Fighting against the past for a future.
Creative Staff:
Story: Robert Venditti
Art: Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie
Colors: Jeremiah Shipper
Letterer: Starkings & Comicraft
What They Say:
“London Falling” part two! The Deathbringers have arrived, and no one is safe! As Hawkman struggles to protect London from the devastation, he’s attacked by Idamm and his army at every turn. Carter will need to figure out a solution—and fast!—if he’s going to save the Earth. The answer lies in his past lives—but which one?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we get closer to the end of this main storyline that has well-defined the series, Robert Venditti capitalizes on what he’s brought to bear. Though I’m someone that prefers six-issue or shorter storylines in general, more of a lived-in world of the books I grew up with in the early 80s, I also definitely like what Venditti has done here to build what looks to be a solid and complete story out of the twelve issues. This one is pure third act material so it’s big on the action sequences and that allows for Hitch and Currie to really go all out. There are some very busy pages in here with a ton of characters moving around that look fantastic and it helps to build the big picture that Venditti is trying to get across. It all comes together perfectly.
The arrival of the Deathbringers with Idamm leading them for their god beyond the void has definitely put fear into everyone as the range of minions swarms all over. We do see people getting picked up and flown off with but few bodies on the ground, which allows time for Carter and Idamm to go at it with dialogue and action. Xanadu even steps in to help out and to reinforce that Carter has a better class of friends now than he did in that distant past, which is a welcome reminder for Carter. It’s good to see how Carter focuses on the fight with the one guy that really does matter here, since he’s threatening an eternity of violence upon Carter for his betrayal, but his time in the League and living this modern life has him helping out those that are caught up in everything along the way as well. It’s simple superheroics but it’s welcome to see play out sometimes.
The one thing Carter really struggles with during part of this is the feeling of being pulled back in time but that’s actually a misread on his part. The reality is that it’s past reminding him that he has all of that to draw upon. While the bulk of the book is the back and forth with Carter and Idamm, the final few pages has him bringing forth his own army of selves from the millennia past that he lived through in order to go against the Deathbringers. We’ve seen a small selection of them overall in this series and most are ones that I would love to spend a lot more time with. There’s a lot of potential creativity to exploit here in looking to these lives, but just seeing them burst forth to give Carter the edge he needs at this point in time, and to potentially bring him to a place where his debt is settled, is fantastic.
In Summary:
As Hawkman gets closer to wrapping up this storyline, which I’m likely to use as a jumping-off point for, it’s delivering in spades. The action is the main draw here as it takes all that’s come before and puts it to good use as Carter faces off against Idamm and his own actions from the past. With the fate of many worlds at stake and billions of beings whose death will keep him in debt for eternity, it’s no surprise that Carter is fighting back hard and discovering a new trick or two. It’s smoothly plotted out and moves great while Hitch and Currie put together some gorgeous pages that really capture the scale of it all. Very recommended.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: DC Comics via DC Universe
Release Date: March 13th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
