Hawkgirl (2023) #1-6

Hawkgirl #1-6

Originally released in 2023

Written by Jadzia Axelrod

Art by Amancay Nahuelpan

I know of the Hawk-people from different forms of media (the Justice League cartoon, the Black Adam movie) and various other comic appearances scattered throughout this blog, but it's not a side of DC that I've focused on.  I saw that there was a recent mini-series starring the Kendra Saunders version of Hawkgirl, so I chose to read that.

In theory, the Hawk-people mythos should be fairly straightforward - two people with ties to ancient Egypt, a man and a woman, reincarnate through time and space, with their most recent appearances being as archaeologists (working with the Justice Society) and space cops from the planet Thanagar (working with the Justice League)... except the archaeologist and space cop versions seem to coexist.  And Kendra Saunders is the next incarnation after Shiera Hall, except those two co-exist as well.  To make things extra awkward, Carter broke up with Kendra so he could be in a relationship with Shiera.

She's not taking it well.  As a result of all of this, Kendra's going through something of an identity crisis at the moment.  It likely doesn't help that all of her friends are superheroes, but she's trying to branch out and connect with others, starting with a former classmate from college.

Her classmate, Abilene, is trying to figure her life out - she knows she's attracted to women (including Kendra), but she's not sure if she's transgender or not. Kendra's also trying to figure her life out, though it's in the context of reincarnation and the complications with Shiera.  It's a recurring theme throughout this series, though usually in the sense of gender or sexuality.  Kendra isn't gay or bisexual (seemingly - it's left open-ended), though most of her supporting cast here is.

Naturally, her life doesn't stay superhero-free for long, and she encounters a new superhero living in Metropolis who goes by Galaxy.  She's bright, optimistic, and eager to help, but Kendra doesn't know much about her, so she turns to Batman for information.  However, by his own admission, Batman knows very little about her.

As Kendra tries to learn more about Galaxy, a fox spirit from a fairy tale-themed dimension is trying to return home, no matter the cost.  Her modus operandi is that she finds people who are down on their luck and, upon touching them, she can travel along their personal timeline to make a deal with them, making their lives better and giving them an Nth metal charm to symbolize their bargain.

The fox spirit, Vulpecula, returns to the present, where her victims are in a much better situation... At which point she collects on her debt, turning them into monstrosities themed around their deal and taking the Nth metal that was enhanced throughout the years to use as a conduit in order to return home.

Given that the wings and maces of the Hawkpeople are made of Nth metal, this makes Hawkgirl a big target for Vulpecula. Galaxy and her girlfriend take Kendra to a nightclub, but Kendra can't even get three minutes or so to dance without a supervillain attacking the place.

The art, by Amancay Nahuelpan, is great - more fantastical places like Galaxy's homeworld and the Nth Dimension that Vulpecula originates from are highlights, but we get a wide variety of settings in Metropolis from bright sunny days to colourfully-lit clubs, doing a good job at showing the variety of the city. The lighting of the sun is also used to great effect here, such as in the above image where it's directly behind Kendra, which is something that I hadn't noticed in other comics.

It was a fun story, and I'm surprised that it only lasted six issues; it felt like there was a lot of passion behind it, and it could have gone on for much longer. I feel like trying to keep track of the convoluted continuity of Hawkman (Carter/Katar) and Hawkwoman (Shiera/Shayera) might make me go cross-eyed, but relatively self-contained stories like this one feel much easier to get into, especially after being introduced to the character through Dark Nights: Metal.