Sometimes the worst thing you can do is to try and bury your past.
What They Say:
Carter Hall’s skill at deciphering lost languages has led him to a job with an archaeologist who specializes in alien ruins–but will the doctor’s latest discovery spread an alien plague through New York City? No matter the personal cost, Carter Hall must don his wings and become the new, savage Hawkman to survive!
The Review:
With a very, very lengthy history, the character of Hawkman is one of those in the relaunch that is definitely a difficult one to deal with in getting it back on track. And this opening issue reflects that as it’s not exactly the most serviceable jumping on point. There’s something to be said for that though since you want something a bit more complicated for the older fans to latch onto who have followed the character for some time, but with the way the timelines have been altered, even they may not know much about who this character is. What we do know is that the book deals with Carter Hall as he provides the introduction at the start, just as he heads into the woods to bury his costume which is made of the special Nth Metal so he can be done with the whole superhero career. The reasons why are a mystery though and just what his career has been like is a huge mystery when you consider the variations over the years and the varied histories, reincarnations and so forth which I believe have been excised.
Carter’s life does go into the crapper pretty quick here though as we see that burying his gear doesn’t achieve his intended goal as it ends up bursting info flames and engulfing him. When he finally wakes up and gets his bearings, he’s back in his place, mostly naked and all of what he had for gear is gone. It turns out he’s been out of it for about a week or so as his employers, salvage divers/archaeologists of sorts that specialize in finding alien hardware out in the world from the past, have been trying to get in touch with him as they’ve dredged up some mysterious craft that’s definitely old. With Carter being the man they use to try and decipher the writing, his absence is problematic, but it all ties together well enough as their last push to find him has him recovering and coming in to see what it is.
Of course, you know the craft I going to be a problem and having it contain what may be a human that was abducted decades ago and merged with alien substances offers up a lot of potential from a scientific exploration position. But these kinds of things can’t go well and messing with mummified remains will invariably cause them to rise, rise from the grave, and cause problems. It’s not a bad angle to follow, but it’s what happens to Carter when things hit the fan that piques the interest as it seems as if his Nth Metal has bonded within him and can now form around him in his classic uniform when needed, though not exactly called. If they’re going with some sort of sentient route for it, it’s not unheard of. It’s a lot more raw in its form, very angular and intense looking, which mirrors his attitude as the creature becomes someone with the intent to kill. The story itself is still weak at this stage though, offering just a few tantalizing tidbits, but the unfolding of events certainly makes it look intriguing.
Digital Notes:
This Comixology edition of the Savage Hawkman contains the main cover as seen with the print edition with no variants or other extras included.
In Summary:
The Savage Hawkman was a title I was very keen on from the start having really enjoyed various incarnations of the character over the years but I hated that there wasn’t any singular vision to just make him a bit more simple. He was always an overly complicated character because of the different versions and this one essentially gives us another one. This isn’t a good jumping on point for the character as we don’t get to know much about who he was, why he’s really making a break from things or what he’s done with his human side of life either other than the work he has. There’s a ton of questions here and there is appeal with that, but there also needed to be more of a connection drawn here and more explanations of who he is, both for long time fans and new ones jumping on.
Grade: B-
