Back in July, DC Comics announced a new six issue miniseries called Hawkman and Adam Strange: Out of Time. The series, written by Marc Andreyko and illustrated by Aaron Lopestri, would put the two cosmic characters on a path to prevent a war between Strange’s adopted homeland of Rann and Hawkman’s home Thanagar.
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Yesterday, Diamond Comics announced a new, more ominous name for the miniseries: Death of Hawkman. Andreyko and Lopestri will remain the creative team for the comic, which begins next month in October.
Hawkman has a convoluted history in the DC Universe, thanks to two wildly different origins. The original “Golden Age” Hawkman was an archaeologist named Carter Hall that discovered he’s the reincarnation of an Egyptian prince, cursed to live for eternity thanks to the properties of an alien Nth metal. The Silver Age Hawkman discarded that origin for Katar Hol, a Thanagarian space cop working undercover on Earth.
DC eventually merged the two characters together to create a weird Hawkgod, but eventually discarded that character in favor of the Golden Age Hawkman, reborn on Thanagar and possessing all his past memories, as well as the memories of his Silver Age counterpart.
Hawkman has died several times in recent years, but was quickly re-resurrected each time. Grant Morrison gave Hawkman (and his longtime partner/love interest Hawkgirl) an ambiguous fate in Final Crisis but he was brought back in Blackest Night, only to become one of the Black Lantern Corps’ first victims. Hawkman was then resurrected again at the end of Blackest Night along with several other heroes and has stayed out harm’s way since.
In the New 52, DC reverted back to the Katar Hol version of Hawkman, giving him a modified origin as a refugee fleeing from a corrupted Thanagarian society.
Death of Hawkman will feature Adam Strange calling in Hol to investigate Thanagar’s bloody takeover of the once peaceful planet of Rann. The classic DC villain Despero will also be involved, presumably as the driving force behind Rann’s fall.
Death of Hawkman begins on October 5. Retailers will only have until September 12th to modify their orders for the book, so place your pre-orders today if interested in the new miniseries.
