAN, TOM YEATES, and many more. Cover by YEATES.

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“All-Captains Issue!” Bronze Age histories of Shazam! (Captain Marvel) and Captain MarVell, Captain Carrot, Captain Storm and the Losers, Captain Universe, and Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers. Featuring C. C. BECK, PAT BRODERICK, JACK KIRBY, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN, BILL MANTLO, DON NEWTON, BOB OKSNER, SCOTT SHAW!, JIM STARLIN, ROY THOMAS, and more. Cover painting by DAVE COCKRUM!

“Indie Super-Heroes!” NEAL ADAMS Ms. Mystic interview, Continuity Comics, BILL BLACK Captain Paragon interview, Justice Machine history, STEVEN GRANT/NORM BREYFOGLE Whisper “Pro2Pro” interview, and the ’80s revivals of Mighty Crusaders and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. Featuring BUCKLER, DEODATO, ELLIS, GRINDBERG, GUSTOVICH, ISABELLA, REINHOLD, ORDWAY, PÉREZ, and more. Cover by NEAL ADAMS!

“Creatures of the Night!” Moon Knight’s DOUG MOENCH and BILL SIENKIEWICZ in a Pro2Pro interview, Ghost Rider, Night Nurse, Eclipso in the Bronze Age, I…Vampire, interviews with Batman writer MIKE W. BARR and Marvel’s Nightcat, JACQUELINE TAVAREZ. Featuring work by BOB BUDIANSKY, J. M. DeMATTEIS, DAVE SIMONS, ROGER STERN, TOM SUTTON, JEAN THOMAS, and more. SIENKIEWICZ and KLAUS JANSON cover!

“Marvel Fanfare Issue!” Behind the scenes of the ‘80s anthology series with AL MILGROM, interviews and art by ARTHUR ADAMS, CHRIS CLAREMONT, DAVE COCKRUM, STEVE ENGLEHART, MICHAEL GOLDEN, ROGER McKENZIE, FRANK MILLER, DOUG MOENCH, ANN NOCENTI, GEORGE PÉREZ, MARSHALL ROGERS, PAUL SMITH, KEN STEACY, CHARLES VESS, and more! Cover by SANDY PLUNKETT and GLENN WHITMORE.

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Volume 1, Number 97 July 2017 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST George Pérez (Commissioned illustration from the collection of Aric Shapiro.) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg

SPECIAL THANKS Karl Kesel Alter Ego Rob Liefeld Jim Amash Tom Lyle Mike Baron Andy Mangels Alan Brennert Scott McDaniel Marc Buxton Dan Mishkin John Byrne Oswald Cobblepot Graham Nolan Dennis O’Neil Greg Crosby John Ostrander DC Comics George Pérez Joel Davidson Teresa R. Davidson Todd Reis Bob Rozakis Chuck Dixon Brenda Rubin Justin Francoeur (DCinthe80s.com) Bart Sears José Luís García-López Aric Shapiro Steve Skeates Joe Giella Anthony Snyder Mike Gold Jim Starlin Grand Comics Bryan D. Stroud Database Roy Thomas Alan Grant Robert Greenberger Steven Thompson Titans Tower Mike Grell (titanstower.com) Greg Guler Timothy Truman Jack C. Harris John Trumbull Heritage Comics Bill Walko Auctions Len Wein Richard Howell John Wells Tony Isabella Steven Wilber Klaus Janson Doug Zawisza Rob Kelly Michael Zeno Barbara Randall Kesel

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BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: Hawkman in the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 From guest-shots to a Shadow War, the Winged Wonder’s ’70s and ’80s appearances ONE-HIT WONDERS: DC Comics Presents #37: Hawkgirl’s First Solo Flight . . . . . . . 21 A gander at the Superman/Hawkgirl team-up by Jim Starlin and Roy Thomas PRO2PRO ROUNDTABLE: Exploring Hawkworld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The post-Crisis version of Hawkman, with Timothy Truman, Mike Gold, John Ostrander, and Graham Nolan BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: The Penguin, Gotham’s Gentleman of Crime . . . . . . 31 Numerous creators survey the history of the Man of a Thousand Umbrellas FLASHBACK: Hawk and Dove: Birds of a Different Feather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Hatched during the era of Vietnam War protests, Hawk and Dove have migrated through many changes over the decades FLASHBACK: Dynomutt and Blue Falcon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Big City’s dynamic duo, in animation and comic books ROUGH STUFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 A pencil-art showcase of Bird Heroes by García-López, Sears, Lyle, Liefeld, and Kirby BACKSTAGE PASS: Condorman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Andy Mangels’ spotlight on the adventures of Disney’s flying hero, on film and in comics PRO2PRO: Nightwing: Flying Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel chat about their action-packed collaboration BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Reader reactions

BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $73 Economy US, $88 Expedited US, $116 International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by George Pérez. Hawkman TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2017 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

1976 Joe Kubert Hawkman illustration presented to Martin Greim for the Boston Comic-Con. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. Hawkman TM & © DC Comics.

PROOFREADER Rob Smentek

1999 Black Canary sketch by George Pérez, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. Character TM & © DC Comics. Art © George Pérez.

by M

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ichael Eury

Who doesn’t love birds? Whether you’re a card-carrying Audubon Society member or a backyard bird lover, our fine, feathered friends are among our planet’s most beloved creatures (except when they’re uncaged by Daphne du Maurier or Alfred Hitchcock… or when they poop on your windshield right after you’ve washed your car). Not only are birds beautiful (even those freaky vultures), but they represent the ultimate expression of freedom—flight. So it’s no surprise that writers and artists of superhero comics have often looked skyward for inspiration. This edition of BACK ISSUE spotlights a flock of characters that have fluttered through the pages of the Bronze Age—comics’ Bird People, a theme recommended in BI’s Facebook group by Brenda Rubin, whose surname is only one vowel away from a bird name, now that I think of it. Thank you, Brenda, for this suggestion, as it finally gives us the opportunity to explore the adventures of a superhero we’ve barely mentioned throughout this magazine’s 14-year history: our cover star, Hawkman! Hawkman reminds me of a lunch my wife Rose and I had with writer John Ostrander and his late wife, Kim Yale, at the San Diego Comic-Con way back in the summer of 1994. I was representing Dark Horse Comics, having joined DHC’s editorial staff after my previous stint as an editor at DC Comics. John told me that DC’s then-new Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time! crossover was “to fix what I [John] did with Hawkworld and what you [me, as editor] did with Legion of Super-Heroes.” While it’s inaccurate to pin the continuity conundrums of DC’s Hawkman and Legion properties on any two individuals, there’s no arguing that both series have experienced reboots and reimaginings that puzzled some readers and enthralled others. In the pages that follow, we’ll chart Hawkman’s flight path from the 1970s through the early 1990s, learning why certain migrations were made. Then we’ll allow some other Bird People a moment to roost. (Plus you’ll get more bad bird puns like those.) Before we begin, for those of you wondering Where the Peck is your favorite bird-based character not listed in our table of contents, allow me to direct you to the following back issues of BACK ISSUE, where you’ll find coverage of their adventures: ANGEL: BI #29 (his lost stories), 96 BLACK CANARY: BI #46, 64 BLACKHAWK: BI #37 FALCON: BI #8, 22, 71 HAWKEYE and MOCKINGBIRD: BI #56 HOWARD THE DUCK: BI #19, 31 NIGHT RAVEN: BI #28 NIGHTWING: BI #73 (his early stories) ROBIN: BI #22, 48, 73 Lastly, this issue’s theme reminds me that we have yet to cover the adventures of James O’Barr’s the Crow, star of indie comics and various screen interpretations. I can’t promise when, but eventually the Crow will get the BI treatment….

Winged Wonders TM

Hawkman and Hawkgirl/woman by Richard Howell. A specialty illustration courtesy of the artist, colored by BI designer Rich Fowlks. Hawkman and Hawkwoman TM & © DC Comics. Art © Richard Howell.

by D o u g

Zawisza Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

Migrations Dick Dillin, the Hawkman illustrator from the late Silver Age, penciled these two early Bronze Age tales during a time when the Flying Fury was essentially a homeless hero: (left) World’s Finest #209 (Feb. 1972) and (right) a backup tale in Detective #428 (Oct. 1972). TM & © DC Comics.

