[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artists: Andrew Currie and Bryan Hitch
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Summary
Carter Hall aka Hawkman is on a mission to find an ancient artifact known as the Nautilus of Revealment. After dying and being reborn so many times, Hall feels as if he is not remembering everything he should be about his past. He feels as if there is something eluding him. Hawkman knows the Nautilus of Revealment is said to reveal one’s true past and he hopes it will help him piece together what is missing.
After finally locating and securing the artifact, he takes it Xanadu to help him use it. She is able to unlock the artifact’s power and Hawkman sees not only how extensive his past truly is, but he also sees something that threatens Earth and only he can stop it.
Positives
The book is fun, fast paced and action-packed but it doesn’t sacrifice story to do so. It introduces us to the type of person Carter Hall and sets a clear direction for the title as a whole. Secondary characters such as Yiannis and even Xanadu are interesting and welcome additions that are not only intriguing in their own right, but let the reader know there is much more to Hawkman than we may realize.
On a more personal level, since I have always enjoyed studying history, religions of the world and mythology, this title promises to be very exciting for me since it embraces the fact that Carter Hall is an archeologist. It reminds me of the Indiana Jones movies, in the best way possible. Given his endless past and his current career, it opens up so many exciting possibilities for storytelling.
But the best thing about this book, is how Venditti solved the problem of the different all the confusion between the various iterations of the Hawkman with a simple, subtle and yet really exciting explanation.
Negatives
I can’t say there are any negatives about this book per se. It left me with questions not complaints and I think that’s a great thing which we all want in a title.
Before reading the issue, I anticipated believing that the artwork would be a negative since I wasn’t a fan of Hitch’s work on Justice League. But his work really does fit nicely with Hawkman. Perhaps Hitch does better on solo books than team books, perhaps he’s just growing as an artist or perhaps I misjudged him, but either way, his artwork really works here.
Verdict
It usually takes me a few issues to decide whether or not I like a title, but this issue had me hooked immediately. The endless possibilities for the character are exciting to think about and I can’t wait to see where Venditti takes this title.
