Hawkman Poster #1 The Brave and the Bold #42 (1962) Joe Kubert

Description

The Golden Age iteration of Hawkman was the reincarnation of Khufu, an Egyptian prince, now housed in the body of modern-day archaeologist Carter Hall. A fixture of the Flash Comics super-hero rotation throughout the 1940s, the Winged Warrior really took off in popularity after a young artist named Joe Kubert started drawing him. Revived for the Silver Age, the new Hawkman retained the same basic costume and powers- as well as the Fox/Kubert creative team- but was given a new back story. He was now Katar Hol, a policeman from the planet Thanagar, who used the alias of museum curator Carter Hall during a sojourn on Earth as a crime fighter. In this issue, part of a three-issue tryout in The Brave and the Bold aimed at proving Hawkman’s worthiness to carry his own ongoing series, Hol and his wife return to their homeworld to do battle with the nefarious shape-shifter Byth and his army of criminals masquerading as dragonflies. Kubert’s striking image of dragonfly aerial combat won the 1962 Alley Award for Best Comic Cover. Hawkman is a fictional character, a superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940. Along with most other superheroes, Hawkman’s Golden Age adventures came to an end when the industry turned away from the genre in the early 1950s. His last appearance was in All Star Comics #57 (1951). Later in the decade, DC Comics under editor Julius Schwartz decided to revive a number of heroes in new incarnations, but with the same names and powers. Following the success of the Flash, Hawkman was revived in The Brave and the Bold # 34 (Feb-Mar 1961), this time as an alien policeman from the planet Thanagar, though his powers were largely the same. Created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, this Hawkman, Katar Hol, came to Earth with his wife Shayera in pursuit of a criminal, and remained to fight crime on Earth. They adopted the names Carter and Shiera Hall and became curators of a museum in Midway City. This Hawkman became a member of the Justice League of America, where he often verbally sparred with the iconoclastic liberal hero Green Arrow. In the 1960s it was revealed that the original Hawkman lived on the parallel world of Earth-Two, and that Katar Hol lived on Earth-One. The JLA and JSA had an annual meeting throughout the 1960s and 1970s during which the two heroes often met. Katar Hol is an honored police officer on his homeworld of Thanagar. Along with his wife Shayera, they use the anti-gravity ninth (also known as Nth) metal and their wings to fight criminals. These were the tools of an elite police unit tasked to track and apprehend the most dangerous criminals. The pair were sent to earth in 1961 to capture the shape-shifting criminal Byth. Following this mission, they elected to remain on Earth to work with authorities in the United States and learn human police methods. The two adopted covers as a pair of museum curators, Carter and Shiera Hall, and acted publicly as the second Hawkman and the second Hawkgirl (later Hawkwoman). This cover is noteworthy for being the earliest chronological appearance of Hawkgirl (for the actual comic.) Joseph “Joe” Kubert (September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was an American comic book artist, art teacher and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics books Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. He is also known for working on his own creations, such as Tor, Son of Sinbad, and Viking Prince, and, with writer Robin Moore, the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret. Two of Kubert’s sons, Andy Kubert and Adam Kubert, themselves became successful comic book artists, as have many of Kubert’s former students, including Amanda Conner, Rick Veitch, Eric Shanower, Steve Lieber, and Scott Kolins. Kubert was inducted into the Harvey Awards’ Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998. Beginning with Our Army at War #32 (March 1955), Kubert began to freelance again for DC Comics, in addition to Lev Gleason Publications and Atlas Comics, the 1950s iteration of Marvel Comics. By the end of the year he was drawing for DC exclusively, working on such characters as the medieval adventurer Viking Prince, the superhero Hawkman, and features starring Sgt. Rock and The Haunted Tank in the war comic G.I. Combat. His work on Hawkman and in G.I. Combat would become known as his signature efforts.