IN THE BEGINNING

The Bronze Age opened with Hawkman and Hawkgirl out of the spotlight, waiting for a chance to spread their wings once more. The duo remained more relevant than the relics in the Midway City Museum where Hawkman (Katar Hol) and Hawkgirl (Shayera Thal) worked in their secret identities as Carter and Shiera Hall, despite no longer capturing the title of a comic. The Atom and Hawkman #45 (Oct.–Nov. 1969) brought a conclusion to the series shared with the Ray Palmer version of the Atom. Written by Denny O’Neil and drawn by Dick Dillin, that story also opened up a subplot for Palmer’s paramour, Jean Loring, that would pay story dividends for the grander DC Universe for more than 35 years, directly or tangentially including more than a few adventures with one or both of the Thanagarian-spawned Winged Wonders in such titles as Justice League of America and Super-Team Family. Hawkman and Hawkgirl didn’t limit themselves to those two aforementioned titles, nor did they wait on Jean Loring to call them into action. Instead, the Hawks made their presence known in other books throughout the Bronze Age, including Adventure Comics, The Secret Society of Super-Villains, Detective Comics, World’s Finest Comics, The Brave and the Bold, DC Comics Presents, Showcase, Wonder Woman, and even The New Teen Titans before finding their way back to their own solo adventures in the 1985 miniseries The Shadow War of Hawkman. Of the eventual ongoing series that spun out of Shadow War, Denny O’Neil recalls, “I don’t think there were a lot of expectations. I didn’t have a lot of baggage going in,” indicative that Hawkman was not as prolific or examined as many other DC Comics’ icons of the time. “Hawkman was a character I had touched on when

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I was writing the Justice League, but there was not a lot to carry over.” It would seem that O’Neil’s recollection is on point, as much of Hawkman’s adventures between 1969 and 1985 took the form of a guest-star or teammate rather than a headliner. Even Hawkman’s stories where he held the starring role were limited to backups or chapters in anthologies. That doesn’t discount Hawkman (or even Hawkgirl) from being an iconic character in the DC Universe during that time, however, as the duo would leave quite an impact, garner a large following, launch a successful series, and initiate one of the greatest comic continuity calamities of all time.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA DAYS

Before that, though, Hawkman was a major fixture in Justice League of America, frequently appearing in the expository team scene, sometimes banging the gavel to bring the team to order, and occasionally bringing Hawkgirl along with him for an extra set of wings. After all, having another flying character on the roster helped transport non-flyers, if nothing else. Sometimes writers would even spell Hawkgirl’s civilian identity wrong, as “Shierra” (one too many “R”s) joined in an adventure in Justice League of America #88 (Mar. 1971). Shiera, Shierra, or even Shayera would appear from time to time, aiding the League as a hero in her own right, not simply the yin to Hawkman’s yang. Justice League of America #80–81 (May–June 1970) took the League (and Jean Loring) to Thanagar to try to resolve Jean’s insanity. Throw in the Jest-Master, and things on Thanagar get a little wacky. Justice League of America

#90 (June 1971) puts Katar in the chairperson’s post at being “teamed up with a feather duster!” to which the front of the table, calling for order, and giving the Hawkman delivers an icy “No comment!” Green Arrow League their task. The adventure wraps with Hawkman continues to sling monikers at his teammate in this issue experiencing a messiah-like moment as he uses portions that include “Feather-Face” and “Ostrich Orbs.” The of Proof Rock (that issue’s McGuffin) to help the bickering between the two makes for mighty Pale People, who had first appeared in The ineffective teamwork, which results in their Flash #109 (Nov. 1959), re-establish their defeat at the hands of the Shaggy Man. religion as the basis of their life. It wasn’t Of the relationship, during an interview every issue that Hawkman played the role for the JLA Satellite blog, www.jlasatellite. of savior for a race of beings, nor did he blogspot.com, Wein told Rob Kelly, “I bang the gavel every issue, but when loved writing the Green Arrow/ he did appear, the writers found ways Hawkman relationship, certainly. It was to make him a team player. probably the thing I was proudest for having brought to the book. Between some of those Justice League of America appearances, Hawkman had a “When I took over the JLA, it had always pair of backup tales in Detective Comics, bothered me that these characters all starting with Detective Comics #428 got along so well. In fact, most of their (Oct. 1972), where Julius Schwartz and len wein E. Nelson Bridwell conspire on a story penciled by Dick Dillin, pitching the Winged Wonder against an unnamed thief in an eight-page tale. Rich Buckler joined the writing duo six issues later for the second of Hawkman’s two appearances in the title in Detective #434 (Apr. 1973) as Hawkman defeats Sandor Peale in “The Riddle of the Red-Handed Robber.” Hawkman also appeared alongside Superman in a team-up in World’s Finest Comics #209 (Feb. 1972), by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Clearly, DC editorial had interest in giving Hawkman somewhere to spread his wings in solo adventures, but the lack of a dedicated title didn’t help the Midway City hero. Detective Comics would welcome the Winged Warrior again in the future, but not until almost two years (or 12 issues, as Detective Comics was bimonthly at the time) later. Until then, Hawkman’s most prominent appearance would be in Justice League of America. Len Wein took over with Justice League of America #100 (Aug. 1972), the landmark issue that contains “The Unknown Soldier of Victory!” Drawn by Dick Dillin, this issue opens with League members preparing for their 100th meeting. This is also the place where the Green Arrow/Hawkman spat begins in earnest. Green Arrow mentions that it seems like a million years since he started fighting crime, to which Hawkman chirps, “Perhaps, Green Arrow— but you’re not unique! We’ve all changed over the years— out of necessity, I suppose!” The two continue a fairly civil discussion, which is interrupted by Green Lantern reminding them they’re supposed to be celebrating. The pair would continue to chirp at one another, with Green Arrow trying to zing Hawkman with childish name-calling while Hawkman would tersely snap at the Archer, attempting to get his verbose teammate to add a little more silence to their shared air. At one point in Justice League of America #104 (Feb. 1973), Arrow bemoans

Goodbye, Hello Hawkman left the League in (top left) JLA #109, but his short-lived hiatus ended upon his return in (top right) #117. TM & © DC Comics.

Ruffled Feathers (middle) JLA #112 devoted an entire letters page to reader reactions to the Winged Wonder’s exodus in issue #109—and most fans called for his return. (bottom left) A Green Arrow/Hawkman squabble, from JLA #104. (bottom right) Meet Golden Eagle, a.k.a. Charley Parker, in JLA #116. Bottom scans courtesy of Rob Kelly. TM & © DC Comics.

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THE SUPER–SECRET NOT–SO–SHADOWY WAR Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (Apr. 1985) hit racks near the start of the Shadow War of Hawkman miniseries, but Richard Howell recalls, “The whole Hawkman series was an oddity. It started before the massive Crisis on Infinite Earths began, and it was so continuity-tight that we had no opportunities to incorporate Crisis into its story-flow. At the point the Hawks encountered Superman, the creative staff of the Hawkman series weren’t really sure if we should treat it as if Hawkman and Hawkwoman had met Superman already or not (by that point, Superman was the John Byrne-era version, so was everything new… or not?)” Isabella recalls, “The miniseries and the Special were written before Crisis #1 was published.” As revealed in the Compendium that accompanies the Absolute Edition of Crisis on Infinite Earths (2005), Roy Thomas sent a memo (dated May 16, 1984) to Len Wein, Marv

