Hawkman #14 – DC Comics
Written by Robert Venditti
Pencils by Patrick Olliffe
Inks by Tom Palmer
Colors by Jeremiah Skipper
Letters by Starkings & Comicraft
Cover by Roger Robinson
Growing up a fan of comics and superheroes, there are some obvious draws. Of course I loved Batman, Superman and some of the bigger name heroes. At the same time, there were certain characters that I was drawn to that never quite got that mainstream attention. Hawkman was one of those characters. When they brought the solo series back not too long ago, I wad beyond excited, and have been locked in ever since. Now seemed like a good time to revisit the book, so let’s dive into Issue 14.
I should mention that this book does tie-in to Year of the Villain, so there might be a few minor spoilers here. Carter is having some very troubling nightmares. The kind of nightmares that make him question who he is and who he might become. He has a friend to help him through it, but he goes to an ancient place to try and find more peace and clarity. He ends up finding quite the opposite. As you can see from the cover, the Shadow Thief is back and is coming after Carter. This is not the same Shadow Thief that Carter is used to dealing with. I won’t spoil why, but the reason for that is explained in the final pages of the issue. What is taken might be far more important than any artifact, and we are left to wonder what the fallout will be.
I have always been a fan of Robert Venditti, but some characters really bring out the best in him. Hawkman seems to be one of those characters. The depth that he adds, and taking is insider Carter’s mind, is one thing I enjoy the most about this book. Throw in the overconfident Shadow Thief, and the most inopportune time for Carter, and it provided the perfect mixture for success. The other thing that struck me was how the art really had an ancient feel to it. That’s very important to me in a Hawkman story, adapting the look of the art to the time and the environment. It made things very authentic, and I felt transported. This also didn’t feel like a tie-in, forced into a larger story. You don’t feel lost reading this, and it serves itself well as a part of both the Hawkman and Year of the Villain stories. This book continues to fly high above my lofty expectations for a character that I’m a huge fan of, and is one that you should definitely be reading.
RATING: PULL / BUY