It’s gotta get darker before the end.
Creative Staff:
Story: Robert Venditti
Art: Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie
Colors: Jeremiah Shipper
Letterer: Starkings & Comicraft
What They Say:
The Deathbringers don’t know what hit them when all of Carter Hall’s past lives descend on the streets of London to defend the planet. With an army of hundreds at his back, Hawkman starts to turn the tide of battle. It’s a war for the fate of the universe as these two armies clash!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we get to the penultimate installment of this storyline, Robert Venditti does a great job of delivering us that sliver of hope and then stomping all over it. With so many various versions of Hawkman over the years, and some that are likely being roped into it in order to expand it a bit, there’s a great sense of expansiveness about it even as it reminds us that Crisis was way too many decades ago and things are nuts again. For Bryan Hitch and Andrew Currie, they get to put together some stunning pages throughout with these variations as they join the fight against the horde of Deathbringers, making for some impressive pieces that make you grin – especially as it mines some good history.
The first half of the book largely operates in this way as we see the forms of Carter’s past being drawn out in order to fight against the Deathbringers. That it opens with Silent Knight is a great one since he goes back quite a few years to a different time when Xanadu went under a different name and the two worked together. It’s that kind of callback that just delights me. But we get others from Thanagar, Rann, the pasts we’ve seen, the Nighthawk from the old west, and more as they push back against the Deathbringers. Most may just get a panel but it’s a busy panel set against the bigger picture and the various similarities and differences are all great to see play out here as they do. It’s like getting a mini-Crisis of sorts focused just on the extended Hawkman family.
Not surprisingly, however, it all comes down to the fight between Idamm and Carter. The two going back and forth amid all of this chaos is the central point and Idamm makes clear that things are not as simple as Carter thinks. When Carter thinks he’s landed the fatal blow, Idamm reveals that he was changed in going through that portal millennia ago and is far different and immortal now, like all the other Deathbringers. That makes him able to push back against Carter and his ragtag group easily enough and it gets turned upside with Idamm now taking control of the situation. The pushback as they realize that their opponents can’t be killed is swift and while it’s a little too quick and easy, it sets up for the big round of destruction with the Deathbringing ships coming to life. It may sound weird to say, but I really want to see what they’re capable of even knowing that there’s a save of some sort coming.
In Summary:
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how this all wraps up the storyline in the next issue. This has, by far, been my favorite Hawkman story that I’ve seen in a long, long, time, going back to the 90s when Tim Truman worked on the characters. Robert Venditti has worked some good stuff here to build this across the twelve issues in a way that made sense and avoided bringing in most of the usual guest stars that we often see. It’s very self-contained overall but deals with an expansive history. With Hitch and Currie on the art duties, it’s looked fantastic every step of the way and the big payoff moments are definitely here and playing out beautifully. Definitely worth the time and money to check out.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: DC Comics via DC Universe
Release Date: April 10th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99