History Comicbook / Hawkman

* StrawCharacter: During the BronzeAge, the ''JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' writers, who were staunch liberals, used Hawkman as a somewhat thuggish conservative counterpoint to GreenArrow.

As originally envisioned, Hawkman was really archeologist Carter Hall, who discovered that he was actually the reincarnation of an Egyptian prince named Khufu, and that he had been murdered long ago by an evil priest along with the woman he loved. Furthermore, both the priest and his lover had also been reincarnated, and the former had now captured the latter! Arming himself with equipment found at a museum, as well as using an anti-gravity metal called "Ninth metal" (later renamed Nth metal) to fly, Carter created the costumed identity of Hawkman to go rescue her. She would later join him in his adventures as "Hawkgirl". Hawkman would also become one of the founders of the first superhero group, the JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. As the only hero to appear in every single Golden Age JSA story, he was later retconned to be the leader of the group.

Up to this point, there was no real confusion over the Hawkman characters. It all started after DC decided to {{Retcon}} their universe with the CrisisCrossover called ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths. All of DC's titles were supposed to undergo a {{reboot}} afterwards; but due to poor editorial overseeing, some titles were rebooted but others were not. More specifically, the original Silver Hawkman was initially still around after the Crisis, even having his own ongoing series again. However, in 1989, John Ostrander wrote a miniseries called 'Hawkworld'; the idea was not to remove or recton the SilverAge Hawks as they were now, but rather to give their origin a more modern update. However, [[ExecutiveMeddling for whatever reason,]] it was decided that Hawkworld would turn out to have taken place in the present day, thus completely rebooting the Hawks, despite such a change occurring 4-5 years after Crisis. In the end, Silver Age Hawkman was reinvented as a DarkerAndEdgier character who had only recently arrived on Earth--but due to this change happening several years after the Crisis instead of right after it, Hawkman was ''still'' supposed to have been a member of the League for years! They explained this by claiming that the winged heroes in the League were actually the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl (since all DC characters now existed in one universe) and, later, that a Thanagarian spy had joined the team as Hawkman.

'''Hawkman''' is one of the oldest of Creator/DCComics' superheroes, having been created in 1940, during TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. He's also one of the most infamous cases of ContinuitySnarl in the world of comics.

During TheInterregnum, Hawkman's series, as with most other superheroes of the time, was canceled. During TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, he was reinvented, this time as Katar Hol, a law enforcement agent from the planet Thanagar (conveniently inhabited by HumanAliens) who came to Earth (along with his partner and wife Shayera) to study Earth's crimefighting techniques, and they assumed the identities of museum curators Carter and Shiera Hall. They also acted as superheroes (using their Thanagarian uniforms) and became known as Hawkman and Hawkwoman. They soon joined the {{Justice League|OfAmerica}}, the modern version of the Justice Society, and even met the ''original'' Hawks during the League's team-ups with the Society (which was established as having existed in the [[AlternateUniverse parallel universe]] called Earth-2.)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hawkman_kubert_3793.jpg

* BlackBraAndPanties: Hawkgirl during Howard Chaykin's run on the character.

Up to this point, there was no real confusion over the Hawkman characters. It all started after DC decided to {{Retcon}} their universe with the CrisisCrossover called ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths. All of DC's titles were supposed to undergo a {{reboot}} afterwards; but due to poor editorial overseeing, some titles were rebooted but others were not. The Silver Age Hawkman was reinvented as a DarkerAndEdgier character who had only recently arrived on Earth--but Hawkman was ''still'' supposed to have been a member of the League for years! They explained this by claiming that the winged heroes in the League were actually the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl (since all DC characters now existed in one universe) and, later, that a Thanagarian spy had joined the team as Hawkman.

Hawkman and Hawkwoman appear as members of the Justice League on the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' series. Hawkgirl is a playable character in ''InjusticeGodsAmongUs''.