Lovebirds As this Hawkman article rides off into the sunset, we close with this 1986 illo, by and courtesy of Richard Howell, of the other cozy couple he drew during the ’80s, Marvel’s Vision and the Scarlet Witch… and if you look into the silvery moon you’ll notice a certain pair of Winged Wonders. Art © 1986 Richard Howell. Hawkman and Hawkwoman TM & © DC Comics. Vision and Scarlet Witch TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Wolfman, and Bob Greenberger regarding some thoughts about the Crisis. “The two Carter Halls problem still remains, but I intend to keep Hawkman in the JSA… and I doubt if the E-1 version’s gonna be killed off. I wouldn’t mind offing Shiera Hall, though, if it were done in some way tastefully… it would just be one more thing to reunite father and son. “Interestingly, I’m open to suggestions—I’ve this idea that I might decide to get rid of the Silver Scarab, who hasn’t really been that much of a character, and he could then become the JSA Hawkman… without the name Carter Hall. But that’s something I’d have to think about myself.” Bob Greenberger offered his thoughts on the matter in a memo dated July 3, 1984: “One of the Hawkmans will be maimed in the course of the action and receive grafted wings, à la Northwind, and be a real Hawkman. If it’s Earth-One Hawkman, the Hawkman miniseries should conclude first.”

collection of African masks. That spirit turns out to be that of Frank Delmore, a deceased “business” partner for a new character named Lewis Brundage introduced in this issue. If nothing else, Brundage affords Mishkin the opportunity to bring in supervillain Bolt as a hired gun. Bolt takes on the Hawks in Hawkman #14 (Sept. 1987) in a story that gets just a little bit weird. The disembodied spirit from last issue is still around, but has issue with Bolt, and the Hawks luck into an odd series of events, where almost everything wraps up. Mishkin opens a new mystery at the end of the issue, snuffing out Brundage and leaving the Hawks wondering who killed Lorraine Frazier, Frank Delmore, and now Lewis Brundage? On the art side of things, Howell switches up the leggings the Hawks wear under their red shorts to all black, a look that works quite nicely, but unfortunately does not stick around. Through this storyline, it becomes clear that, had he been given more time, Mishkin might have pushed the Hawks towards a new status quo beyond the end of their series. Mishkin tells BACK ISSUE, “Having been careful to wrap up the threads of the Shadow War storyline in a respectful and respectable fashion, I didn’t really have time to move forward on the direction I wanted to take the book. I would have liked to settle the Hawks in New Orleans and explore Hawkman’s religious conversion experience and Hawkwoman’s rationalist response to it.” Hawkman #15 (Oct. 1987) brings all of the supporting-cast craziness to a head, mixes in an appearance by the Gentleman Ghost, and sends Hawkwoman to the land between the dead and the living to guide Lorraine Frazier to her final peace. Hawkman, alone and untethered without his true love around, loses it for an issue, giving Hawkman #16 (Nov. 1987) a madcap story that struggles to find equilibrium. Hawkman #17 (Dec. 1987) wraps up the series. Pushed to the brink of insanity at the loss of his bride for the second time in little over two years in comic-book time, Hawkman cannot stand to live anymore. Luckily, he hears the voice of Shayera calling to him through the crying of seagulls. Hawkman cobbles together a device to transmit a signal to return Shayera, Lorraine Frazier, and the Gentleman Ghost into their physical forms. Frazier is not long for this world, but her departure requires her to bring another. Seeing an opportunity for eternal rest, Gentleman Ghost joins Frazier, ending his existence on this plane. Hawkman #17 ends with Shayera and Katar staring into the sunset, pondering their future, as Shayera says, “…it’s as though our lives are just beginning.” DOUG ZAWISZA is a pretty big Hawkfan and he loves to write about comics in his spare time. He’d like to thank his wife, Lisa, and his three daughters for being so wonderful. He’d also like to thank Rob Kelly, Justin Francoeur, Bill Walko, and Michael Eury for their help in pulling this article together. Last, but by no means least, Doug wants to thank EVERYONE that’s ever worked on Hawkman’s adventures.

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by M a r c

Buxton

Flying Solo Sans Hawkman, Shayera joins forces with Superman in an exhilarating team-up in DC Comics Presents #37 (Sept. 1981). Cover art by Jim Starlin. TM & © DC Comics.

As BACK ISSUE continues its look at bird-themed superheroes and villains, we have stumbled on an avian milestone that takes us far from Earth. So let’s focus those bird-watching binoculars on the farthest reaches of space as we check out DC Comics Presents #37 (Sept. 1981), a high-flying team-up between Superman and Hawkgirl, with plot and art by Jim Starlin and a script from Roy Thomas. But what is this milestone, you ask? As most of you Hawkfans know, in the halcyon days of 1981 and even over a decade after, it was very rare to see Hawkgirl fly solo. In 1981, Mr. and Mrs. Hawk were inseparable, with the male member of the crimefighting duo usually taking center stage over his ever-capable and loyal wife. So one must wonder why Hawkgirl was featured sans Carter Hall in Thomas and Starlin’s DCCP #37. Sadly, that bit of avian curiosity may have to remain a mystery. When asked about why it was just Shayera Hol that joined Superman in this 1981 team-up, Roy Thomas replied, “You’d have to ask Jim about that… since editor Julie Schwartz is no longer with us. No one ever told me.” Well, sadly, Mr. Starlin isn’t talking about DC Comics past, present, or future at this point in his career, so we are left to ponder why Starlin went with the female half of the famed Hawk team. Whatever reason this choice was made, it certainly proved prophetic as over 20 years later, Hawkgirl flying solo in comics, in the animated Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, and on the live action DC’s Legends of Tomorrow became the norm for the character. But it was in DC Comics Presents #37 that Hawkgirl went it alone and proved that she can carry a story on her winged back. Remember, now, this wasn’t just a small backup feature or throwaway tale—this was a team-up where Hawkgirl proved she was every bit as able as Superman himself. This issue of DC Comics Presents not only served as a coming-out party of sorts for Hawkgirl, one of DC’s earliest female superheroes, it also was one of the very first comics where the name of the great Roy Thomas appeared in a DC credits box. “I was just handed the alreadyplotted-and-drawn story, and all I did was dialogue it,” Thomas tells BACK ISSUE. “This was arranged by Jenette [Kahn], Paul [Levitz], and Joe [Orlando} so that I could hit the ground running when my Marvel contract expired in late 1980 and they could have stories out © Pat Loika / there very quickly with my name on them…” Wikimedia Commons. Starlin and Thomas’ love of Hawkgirl is evident from the very first page of DCCP #37. The story is told through the “Docudiary of Shayera a.k.a. Shiera Hall,” as Hawkgirl acts as the POV character and narrator of the issue. It’s interesting that Hawkgirl, a character rarely if ever featured in a comic without her husband, would be chosen over Superman to narrate this tale. This groundbreaking issue of avian awesomeness begins when Hawkgirl receives a phone call from one Dr. Irwin Wright of the Center of Amerindian Studies. Wright is calling for Carter Hall but is openminded enough to tell Shayera about some artifacts he found that appear to be of unearthly origins. Wright is dismissive of Shayera at first, but to his credit, once he sees how capable and learned she is, Wright forgets about Mr. Hall and shows Mrs. Hall his findings—strange alien artifacts and writings that appear to be Kryptonian in origin. So Hawkgirl turns not to Hawkman for help… but Superman. As Superman is brought to investigate the Kryptonian artifacts, he busts down a wall at the excavation site, and in doing so busts between genres as the pulp sensibilities are shattered to be replaced by some truly strange science fiction as Superman and Hawkgirl discover an ancient but functioning Kryptonian lab. Even though they are in the midst of a cosmic mystery, Superman takes time to pay homage to Hawkgirl, pointing out what was so overlooked in the era of Shayera living in Katar’s shadow, that Hawkgirl is, as Superman puts it, “One of the most successful police officers back on… Thanagar.” As Superman compliments Hawkgirl, the heroic pair discovers a recording from Superman’s great-grandfather Var-El. After he rewinds the tape (because advanced Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 21

Shayera to the Rescue Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), signed Starlin original art to story page 11. Inks by Romeo Tanghal (who, by the way, provides our amazing Nightwing cover for our next issue!). TM & © DC Comics.

