Hawkman is one of the first characters I think of when I think of DC Comics. He’s been around forever. He’s a founding member of DC’s first team. Yet, he’s never been able to carry his own title for long. I don’t understand why.
Hawkworld was good (I’d like to see that happen again). The current title might be (my opinion) the best ongoing monthly title from DC. Still, last month of physical sales were not great. Barely 15K. It’s a shame.
Probably just because he’s not one of the big name characters. People were getting laid off, so they’d probably choose to cut that run off their budget instead of one of the big titles.
I love Hawkman and the newest run.
I know. That is my confusion. His latest run was great, yet no fan love. Really unfortunate.
Wait it’s not canceled is it
Hawkman kicks ass, especially his '80s ongoing, the Geoff Johns/James Robinson run and his current book. The New 52 series was fun too.
As for his success, and lack of print sales, it could be due to people trimming their comic belts. It may be that others just aren’t aware of the series and how good it has been.
Sometimes, the best books blow past the readership for unknown reasons, only to get the appreciation they deserve after they’ve been cancelled, sadly.
While DC hasn’t seemingly done much to promote Hawkman lately (which is unfortunate), I’d say the series is well-known to most fans.
From my side as a non-hawkman-reader I am not a fan of the birdman thing, and in the incarnations I have seen he seems to lean towards the agressive temper. For those reasons it has just never seemed like a good fit for me personally. It feels like those are really personal reasons though, so I don’t think that those are major contributing factors.
I think the biggest reason is that most readers never lift anything that isn’t the trinity. DC is stuck in a cursed loop where they don’t dare to push a character on the big screen that isn’t a big name and no one becomes a big name without repeated performances on the big screen. Every event is focused on the trinity. Almost every animated thing is trinity. Given the “advertising budget” the big ones get, its a miracle they aren’t outselling Hawkman and the others more than they do.
I think part of the problem is that he doesn’t have an established rogues gallery. Off the top of my head, I struggle to think of who he’s gonna be fighting month to month. Mostly his covers are just Hawkman in different poses- that starts to wear thin after awhile.
I thinks it’s because he doesn’t get a lot of use outside of comics which doesn’t bring in more new fans. Also, I think that Hawkgirl is more know and popular than he is. She was playable in the first Injustice game and one of the prominent members of the justice league animated. Due to Hawkgirl filling in that hawk person role now I feel as if they are giving up on the original.
Right. The Terrifics was my favorite title last year. Nobody read it because who is Meatmorpho? Who is Mister Terrific. Shame really.
I haven’t followed the sales numbers of Hawkman, but I know he drew the short straw and became one of the infected. How did that work out in the Hawkman-fandom?
I think stuff like that is potentially also why smaller series are doomed to die. There is no chance in hell that DC would ever turn Superman into a braindead douche that hurts children in all his comic book appearances for a year. People would revolt. Yet those stories befall the characters who needs everyone in their fandom to stay on the shelves.
Do you think the infected worked for or against his title?
I’ve always liked the look of Hawkman. The costume, the wings, the general bad-assness. From a young age, that had been my general reason for liking the character, and it’s led me to read his comics a couple times. I’ve followed Hawkman comics twice. Around the time I started reading comics, I checked out Savage Hawkman. Was ok. I actually read it till it got cancelled. Can’t say I remember any of it other than he was often angry 
. Then much later, I checked out the current run that everyone is raving about. Again, thought it was ok. I actually stopped reading after issue 12. I just found myself not really caring much what happens next. The concept of reincarnating across space & time is really intriguing. However, the way it was presented…that army of Hawkmen…while very exciting it just kinda threw me off a bit. Sooo… which one is the one, you know? Think it would have been more interesting if it focused a little more on the individual adventures of those incarnations. So we get to see Carter Hall in each of them.
Honestly, I think it’s just because Hawkman’s continuity has gotten so out of hand and confusing that it turns most readers off. Yes, I agree the newest series is great, but even that series is basically centered around adding yet another retcon to Hawkman’s history (granted, the whole point of that specific retcon is to streamline things, but it’s still another retcon being piled on all the same).
I don’t think gimmicks that “turn” heroes are ever a good thing. I didn’t like Brightest/Blackest for that reason. There’s enough bad in the world without taking the good away.
I really liked how self-contained the new series was. I’m really into that in comics. Doesn’t happen enough. Another reason The Terrifics was so good.
His continuity is a problem. I feel they finally fixed it…more or less. Hawkworld grounded and reset all that too. I wish they had just kept rolling with that version. It’s like DC let’s every writer use him in an unrestrained way.
The thing is that since the technology is the source of the power, you could’ve had so many “Hawks” at this point. If you’re a writer and don’t like Hall, then introduce a new one. All Morrison JLA style (maybe not that different, but ya get my point?).
While I love the trinity, most of my favorite DC characters are the lesser known ones. Elongated Man, Blue Beetle, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman, and so on. The current Hawkman series, and The Terrifics, were two titles I really looked forward to.
Me too, man. Me too. 
Unfortunately Black Label stuff won’t be here, and that seems to be where the most appealing stuff (for me) is going to take place. I’m confused already. Is it part of continuity? Must Terrific is always in stuff I love (JSA, Terrifics), so I guess he’s a favorite character. Is Strange Adventures part of DCU?
Mr. Terrific is a great character, all the JSA related characters are. Tom King has stated that he views Black Label like Marvel’s MK line. It can be continuity, but he wont let that constrain or limit the story. So, I guess its continuity?
I stopped reading Hawkman around the time of The Infected but was already losing interest. I like the archaeological stories most and wish someone would go with that. Writers have tried to make sense of his origin but I feel like it only gets messier.
Also, not that I needed it to be a continuation of Metal, but Hawkman #1 came out and had nothing to say about how he was just back to normal after Metal #6 where he was hospitalized.