Creative Staff:
Story: Robert Venditti
Art: Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie
Colors: Jeremiah Shipper
Letterer: Starkings & Comicraft
What They Say:
Next stop: Krypton! As Hawkman’s intergalactic road trip continues, the next location on his itinerary is the ruins of Krypton, the alleged location of the super-weapon that will help him stop the Deathbringers. There, he’s suddenly whisked away to Krypton’s final moments and meets his past-life predecessor, Catar-Ol. Hawkman tries to learn the final fate of the super-weapon, but the planet goes boom before Carter can get the goods. Looks like it might be time for Plan B…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While I haven’t been able to burn through issues as quickly as I’d like, every time I return to this title I enjoy it more and more. Robert Venditti takes us to Krypton this time to see another past life for Carter and it’s a new journey into an interesting time and place – and character. It’s also something that lets Bryan Hitch really work some creative juices with each issue providing for real variety and chances to stretch. Krypton being well-established doesn’t mean it’s completely one look and he gets to deliver something really good here as we move through the final minutes of the planet’s existence. And that destruction in the background does a great job of upping the tension as each page turns.
Carter’s been boosting up in what he has recently and the ship has certainly helped a good bit for some of the travel aspects. Coming to Krypton definitely has him a bit reflective on the planet and its history but also what it gave to the universe in Superman and his legacy. It’s a bit awkward in getting to the transition point but bringing him to the past, and the very end of days no less, introduces us to Catar-Ol. Cata’s definitely an interesting past self for him since he’s more measured and less confrontational, likely due to his being interesting in history while also aware of the Deathbringers and what they represent. The two do mostly just engage in conversation here, which leads to the amusing nod of how Kara was a student of his that he had worked with a good deal. The connections are handled well so that it’s not overbearing and for Carter, it’s a chance to see a very different version of himself but one he can connect with, such as how he keeps his notes and thoughts on things.
The time in the past definitely works well beyond that as we see what Catar-Ol had put in play to deal with the Deathbringers, originally thinking that his future life-self would bring them through and deposit them in the massive machine he’s built. There’s a lot of good back and forth between the two about their states of existence, the guilt over the past, and what they’re trying to find in redemption, but it seems like the core idea is that Carter is what Carter has to focus on. That he himself and not a gadget or device is what will deal with things in the present – just as the Deathbringers are coming to Earth, of course. It’s an easy setup and segue but it also leans into what we’ve seen about the journey he’s been on throughout these different lives, seeing their evolution but also learning from it himself and becoming more than he was at the start. Filling in some of the gaps, in fact.
In Summary:
I’m really enjoying this series as it continues to deal with a larger issue, some good character issues, and yet has avoided doing much in the way of big crossovers or other problematic things that would kill the narrative. What we get is a largely self-contained but grandiose storyline that’s got the right human elements and hooks in it to draw you in. I’ve always enjoyed the weirdness of what the Hawkman character has been dealt with throughout the decades and trying to find ways to wrangle it has been a lot of the fun of it. Venditti continues to do a great job here of a character-driven storyline while Hitch and Currie put together a beautiful book no matter the locale and the demands of it. Very, very, recommended as a whole.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: DC Comics via DC Universe
Release Date: January 16th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99