** The Nth metal was inspired by [[HGWells Cavorite]].

* StrawmanPolitical: During the BronzeAge, the ''JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' writers, who were staunch liberals, used Hawkman as a somewhat thuggish conservative counterpoint to GreenArrow.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Since the producers of ''{{WesternAnimation/Justice League}}'' included Hawkgirl in the team's lineup, she's become more popular, appearing in the video games ''Justice League Heroes'' and ''Injustice: Gods Among Us'' and being one of the stars of the comic book ''JSA''.
** Strangely, even after establishing that Hawkgirl had a lover on Thanagar who lead an invasion of Earth in a similarly hawk-themed costume, they eventually introduced Hawkman into the show, and when they did, he was based on the GoldenAge version, where the Hawkgirl of the series was based on the SilverAge version.

* {{Eagleland}}: The ''Hawkworld'' comics tend to portray America in either Flavor 2 or Mixed Flavor, while Katar Hol (inspired by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution) embraces the Flavor 1 idealism and hopes Thanagar would follow the same example.

* {{Cult}}: The followers of Thasaro. [[spoiler:However, their god kills them because he does not like to be used, despite the priest's pleas that that was not the case.]]

* {{Eagleland}}: The ''Hawkworld'' comics tend to portray America in either Flavor 2 or Mixed Flavor, while Katar Hol (inspired by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution) embraces the Flavor 1 idealism and hope Thanagar would follow.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Since the producers of {{WesternAnimation:Justice League}} included Hawkgirl in the team's lineup, she's become more popular, appearing in the video games ''Justice League Heroes'' and ''Injustice: Gods Among Us'' and being one of the stars of the comic book ''JSA''.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Hawkwoman was not allowed to join the League along Hawkman at first.

* NamesTheSame: Hyathis (queen of Alstair) and Hya''n''this (Shayera's maternal grandmother).
** PostCrisis: Shayera Thal's named after her mother Shayera Thal I.

Up to this point, there was no real confusion over the Hawkman characters. It all started after DC decided to {{Retcon}} their universe with the CrisisCrossover called ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths. All of DC's titles were supposed to undergo a {{reboot}} afterwards; but due to poor editorial overseeing, some titles were rebooted but others were not. The Silver Age Hawkman was reinvented as a DarkerAndEdgier character who had only recently arrived on Earth--but Hawkman was STILL supposed to have been a member of the League for years! They explained this by claiming that the winged heroes in the League were actually the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl (since all DC characters now existed in one universe) and, later, that a Thanagarian spy had joined the team as Hawkman.

When DC decided to fix its post-Crisis mistakes with ANOTHER reality-changing crossover (ZeroHour) somebody came up with the idea of having the various Hawks... ''merged'' into a single being, known as the "Hawk-god". This idea was poorly received and his series was soon cancelled. DC was so desperate over the mess that they actually ''forbade'' anybody from using the character for years.

When the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' animated series was made, it was decided that Hawkgirl, rather than Hawkman, would be a member. A Hawkman {{expy}}, Hro Talak, was introduced in the series as her former lover AND a bad guy! Even later, an actual Hawkman character (Carter Hall, following a variation of the Golden Age reincarnation origin) was also introduced in the cartoon.

In 2011, the entire DC Universe was rebooted, erasing all the history (good or bad) of most characters including Hawkman, hopefully ending the confusion for good. Hawkman has his own self-titled book, and Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders again) is featured in James Robinson's ''[[{{ComicBook/Earth2}} Earth-2]].''

Hawkman and Hawkwoman appear as background members of the Justice League on the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' series. Hawkgirl will be a playable character in ''InjusticeGodsAmongUs''.

** Strangely, even after establishing that Hawkgirl had a husband on Thanagar who lead an invasion of Earth in a similarly hawk-themed costume, they eventually introduced Hawkman into the show, and when they did, he was based on the GoldenAge version, where the Hawkgirl of the series was based on the SilverAge version.

* BadassAbnormal

In 2011, the entire DC Universe was rebooted, erasing all the history (good or bad) of most characters including Hawkman, hopefully ending the confusion for good. Hawkman has his own self-titled book, and Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders again) is featured in James Robinson's ''[[{{ComicBook/Earth2}} Earth-2]].''

In 2011, the entire DC Universe was rebooted, erasing all the history (good or bad) of most characters including Hawkman, hopefully ending the confusion for good. Hawkman has his own self-titled book, and Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders again) is to feature in James Robinson's ''[[{{ComicBook/Earth2}} Earth-2]].''