title ‘The Stars, Like Moths…’ after an SF novel from the 1950s that I remembered reading, The Stars Like Dust.” But wherever the ideas came from, a modern-day reading of this Starlin/Thomas production is haunting even through the lens of 21st-Century sci-fi expectations. Starlin crafts an absolutely haunting panel of Superman, standing on a rock fragment, slowly and helplessly being drawn into a giant red sun. His back is turned to the red orb of death as he resolutely prepares to meet his fate, a fate that is occurring because of his and his ancestor’s arrogance. This is very heady stuff for a 1981 Superman tale, huh? Shayera dives into the iris to save Superman. Meanwhile, Superman prepares to die, but first he is attacked by—and this is most welcome in this winged wonder-themed edition of BACK ISSUE—a giant interdimensional carrion bird. Hawkgirl fends the attack by this and additional birds, first trying to use her avian telepathy to control them and then just pummeling them with her mace. While she is making feathers fly, Superman is being sucked ever closer to the red star and contemplates his end in a moment that is pure poetry. “After all the super-villains… the kryptonite… the magic…,” Superman thinks to himself, “who’d have thought it would end like this… that Superman would go out… like a shooting star… to become one more infinitesimal speck of stellar energy… in a cosmic graveyard?” It wasn’t often in the late Bronze Age that Superman had a moment of vulnerability, but there he is, realizing that compared to the power of the unknowable cosmos, he was just another inconsequential bit of matter. But Superman’s death is not to be, as Hawkgirl swoops in and saves the day. Hawkgirl is not feeling inconsequential, not when she has a mission and a friend to save. Hawkgirl’s anti-gravity belt wins the day as Hawkgirl flies through the iris and rescues the ready-tomeet-his-end Man of Steel. In this, BACK ISSUE’s winged wonder issue, it is Krypton didn’t have MP3s, I guess), Hawkgirl and the apropos that the last image we are left with is Hawkgirl’s Man of Steel listen to the voice of Superman’s ancestor. smoldering wings, sacrificed to save a Superman that And this is where things get epic, as while listening had almost given up. In the second-to-last panel, Hawkto these lost records, Superman makes the conclusion girl stands without her wings, the very thing that gives that his father Jor-El discovered Earth through Var-El’s her a visual identity. But at this point, she doesn’t need journals. Superman honors his great-grandfather, forbidden them just as she doesn’t need Hawkman, because she is not defined by her costume or her husband, she is science and all, because without Var-El Superman would have died in the destruction of Krypton and the galaxy defined by her actions, and in this issue of DC Comics would have been robbed of its greatest hero. As for Presents, Hawkgirl proves that she is a hero that can Var-El’s experiments, the fugitive scientist was trying and will stand on her own. to prove that all energy is naturally attracted to other This issue of DCCP was one of Thomas’ earliest forms of energy and that when a star explodes, the © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. forays in the DC Universe. His greatest DC contributions used-up energies are transported to another dimensional space for later were still to come, and while this issue was wonderfully experimental use. Hey, listen, this is a Jim Starlin comic—you knew it wasn’t going to for 1981 and featured an important bit of evolution in the career of be Superman trying to stop the Prankster or something, right? Hawkgirl, Thomas does not remember his time on DCCP with overAs Shayera exits the chamber to grab some more equipment, whelming fondness. “I remember Jim, a bit later, saying to me in a Superman has a moment of uncharacteristic recklessness as he discovers not unfriendly fashion, ‘You really got a free ride on that one, Roy’... Var-El’s iris portal and opens it! Hawkgirl hears the machinery activate meaning, of course, that I hadn’t had to do anything but dialogue it.” and without a thought for her own safety races inside, mace at the While Thomas downplays this tale, it still is a fascinating read in ready. Superman is sucked helplessly into the iris, but Hawkgirl is able hindsight for a number of reasons. It was a hard-hitting sci-fi story that to use her anti-gravity belt to keep herself from meeting the same fate. did not reflect DC’s mascot Superman in the most positive light. This Thomas and Starlin certainly utilize all of Hawkgirl’s power set and don’t story was truly groundbreaking as so many more dark Kryptonian tales allow her to be overshadowed by either Superman or her conspicuous- would follow in the years to come. Also, this issue proved to the world by-his-absence husband. that Hawkgirl is an inspiring hero on her own, something that DC This is a pretty intense sci-fi tale, to be sure. This issue of DCCP stands would explore in many forms of media decades later. in contrast to some of the more lighter and frivolous team-up tales that appeared in that title. We asked Thomas where the idea to do such a MARC BUXTON is a proud contributor to websites like Comic Book Resources daring story that sheds a dark light on Krypton’s past came from: “I’ve no and Den of Geek US. He is an English teacher, and Marc’s loving wife thinks he idea. I never heard any real reaction to the story one way or the other. owns way to many comic books. Marc has been reading comics since the dawn The only thing I really remember about it, I think, is coming up with the of time and is still deeply in love with every era of the great medium. 22 • BACK ISSUE • Bird People Issue

by S t e v e n

Wilber

Not Your Father’s Hawkman Original cover art by Timothy Truman for Hawkworld vol. 1 (the Prestige Format miniseries) #2 (Sept. 1989). Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Hawkworld, a series that touched upon politics, religion, race, gender, sex, and more, explored the adventures of galactic police officers Katar Hol and Shayera Thal. In 1989 Hawkman and Hawkwoman were revised, then later completely retconned, after the series’ success. Attempts to mend continuity gaps created controversy among some fans. In time, however, more readers grew to love the new socially minded Hawkman and his quick-tempered partner.

unchanged. That was, until the end of their short-lived series in December of 1987. Following this it was decided by DC editorial that Hawkman and Hawkwoman were in need of a serious update that matched the rapidly changing and maturing medium of comic books. Enter: Mike Gold and Timothy Truman.

TIMOTHY TRUMAN: Hawkman was one of the DC titles that I’d followed when I was growing up in the 1960s—the Joe Kubert and Murphy Anderson Silver Age stuff, you know? In the early ’90s, Mike Gold was THE HAWKWORLD MINISERIES “Have you never wondered who paid the price the guy who got me interested in doing the initial for your perfect world, Katar Hol?” three-issue Prestige series. I’d worked with Mike a few – Byth, Hawkworld #2 (Aug. 1989) years earlier at First Comics when I was drawing Grimjack. MIKE GOLD: I was a huge fan [of Hawkman]. Brave These Winged Warriors were originally the reincarnated and Bold #34 [Hawkman’s first Silver Age appearance, souls of an Egyptian prince and princess, later revised written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Joe Kubert] timothy truman as visitors from the planet Thanagar. It was this later changed my life—of course, I was barely ten, so there incarnation that saw the DC Universe undergo a complete Photo credit: Raymond Foye. wasn’t all that much to change. It was the coolest overhaul with Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. Many of DC’s characters’ comic book I’d read and would remain that way until Fantastic Four #1 histories were radically altered, but for the most part, the Hawks remained came out. I’ve been a fan of the character and an even bigger fan of Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

“Flight’s End” Detail from Timothy Truman’s majestic original cover painting (courtesy of Heritage) to the final issue of Hawkworld, #32 (Mar. 1993). TM & © DC Comics.

Mike Gold never micromanaged us. He let us run with the series. He was a good editor. I had free reign. The Prestige series did so well I didn’t want to be the guy to muck it up, so I tried to capture some of the Truman/ Alcatana look but bring my own sense of dynamics to it. OSTRANDER: The thing I’m most pleased about Hawkworld was exploring the “civics” side of the story. When Katar and Shayera read the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution for the first time, they react like aliens—“Are you people serious about this? If you are, you’re the most dangerous people in the galaxy!” A mixture both of admiration and horror. It’s a reminder of just how dangerous our government was when it was founded. We are a revolutionary nation. The Netherworlds of Chicago were in many ways similar to the Downside of Thanagar, separate from normal society. Human refuse, most with metahuman abilities of their own, were slowly coming under the control of Count Viper, a villain introduced in the first Hawkworld Annual. Viper, a radical patriot from the 1700s, possessed incredible psychic powers. His ability to transfer his mind from host to host allowed him to remain virtually immortal. Viper’s attempt to lure Hawkman to his cause of government takeover failed, resulting in a lasting feud between the Count and the Hawks. Katar and Shayera narrowly managed to defeat the Count and shatter his manipulation over his unsuspecting pawns, but not before Hawkwoman was rendered brain dead by a telepathic assault from Viper. Both the supervillain and Hawkman were consumed in an explosion, Katar’s fate unclear at the close of issue #32. Hawkworld would wrap and be followed with Hawkman #1 (Sept. 1993) by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema. The series would pick up from the final Hawkworld story six months later with the whereabouts of Katar Hol still unclear. While Hol would return, a new direction would be focused upon with the introduction of Paran Katar’s widowed wife, Hol’s mother, becoming a regular member of the supporting cast. It would be a few years before Hawkman would return to Thanagar and even longer for Hawkwoman to do so. Fans of Hawkworld would be left wanting for a long time, though elements of the series would pop up in modern-day continuity from time to time. Today the Hawkworld mini- and regular series are looked upon with fondness among Hawkman and Hawkwoman fans for reimagining a world of many fantastic characters and giving voice to issues of particular concern for its era, issues that remain relevant today. “We see them and we see something in ourselves, our dreams, our hopes; the very best part of ourselves symbolized in them—in two hawks, flying free.” – Hawkwoman, Hawkworld #9 (Mar. 1991) STEVEN WILBER is a storyteller on canvas and educator in the classroom, based in Boston, continually inspired by his growing 30- plus-year collection of comic books.

