DC History Club March 2022 Hawkgirl

The remaining
Shayera Thal
Is in
Hawkman 2018

Which is the last series
The DC History Club
Will cover in this topic

Next up
1940 Flash 1
The first appearance
Of
Carter Hall
Shierra Sanders
Reincarnated lovers
And super heroes

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Our library
Contains
1940 Flash 1
But only the
Flash Origin Story

Here is the first page
Of Hawkman
From issue 1

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He is a

Wealthy collector of weapons and research scientist

Not an archaeologist
As some articles states

This starts the groundwork

Of his use of ancient weapons

Combined with the strange metal and his scientific abilities, this will allow him to build

His belt and wings which will give him the ability to fly.

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Another panel from Flash 1

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As for the rest of the story

The closest material
I could find is this YouTube video

Note that it covers
Many comic book issues of
Flash as well as the
JSA in All Star Comics

Also
Shiera Sanders
Is not just
A damsel in distress
But
A valuable ally of
Hawkman

And engaged to
Carter Hall
In issue 2

Unlike
The Lois Lane Superman situation
Which took many decades
To get to that point

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An article on 1940s
Hawkman stories
That include some possible influences
Used in the stories

Hawkman: a 1940’s Comic Book Super-Hero - by Michael E. Grost

http://mikegrost.com/ghawkman.htm

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To summarize
The Hawkman story in
Flash 1

Carter Hall is a wealthy collector of weapons and a research scientist

He dreamt about his past life as an Egyptian prince named Prince Khufu. Through the dream, he remembered his past, his eternal love for Chay-ara, and his death by his arch-enemy, Hath-Set.

Carter Hall awoke from his dream and realized the power of the Nth metal.

When a subway disaster happened, he was reunited with Shiera Sanders, the reincarnation of Chay-ara.

He also discovered that Hath-Set (now Anton Hastor) was behind the disaster.

He designed a costume after the god Horus and used the Nth metal to fly.

He defeats Hastor using ancient weapons.

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That is a very confulted story

Could it be less complex?

Certainly

Gardner did it shortly thereafter

In June 1940
He created another
Super Hero

Dr Fate

It also involved
Egypt and
Supernatural Equipment
In this case
The Helmut of Nabu

From Wikipedia

A very young Kent Nelson is a American who discovered the tomb of Nabu with his father. Having accidentally killed his father due to a deadly gas released from his tomb, the Lord of Order felt pity for the child and trained him in the ways of magic for two decades, bequeathing him his mystical amulet, helmet, and cloak, as well as all of his knowledge before Nelson started his career as a mystic superhero

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I remember reading
Gardner explainimg how he came up with Hawkman

In The Brave and the Bold 34

Something very similar to this

"As I sat by the window I noticed a bird collecting twigs for a nest. The bird would swoop down, pick up the twig, and fly away. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if the bird was a lawman and the twig a crook!?’’ "

—Gardner Fox

Sure. (Sarcastically)

That’s a long way from
The complex story elements in the Origin Story.

He said it for legal reasons

The same reasons
Jerry Siegel never mentioned the novels
Gladiator and
John Carter of Mars

Or Bob Kane
Zorro and the Shadow

When they discussed how the ideas of Superman and Batman
Came about

See links

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Steve Jobs said in 1996: “Picasso had a saying – ‘good artists copy; great artists steal’ – and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”

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Let’s deal with the artwork first

The poses of Hawkman were often taken directly from comic strip artist Alex Raymond

“The Great Comic Book Heroes: Sheldon Moldoff’s Hawkman and the art of the swipe”

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How about the plot
For 1932 Universal film
The Mummy?

an ancient Egyptian mummy named Imhotep is discovered by a team of archaeologists and inadvertently brought back to life through a magic scroll. Disguised as a modern Egyptian named Ardeth Bey, Imhotep searches for his lost love, who he believes has been reincarnated into a modern girl.

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The Egyptian god Horus
Was a big influence
Also

https://www.booksfact.com/religions/egyptian-god-horus-similar-to-garuda-or-vishnu.html

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Going back to Flash Gordon

Here is the King of the
Birdmen

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Love some Old Flash Gordon Serial flashbacks.

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So
Gardner Fox could have had
Hawkman come from another planet in the 1940s
Like he did in the 1960s
Except for the publisher’s fear of being sued

There was another reason

Superman

Who also came from another planet

To use that origin
Would detract
From the uniqueness of DC’s most famous and revenue generating super hero
For a character that wasn’t the lead in the book he was in.

But it was not only that

Hawkman was from a related but in some ways rival company

Sometimes
The relationships
Could be contentious

By All Star Comics #24 (Spring 1945), a real-world schism between National Comics and All-American Publications—a nominally independent company run by Max Gaines and Jack Liebowitz—had occurred, which resulted in the Detective Comics, Inc. (National Comics) heroes being removed from the title. As a result, the Flash and Green Lantern returned to the team. With issue #27 (Winter 1945), National Comics bought out Max Gaines’ share of All-American and the two companies merged to form Detective Comics, Inc

Thomas, Roy (2000). All-Star Companion Volume 1. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 978-1893905054.

And even if
The characters were in the same company
Editors could forbid certain things

Julie Schwartz was not allowed to use
Batman and Superman
Much in early JLA
Until he went to upper management to force the issue

https://www.cosmicteams.com/docs/awdc_14-julius-schwartz.html

Even recently
Venditti wanted to include
Hawkgirl in
Hawkman 2018
From issue 1

But was told
He couldn’t
By DC Management
(Probably because Scott Snyder wanted her in the JL mainly because she was in the Justice League Animated series)

Link

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The 1940s issues that had Hawkman in our library consists of
All Star Comics

All Star 5 introduced
Hawkgirl

A more recent story that co-starred Hawkgirl, set during World War II
Is

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1984 All Star Squadron, set in the 1940s includes Hawkgirl as a member of the team

Series

Issue 6 introduces Hawkgirl

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In the mid 1980s

Two major factors
Affected the JSA

Their lives were tied to World War II

When they were reintroduced in the 1960s

They were in their forties

Now in the 1980s
They were in their 60s, way past their prime

Also

Crisis on Multiple Earths occurred

Erasing Earth 2 and making many of them redundant.

From a Interview with
Roy Thomas

“After Crisis you wrote a one-shot called “The Last Days of the Justice Society” which temporarily closed the book on the group. At the time, did you suspect they would return?”

"I suggested that idea because I knew they wanted to retire the Justice Society.

Dick Giordano, who was the managing editor and a friend of mine, said at one stage that as long as he was editor, there would never be another Justice Society book.

A year later, they ended up with the Justice Society book again, and so forth. It was too good of a concept to keep down, but I never held it against Dick because I didn’t believe it the first place. He believed it, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen.

The Justice Society was going to be back. Once it was back in the '60s, it was going to be back forever because it was too good.

It wasn’t just an imitation Justice League. Justice League was the imitation Justice Society."

http://web.archive.org/web/20201024151959/https://www.dcuniverse.com/news/roy-thomas-crafting-justice-society-creating-infinity-inc-and-re/

Last Days is not in our library

But Roy creates an ending fitting for

Hawkgirl and the JSA

Hawkgirl is there
Even though she is not JSA, fighting along side her eternal love Hawkman

They die
And get reborn

And the cycle continues

Just as in all the past lives they lead

An appropriate end

Some images from end of story:

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