New 52 Review – “The Savage Hawkman #1”

Hawkman may have the single most convoluted history in comics. If anyone needs a clean slate in the relaunch, it’s him.

General Information

Title: The Savage Hawkman #1

Author: Tony Daniel

Illustrator(s): Philip Tan (art) and Sunny Gho (colour)

Cover Date: November 2011

Cover Price: $2.99

Buy the digital edition.

Premise

Carter Hall is tired of being Hawkman, but Hawkman isn’t tired of being Carter Hall.

High Point

This is clearly a hero whose personal is not a shiny, happy place.

Low Point

That’s a pretty extreme opening to be given without revealing *why* he considers this a curse.

The Scores

This may be an original take on Hawkman; I haven’t read a lot of the history. The feel of the book is very much like Marvel’s Ghost Rider at its best. I give it 4 out of 6.

The artwork has the “darkened pencils” feel to the inking that I’ve never really been a big fan of. I think the pencils would have been crystal clear, but the light inks with the muddy colour scheme and extremely dark enemies makes some of the panels somewhat hard to discern. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story is well assembled as a plot and action driven first chapter. I give it 5 out of 6.

The characterization could be better. We get a crystal clear picture of Carter’s emotional state here, but have no indication of what drove him to this state. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response is mild. There’s good stuff here, but it feels like too much background was left out to hit this particular last page. Carter’s life is clearly in a miserable place, but this single issue doesn’t tell me why I should sympathize with him or his history really is. I give it 4 out of 6.

The flow works well enough. The only part of the story that skips ahead suddenly is supposed to do that for a disorienting effect. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this is another title that just didn’t grab me with a mediocre launch. If I don’t care about the lead by the end of the first issue, there’s a problem. I give it 3 out of 6.

In total, The Savage Hawkman #1 receives 29 out of 42.

The New 52

Here are handy links for the reviews of all 52 new #1 issues:

Bureau 42