30 • BACK ISSUE • Bird People Issue

by B

ryan D. Stroud

The Penguin, who was introduced in the pages of Detective Comics #58 (Dec. 1941), would initially appear to be a rather unlikely villain. Dressed to the nines in a tuxedo, tails, and top hat and often sporting a monocle, spats, white gloves, and cigarette holder, he almost seemed more caricature than criminal. Yet, even that debut story hinted on its splash page that this villain was different: “Crossing the path of the Batman, most feared of all crime-fighters, waddles the strange, almost ludicrous figure of the Penguin… the umbrella man!” That same page showed this new villain with an oversized penguin directly behind him and an umbrella hanging from his forearm, illustrating right from the beginning two of the most enduring conceits for this character. Furthermore, his moniker, his fascination with and use of birds in his capers, and his arsenal of weaponized umbrellas would categorically identify the Penguin down through the decades to the present day. The use of a customized umbrella is immediately brought into play in the Penguin’s premiere when two valuable paintings are abruptly missing from the art museum he, Bruce Wayne, and Dick Grayson are visiting. Everyone undergoes a search when the theft is discovered, but the missing artwork is not to be found. Only later do we discover how the theft was accomplished, when the man in formal wear visits the local mob boss, revealing the hollow handle in the umbrella that contains the rolled-up canvases. Gaining his “street cred,” the Penguin is soon calling the shots for the racketeers and ultimately takes over the gang by shooting the boss with his weaponized bumbershoot. It isn’t long until the Batman and the Penguin cross paths, but the trick umbrella is again brought into play, this time as a gas gun to incapacitate the Caped Crusader. Utilizing the alias “Mr. Boniface,” the crook actually succeeds in having the Masked Manhunter toted away by the police after framing the dazed hero by claiming a valuable idol has gone missing and Batman just happened to be the only one present. Before it’s over, we see acid squirting from the umbrella stem in another caper, and in the end, after a brief struggle, the Penguin escapes— but he wouldn’t be absent for long in Gotham City.

THE PENGUIN IS HATCHED

As with many of the earliest efforts in the comic-book medium, the Penguin’s beginnings are a bit murky. One of the first versions was published in Real Fact Comics #5 (Nov.–Dec. 1946) attributed to Jack Schiff, Mort Weisinger, and Bernie Breslauer, and illustrated by Win Mortimer. Bob Kane is depicted in “The True Story of Batman and Robin” subtitled “How a Big Time Comic is Born.” Kane is shown on the street during a summer afternoon in the city when he spotted a gentleman in formal wear

Cry Fowl! The Darknight Detective vs. the Foul Fowl on Joe DeVito’s 1992 painted cover to the prose paperback The Further Adventures of Batman vol. 2. Art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Batman and Penguin TM & © DC Comics.

Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 31

of his character, but less the action hero. Even when I was a kid, Penguin was unbelievable as an action guy. It was never believable that he could actually win in a fight with Batman, no matter how many trick umbrellas he had. “I always saw him as a true, professional criminal who wasn’t really interested in taunting Batman,” Chuck continues. “He was more interested in getting away with the loot. So it didn’t really fit that he’d be drawing attention to himself. He wears a ridiculous outfit and has strange behavior and the birds. Basically that’s why I presented it to the other creators and to Denny [O’Neil] and the other editors the way I did. ‘Let’s have this guy open the Iceberg Lounge and make him a player behind the scenes. It just makes him so much cooler than a chubby little guy trying to wrestle the Dynamic Duo.’ “Recasting him allowed him to appear more in the book, too, because so many writers didn’t want to us him because he was sort of silly. He just sort of broke the mood of the book all the time. Recasting him allowed us to use him more, and we used him a lot more through the ’90s than he’d been used previously. He’d become a character that could appear in any story. He became a fixture in the Gotham underworld.” Dixon concludes, “My philosophy has been that you can evolve a character as long as it remains recognizable. As long as you don’t get too far from the core, the characters are very malleable. A writer needs to resist the temptation to change things just for the sake of change. They need to remain recognizable to the casual reader, who is the forgotten man in comics. You must remember that everyone is not a diehard fan.” Artist Graham Nolan’s recollections dovetail nicely with writer Chuck Dixon’s: “As we were nearing the end of all the crossover stuff in KnightsEnd, we knew we were finally going to get to do some standalone stories. We were at dinner on the last night of a Bat-conference and we were tossing out some villains we would like to do, and the Penguin came up. I always thought he was a bit gimmicky, and so I wanted to do something different. I suggested he be more like Hammett’s Kasper Gutman character from The Maltese Falcon. He would be more of a crimeboss and have holdings and enterprises all over Gotham. Chuck came up with the Iceberg Lounge as Penguin’s main front. A legitimate business that he makes his deals out of. “I did a sketch of his new look, thinking of Sydney Greenstreet, removed his tux and tails, and gave him a white dinner jacket and added wisps of his hair on the side of his head like feathers on a real penguin I once saw,” Nolan reveals. “He still carried an umbrella as a weapon and he always had hot girls around him, hangers-on attracted to his power.” In the final analysis, the Penguin is an enduring presence after more than 75 years. A fitting piece of John Ostranderpenned dialogue spoken by Batman in Penguin Triumphant seems like an excellent summation of why the Man of 1,000 Umbrellas continues to be a genuine threat: “Everyone seems to consistently underestimate the Penguin, myself included. Cobblepot is ruthless, vindictive, inventive, and perhaps the most brilliant man I’ve ever fought. He’s smarter than I am.” With those timeless abilities and the renewed interest in the Penguin with the success of the Gotham television series, Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot will be with us for a long time to come.

Cobblepot, Crimeboss Original Graham Nolan Penguin art from Batman Secret Files vol. 2 (Dec. 1999). Courtesy of Graham Nolan and Bryan Stroud. TM & © DC Comics.

38 • BACK ISSUE • Bird People Issue

BRYAN STROUD is a longtime fan of DC Comics, particularly the Silver and Bronze Ages, and has been contributing to the website of his lifelong best friend, Ron Daudt, for over a decade, doing reviews of those classics. Beginning in 2007, Bryan seized an opportunity to begin interviewing the creators of the comics he’s loved and has been fortunate enough to conduct over 70 to date at www.thesilverlantern.com.

Characters that are created to reflect a social or political movement usually have an expiration date. While Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Captain America, the paragon of World War II patriotism, has managed to defy the odds by weathering changing cultural mores, most of-the-moment characters, such as Gilbert Shelton’s Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, the stoner statesmen of the Haight-Ashbury counterculture, waft up in smoke once the movement or fad that created them has passed.

DC Comics’ the Hawk and the Dove were the product of a specific time, the era of protests against the United States’ military involvement in the Vietnam War.

Despite that now-dated genesis, Hawk and Dove’s adventures have been routinely re-feathered to keep the costumed crimebusters nested among DC’s line of superstars.

Birds of a Different Feather by M i c h a e l

Eury

Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

Hawk! Dove! The hawk vs. dove political clash polarized Americans during the sizzling ’60s. Political photos courtesy of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library.

FIRST FLIGHT

saying their superhero names, those powers would vanish once the threat In 1968, Dick Giordano was hired as a DC Comics editor, jumping from was vanquished, instantly restoring the Hall brothers to their real identities. the minors—Charlton Comics—to the majors. One of his Charlton In the heroes’ origin in Showcase #75, Hank and Don are trapped collaborators, artist Steve Ditko, had also just landed at DC, and on in a locked room but must warn their no-nonsense father, Judge Irwin Ditko’s drawing board were two new superhero concepts unlike Hall, of an impending mob hit. The teens appeal to the heavens, anything the company was publishing at the time: Beware the Creeper wishing for the power to escape. A thundering voice grants them their and The Hawk and the Dove. Both were launched in the tryout title super-abilities and guises for their mission. “…It could’ve been God, Showcase and quickly spun off into their own bimonthly series, with or it could’ve been an alien being,” Giordano said. “Defining it would Giordano at the editorial helm. have taken the mystery away.” Becoming the Hawk and the Dove, The Hawk and the Dove were introduced in Showcase #75 the bird brothers barge into action, with Hawk impetuously (June 1968). Editor Giordano wrote in its text page an barreling into bad guys while Dove passively and strategically explanation of the characters’ names and the series’ concept, looks for nonviolent alternatives to solve conflicts. And thus, for the benefit of readers unaware of the deeper meanings the feature’s premise is established, bolstered by Ditko’s idiosyncratic layouts and renderings. beyond their obvious avian appellations: “…a person who defends our right to be in [Vietnam], favors continued The squawking siblings are next seen in The Hawk and bombing of the North, and in general desires to win the Dove #1 (Sept.–Oct. 1968), by the Ditko/Skeates/ the war by aggressive military action, is characterized Giordano team. They tangle with costumed crooks called by the press as a HAWK! Conversely, the person who the Drop-Outs in their first issue and escaped convicts in sues for a negotiated peace, demands withdrawal their second issue, remaining at ideological odds in and out of U.S. forces from [Vietnam], and in general favors of costume, reflecting “Ditko’s right vs. wrong sensibilities, compromising to attain peace, is referred to as a DOVE!” with their father, the judge, in the middle of their Giordano’s definitions delineated the personalities extremes, not to take sides, but to make the sons think of the comic’s “tough and tame” teenage stars, the over their views,” as Giordano explained to me. steve ditko impulsive Hank Hall and the contemplative Don Hall. Political ideologies also fractured the real-life team Carmine Infantino, at the time DC’s editorial director, behind the book. “Exactly why I was chosen to write claimed in interviews that it was his idea to personify that torn-from- these purportedly explosively political misadventures of the Hall brothers today’s-headlines political dispute as a quarrelsome duo of superheroes and their father, the judge, while Denny [O’Neil] was given the Creeper book when he and Giordano were brainstorming DC projects for the newly to do, I have no idea,” Steve Skeates told John Schwirian in a 2008 interview arrived Steve Ditko. According to Steve Skeates, the series’ dialoguer which appeared in Alter Ego #84. “Perhaps with my long hair, paisley brought by Dick Giordano from Charlton to DC, the Hawk and Dove poncho, and hippie demeanor I made a better token peacenik (supposedly concept was further developed by a committee of three (Infantino, needed to offset Ditko’s well-known Ayn Rand-style raving conservative Ditko, and Giordano), with Skeates being enlisted for additional plotting. lunacy) than the clean-cut O’Neil would have.” Skeates lamented in the Giordano elaborated on this when I interviewed him for my 2003 interview that his efforts to characterize Dove as heroic (albeit non-violent) TwoMorrows biography, Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a were vetoed by Ditko, Giordano, or Infantino, leading the writer to contend, Time, crediting Skeates with coining the magic words uttered to trigger the “This series more properly should have been called The Hawk and the Wimp!” brothers’ superpowers (enhanced strength and stamina): Hank exclaiming Ditko’s stay at DC was short-lived, and the storyteller departed The “Hawk!” and Don shouting “Dove!” But where did those super-abilities Hawk and the Dove after issue #2. With issue #3 the book’s new penciler come from? “During the series’ development, Ditko was unsure of the was Gil Kane, an artist Skeates felt was better suited for the title. Kane took source of Hawk and Dove’s powers,” Giordano told me. “I said flippantly, over the writing from Skeates beginning with The Hawk and the Dove #5. ‘Just have a voice give them their powers’—and that’s what we did.” While While Kane’s work was solidly entertaining, any momentum engendered Hank and Don could summon their superpowers in times of danger by by Ditko’s arrival at DC after his run on Marvel’s popular Amazing Spider-Man 40 • BACK ISSUE • Bird People Issue

was molting, and the continuing characterization of the wedding of Donna (Wonder Girl) Troy, along with just about Dove as a chicken rather than a peace-monger certainly every Titan and supporting cast member, past and present. didn’t help the book grow a sufficient audience. The title Sandwiched between those two appearances was was canceled after its sixth issue. “Time, See What’s Become of Me…,” a Batman/The Hawk and the Dove team-up in The Brave and the Between issues #5 and 6, Hawk and Dove made a guest-appearance in Teen Titans #21, Bold #181 (Dec. 1981), scripted by television a title also edited by Giordano. Giordano writer and novelist Alan Brennert and kept the duo in his editorial roost, giving drawn by B&B stalwart Jim Aparo. The them hangers-on status in Teen Titans. team-up depicts the former teen superheroes as adults, having allowed them TT #25 features writer Bob Kanigher’s “The Titans Kill a Saint?,” where the bird to age naturally, unlike most comic-book brothers again cross paths with the TTs. characters, who age at a much slower pace. As Brennert told interviewer Rob In this tale, the Titans and Hawk and Dove inadvertently contribute to a militant’s Kelly in BACK ISSUE #84, “These characters assassination of a Nobel Peace Prize hadn’t been used in years, since an old winner, earning a reprimand from the issue of Teen Titans, and at that point, disapproving Justice League of America. it seemed as though they never would This sparks a detour for the Teen be again because they were so… you dick giordano Titans book, as Kanigher (followed by know… of the ’60s! I thought, ‘Well… Steve Skeates) thrust the junior JLA into © DC Comics. comics’ “relevance” era. Under the direction of Mr. Jupiter, “the richest man in the world,” the TTs renounce their superpowers and costumes and take on missions to “combat the new problems of tomorrow” such as “riots, prejudice, [and] greed.” Hawk and Dove—actually, Hank and Don, since they are mostly out of costume—are along for the ride, taking a back seat to the “name” characters in the book… until Teen Titans #29 (Sept.–Oct. 1970). Here, the Titans are back in their colorful fighting togs, and Hawk and Dove score a cover appearance, skirmishing with guest-villain Ocean Master as part of a storyline involving Aqualad, who drops in on the TTs after having earlier disappeared from the title. Hawk and Dove’s requisite wrangling is on view here, but the duo manage to work past their differences and join forces. Two issues later, Hawk and Dove star in a seven-page backup written by Steve Skeates, penciled by George Tuska, and inked by Nick Cardy. It’s a counterfeiting mystery, a quieter story than the duo’s earlier tales… but still, it’s a Hawk and Dove appearance for those readers who had grown fond of the characters. Then, Giordano resigned from his DC position to embark upon his Continuity Studios partnership with Neal Adams. Beginning with TT #32, Murray Boltinoff replaced Giordano as Titans editor, and with issue #33 brought original TT scribe Bob Haney back to the book. Without their primary editor and writer in their corner, the Hawk and the Dove fluttered off into limbo.

Band of Brothers (top) The “voice” gives Hawk and Dove their superpowers. From Showcase #75. (bottom) H&D cover appearances in Teen Titans. TM & © DC Comics.

BAD LUCK IN THE BRONZE AGE

It is well over six years before Hawk and Dove are seen again, and when they return, it is once again in the pages of Teen Titans, which had been revived after a few dormant years with 1976’s issue #44. But this time, the bird brothers aren’t alone as Titans guest-stars. Alongside Beast Boy, Golden Eagle, the original Bat-Girl, and Lilith, Hawk and Dove are members of Titans West, a Golden State offshoot of the East Coast-based TTs. Bob Rozakis was the TT writer at the time and conceived the idea of a West Coast-based team of Titans. In a threeparter in 1977’s Teen Titans #50–52, the writer “basically went for the rest of the teen characters from the ’60s/early ’70s that we had not included in the book before” for a bicoastal battle with the villainous Captain Calamity, Rozakis told Chris Franklin in a Titans West article in BACK ISSUE #65. While it was nice to see Hawk and Dove in print again, as with most of their earlier Titans appearances they were lost in a flock of characters. That holds true for two of their three remaining pre-Crisis outings: 1978’s Showcase #100, a hero-saturated epic gathering all of the characters that had been introduced in that magazine, and late 1984’s Tales of the Teen Titans #50, where Hank and Don Hall attend the Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

New book by MICHAEL EURY, editor of

HERO-A-GO-GO!

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Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby-Doo [originally “Scooby Doo”], Where Are You? debuted in 1969 and was airing consistently on Saturday mornings for nearly a decade. To keep the format of four teenagers investigating mysteries with their Great Dane dog from going completely stale, various changes were made over the years. First was to have Scooby-Doo and the gang pair up with various old and new celebrities as part of The New Scooby-Doo Movies. During this incarnation the gang met Phyllis Diller, Don Knotts, Jerry Reed, the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Batman and Robin, the Harlem Globetrotters, and various others. Next up was a return to the standard mystery format, but to keep things from getting stale, Scooby-Doo’s cousin, Scooby-Dumb, was added to the cast… and yes, he was.

DYNOMUTT AND BLUE FALCON IN ANIMATION

by M

ark Arnold

Dog Wonder and Feathered Fighter Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, in a 1976 publicity cel. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.

The Scooby-Doo series was starting to show its age. The Hanna-Barbera powers-that-be had seen two phenomena gaining popularity in the mid1970s: superheroes and bionics, popularized by such shows as The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. Since everything at H-B seemed to require a dog, the decision was made to include a bionic dog. He was named Dynomutt and he was teamed up with a new superhero called the Blue Falcon, who was closely based on other Hanna-Barbera superheroes [including Super Friends’ version of Batman—ed.]. The Blue Falcon, secretly socialite Radley Crown, not only looked and acted like Space Ghost, he was played by the same voiceover actor, Gary Owens (1934– 2015). Dynomutt, Dog Wonder was voiced by Frank Welker. In the metropolis of Big City, the Falcon Flash would summon Blue Falcon and Dog Wonder into action; Blue Falcon’s vehicle was the Falcon Car and he operated from the Falcon’s Lair. Dynomutt was originally broadcast as a segment of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976–1977). It also aired as part of the later expanded form of Scooby’s All-Star Laff-a-Lympics (1977–1978). Later, it would be rerun in syndication as its own series from 1978 on. The cast of Scooby-Doo often appeared as characters on Dynomutt. They assisted the Daring Duo in solving their crimes. Dynomutt was originally distributed by Taft Broadcasting, Hanna-Barbera’s then-parent company. Warner Bros. Television currently holds the distribution rights. Next, the character appeared in Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, a 30-minute Saturday morning animated show starring the Batman-esque Blue Falcon, whose assistant was a bumbling yet generally effective robot Doberman Pinscher named Dynomutt. Dynomutt could produce a seemingly infinite number of mechanical devices from his body. No origins for the two characters were revealed at that time on the series. It was assumed that they always existed as heroes programmed to fight crime. The characters were created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, the same duo that created Scooby-Doo in the first place. The first episode aired on September 11, 1976, and the final new episode aired on November 27, 1976 during its initial run. There were 16 episodes produced and the show originally ran on ABC, which also had been airing Scooby-Doo by this time. The final first-run episode first aired on The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour on October 29, 1977. The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour was renamed The Scooby-Doo/ Dynomutt Show from December 4, 1976 through September 3, 1977. The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt also appeared as part of Scooby’s All-Star Laff-a-Lympics, which originally aired from September 10, 1977 through March 11, 1978, also on ABC. Later, reruns of Dynomutt aired as Dynomutt, Dog Wonder from June 3, 1978 through September 2, 1978 on ABC, and also on The Godzilla/Dynomutt Hour from September 27, 1980 through November 15, 1980 on NBC. Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 55

While the comic industry is full of colorful personalities, perhaps none have quite reached the heights of Woody Wilkins, the writer/artist/self-publisher of such 1970s titles as Laser Lady and Zowie Comics (starring the amazing Bazooka Boy), or the heroes Gopher Boy and Sponge Man! Don’t remember Woody or his work? Perhaps you remember his exploits better when he was the winged hero Condorman? Mixing the comic-book world with the realm of super-spies, Walt Disney released Condorman into the wilds of the public on August 7, 1981. But the film about comics had already been a comic strip, so, which came first? The condor or the strip…?

TAKING FLIGHT… ON FILM

The answer to that question is… neither. The concept for Condorman was taken from a 1965 novel by SF satirist Robert Sheckley. In his book, The Game of X, subtitled “A Novel of Upsmanship Espionage,” William Nye is “Agent X,” a tourist who is mistaken for the greatest spy on Earth, despite evidence to the contrary. The story caroms from Paris to Venice, and includes killers, secret moles, and even a sexy Mata Hari-like femme fatale. Disney eventually optioned the book for film, and writer Marc Stirdivant, with an uncredited Mickey Rose and Glenn Caron, went about creating a more family-friendly tale. In their revised story, eccentric comic creator Woody Wilson goes “method” when it comes to his creations; he wants to know the adventures he tells have some realism, so he acts them out first. “If Condorman can’t do something in real life, I won’t have him do it in my comic books!” is Woody’s motto. He thus finds himself atop the Eiffel Tower, dressed in a Condorman flying suit. The results are disastrous, and Woody is saved from the Seine River by CIA file clerk Harry Oslo. Despite his inexperience, Woody is recruited to help on a CIA mission, where all he must do is to swap some papers in Istanbul. When he meets the beautiful female contact, KGB spy Natalia Rambova, he tells her his codename is “Condorman,” and the game begins… When Natalia decides to defect, she requests Condorman be the one to escort her to safety, unaware that Woody has already created a comic-book superheroine, Laser Lady, based on her likeness. When Woody takes the job, aided by high-tech equipment and vehicles from the CIA, the defection takes Woody and Natalia to Yugoslavia, Italy, Switzerland, Monte Carlo, and L.A.’s Dodger Stadium, all while being pursued by KGB leader Krokov, stainless-steel-eyed assassin Morovich, and an elite pursuit squadron known as the Brocknoviach. Cast in the film were a mixture of familiar and newer faces. The lead role went to Michael Crawford, a comedic actor from England who hadn’t yet gained worldwide fame for his role as the stage’s Phantom of the Opera. Vampy Nicaraguan model-turned-movie star Barbara Carrera was cast as the defecting Natalia, whose

Phantom of the Osprey Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com), the movie poster for Disney’s 1981 release, Condorman, starring future Phantom of the Opera Michael Crawford. TM & © Walt Disney Productions.

62 • BACK ISSUE • Bird People Issue

by A n d y

Mangels

You’ll Believe a Man Can Fly (and Spy, and Boat) Christopher Reeve’s flying rigs from 1978’s Superman: The Movie were modified for Michael Crawford for Condorman. (top) The hero takes wing, with Barbara Carrera hitching a ride. (middle top) Cloak and dagger doings with Carrera and Crawford. (middle bottom) The Condorboat makes a splash! Among the film’s tie-ins: (bottom) Baskin-Robbins ice cream and (inset) a paperback novel. TM & © Walt Disney Productions.

boss/lover was played by the respected Oliver Reed. Everyman character actor James Hampton was Harry, while the menacing Jean-Pierre Kalfon was Morovich. With a budget of $14 million, Condorman spent a large portion on some spectacular stunts. Special effects artist Colin Chilvers, who had just won an Oscar for his work on Superman: The Movie, was in charge of effects for this film as well. He adapted some of the flying rigs used on Superman for Condorman’s flying sequences. Shooting those scenes at Pinewood Studios, he noted in press materials for the film that “our only problem was getting Michael Crawford fitted into molds designed for Christopher Reeve. Turned out we couldn’t. Michael’s chest is to Christopher’s what Katherine Hepburn’s bust is to Mae West’s. So we fitted him with a new set of molds.” Chilvers also oversaw a huge race in the Alps which found a gypsy truck converting into the Condor Car (a Nova Sterling racer kit car), leading a fleet of five sleek, black KGB Porsche 935 Turbo Carreras and two Porsche Group 5 Lemans up the mountains. The stuntwork for the sequence, which involved rockets, flame-throwers, rampjumping, and maneuvers between oncoming traffic, was handled by French stunt driver Remy Julienne and his 16-man crew. A massive boat race in Monte Carlo was done with a custom-made Condor Craft hydroplane that could reach speeds of 85 mph, and a fleet of Russian speedboats.

THE SURREALITY OF COMICS

Few Hollywood properties in film or television had ever tackled the concept of creating comic books, so it’s not surprising that the “reality” of Woody Wilkins comic-book creation was more surreality. Not only was Woody the sole creator of his comics, from writing to art to letters and colors, he was also the publisher. Not only was he the creator/publisher of one comic, he published multiple comics. He also had the magical ability to have them published within days of finishing them, and to have them instantly distributed and translated into languages worldwide! Those are feats that the boys of Image Comics could only dream of! The one area that the filmmakers got right was in hiring real-life comic artist Mike Sekowsky (of Justice League of America, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl fame, to name but a few) to draw all of the art for the film, including mock covers, interior pages, and character sketches. Sekowsky had been working as a layout and storyboard artist at Hanna-Barbera Productions when he was picked by Condorman art director John Mansbridge and co-producer Jan Williams for the job. Sadly, Sekowsky got no credit for his work. Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 63

The Boy Wonder was all grown up. In 1996, former Robin Dick Grayson was at a crossroads. He’d been a sidekick to Batman, leader of the Teen Titans, created his own identity as Nightwing, and even understudied as the Dark Knight himself. But there was still one thing Dick Grayson hadn’t done—headline his own monthly comic book. After a four-issue Nightwing miniseries by Denny O’Neil and Greg Land proved a sales success, writer Chuck Dixon and penciler Scott McDaniel were tapped to create the new status quo for Dick Grayson in an ongoing monthly Nightwing series. Conceiving of Batman’s ex-partner as a prince regent assigned to rule an outlaw province, Dixon and McDaniel introduced a brand-new city to the DC Universe: Blüdhaven, a decaying harbor town north of Gotham City. Arriving in town to solve the mystery of 21 corpses floating upriver to Gotham Harbor, Nightwing finds a city mired in corruption, with dirty cops like Inspector Dudley Soames and Chief Redhorn going unopposed. Dick soon settles into his new hometown, making friends like his new landlady Bridget Clancy, bartender and ex-cop Hank Hogan, and retired mystery man John Law. Soon enough, Dick uncovers the culprit behind the 21 corpses: Roland Desmond, a.k.a. the Blockbuster. Determined to build a new criminal empire in Blüdhaven, Blockbuster sent a legion of foes to defeat the city’s new protector. Nightwing was a book of non-stop acrobatic action, as our hero went up against classic Bat-foes Blockbuster, the Scarecrow, and Man-Bat, along with new threats Lady Vic, Stallion, Brutale, the Trigger Twins, and others. Dick Grayson’s private life was no less hectic, as he juggled romances old and new with Clancy, Barbara Gordon, and the Huntress, and got jobs as a bartender and a rookie policeman. Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) also put in periodic guest appearances, maintaining ties with the Bat-Family. McDaniel left Nightwing after 40 issues and assorted specials to become the penciler on Batman, while Dixon stayed on through issue #70, working with a variety of other artists. Dixon and McDaniel reteamed in 2001 for Nightwing: The Target, a one-shot with Dick Grayson assuming a new costumed identity to clear his name. A second reunion followed in 2005 for the six-issue Nightwing: Year One storyline (co-written by Scott Beatty), detailing the end of Dick Grayson’s tenure as Robin and the beginning of his career as Nightwing. And their third reunion is right now, as Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel take a backflip down memory lane here in the pages of BACK ISSUE. – John Trumbull JOHN TRUMBULL: How did you two get the Nightwing book? Chuck, did you have to pitch for the book, or were you just assigned it by editor Scott Peterson? CHUCK DIXON: The book was initially to be co-written by Denny O’Neil and Alan Grant. For whatever reason, they both bailed three weeks before the first script was due. Scott Peterson called to ask if I’d be interested. He told

New Blood in Blüdhaven Dick Grayson finally gets his own monthly series: Detail from the cover of Dixon and McDaniel’s Nightwing #1 (Oct. 1996). TM & © DC Comics.

68 • BACK ISSUE • Bird People Issue

by J o h n

Tr u m b u l l

me that Scott McDaniel would be the regular artist. I liked Scott’s work and he’d recently done one of the Amalgam books that I was wild about [Assassins #1, Apr. 1996, featuring a mash-up of Catwoman and Elektra]. Peterson’s only proviso for the series was that it take place in a brand-new city (Blüdhaven), that Blockbuster be the main villain, and that we produce “a Jackie Chan movie on paper” every month. TRUMBULL: Did you come up with the name for Blüdhaven, or did Scott Peterson give it to you? DIXON: The town was already named, I think because Peterson liked saying “Blüdhaven.” I wanted to call it Dresher. Don’t ask me why. It just sounds like a place losers would come from. TRUMBULL: Scott, how about you? How did you get the Nightwing assignment? SCOTT McDANIEL: I came onto DC’s radar thanks to Marvel assistant editor Pat Garrahy. Pat was instrumental in guiding me along my Daredevil run at Marvel, my first professional monthly assignment. After our run on DD ended, Pat transitioned to DC while I remained working with Marvel, as penciler on Marvel’s new Green Goblin series. This new take on the character featured a young man using the GG tech to serve as a hero. Soon after the book launched, Marvel changed their plans for [the] Green Goblin, wanting to return him to the stable of Spider-Man villains, and they abruptly canceled the new series. That was very disappointing news at the time, as I was having a great time drawing those stories. But it happened at the exact moment DC was looking for an artist on a Nightwing monthly series. Thanks to Pat, I was approached by editor Scott Peterson to be the penciler. I wasn’t sure if this opportunity was the right move. Pat convinced me

it was a great choice. And it turns out Pat was absolutely right. I loved the character, and I loved working with Chuck. It turned out to be the best time of my career! TRUMBULL: You two had great chemistry on Nightwing. What did each of you bring to the partnership, and how did you affect each other’s work? DIXON: Well, Scott accomplished the one thing I demand from all the artists that I work with: He made me look like a genius. We’re both prolific workaholics, so there were no problems there. And he’s one of the very few artists for whom I did not block out action scenes. I would simply tell him how many pages the scene had to be and how it had to end and maybe suggest some dialogue. But all those breathless chase and fight scenes were all him. McDANIEL: Chuck is very kind. He looked after me like a big brother. The genius of Chuck is that he intimately knows his craft, and as an artist himself, he knows how to write visually and specifically to the strengths of his artist partner. I always closely study the plot or script before I draw a single line. I look for the overall flavor/atmosphere of the story, for scenes that match, or visual elements that need to be established early in the story, tag all the items for which I need to either secure visual reference or to design, and also to simply understand the logic of the story. Most of the time on typical scripts I end up with three or four giant circled “?”s in the margin for points that just aren’t clear to me and require some clarification. But not on a Dixon document. Most Dixon documents are populated by my boldly capped and triple-underlined “COOL!” or “WHOA!” or “!!!!” comments! Month after month, he delivered stories that had the highest density testosterone-per-page that I’ve ever encountered in comics. Chuck totally sparked my creative energy, and it clearly showed up on the page.

Not Recommended for Babysitting (left) Lady Vic, on her quest to find crimeboss Marin, in Nightwing #4 (Jan. 1997). (right) McDaniel/Karl Story original art for the cover of Wizard magazine #74 (Oct. 1, 1997). Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Bird People Issue • BACK ISSUE • 69