Hawkman #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeHawkman #1 marks the culmination of a three-year proving-ground campaign that took Katar Hol from tryout appearances in The Brave and the Bold and a backup slot in Mystery in Space to his own self-titled, ongoing bi-monthly series — the first solo Hawkman title in the Silver Age. The issue introduced the villain Chac, an immortal ancient Mayan chief who had pillaged a crashed alien spacecraft for weapons and an immortality serum, expanding the Fox-Anderson mythology beyond Thanagarian science into globe-spanning alien-archaeology adventure. Beyond its debut status, the series it launched served as a creative showcase for one of the most visually distinguished art runs of the Silver Age: Murphy Anderson's draftsmanship on the winged protagonists was singled out by comics historian Les Daniels as the work in which Anderson 'came into his own.' The title also gave Hawkman and Hawkgirl a domestic and professional context — as Carter and Shiera Hall, curators at the Midway City Museum — that made them among DC's most fully realized civilian identities of the era.
In "Rivalry of the Winged Wonders!", Hawkman and Hawkgirl return to Thanagar to report on their mission, recounting their spirited clash of methods while tracking a jewel thief—one relying on Earth’s police tactics, the other on Thanagarian instincts. The story captures their dynamic as they navigate duty and personal pride, testing the limits of their partnership in the skies of their home world.
In "Master of the Sky-Weapons!", Hawkman and Hawkgirl face off against Chac, a newly awakened Mayan chief who has seized alien weapons and an immortality serum from a crashed extraterrestrial craft on his ancient domain. With the power of long-lost technology at his command, Chac now threatens to reshape the world from the shadows of the past.
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Editor Julius Schwartz had championed the Silver Age Katar Hol since orchestrating his debut in The Brave and the Bold #34 (February–March 1961), written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Joe Kubert, as part of DC's systematic revival of Golden Age heroes in science-fiction guise. After the Brave and the Bold tryouts and a backup strip in Mystery in Space, Schwartz shepherded the characters into their own bi-monthly title in 1964, with Murphy Anderson replacing Kubert as the series artist; Anderson handled both pencils and inks throughout the run, and Fox continued as writer, producing the procedural-inflected, ornithology-flavored scripts that defined the book's tone. The series ran 27 issues before cancellation in September 1968, and Hawkman would not headline his own regular series again for nearly two decades.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First issue of Hawkman's debut self-titled ongoing series (Volume 1), cover-dated April–May 1964, published February 20, 1964, by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics).
- Written by Gardner Fox; pencils and inks by Murphy Anderson; edited by Julius Schwartz; lettered by Ira Schnapp (cover lettering also credited to Ira Schnapp).
- Contains two stories: 'Rivalry of the Winged Wonders' — in which Hawkman and Hawkgirl stage a friendly competition using Earth vs. Thanagarian police methods to catch a jewel thief — and 'Master of the Sky-Weapons,' featuring the first appearance of Chac, an immortal ancient Mayan chief who acquired alien weapons and an extended lifespan from a crashed spacecraft.
- First appearance of Chac (Earth-One), the Mayan villain who, after centuries of amnesia, recovers his alien arsenal and uses an amnesia potion against Mavis Trent and other archaeologists on a Yucatan dig.
- Shadow-Thief (Carl Sands) appears in this issue in a recap/flashback context; his actual first appearance was in The Brave and the Bold #36 (July 1961), created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert.
- Supporting cast established in the series includes Andar Pul (Hawkman's Thanagarian commanding officer), Commissioner George Emmett (Midway City police liaison), and Mavis Trent (museum naturalist who appears here as an amnesiac victim of Chac).
- The series was published bi-monthly and ran 27 issues, ending September 1968; Hawkman and Hawkgirl are depicted as Katar Hol and Shayera Thal, Thanagarian police officers posing as museum curators Carter and Shiera Hall in Midway City.
- The issue has been reprinted in The Hawkman Archives Vol. 2 (collecting Hawkman #1–8 in color), Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 1 (2007, black and white), and DC Finest: Hawkman: Wings Across Time (2025).
Cast · 10 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Cuentos de Misterio #50 (1964), The Hawkman Archives #2 (2005), Showcase Presents: Hawkman #1 (2007), Alter Ego #189 (2024), DC Finest: Hawkman: Wings Across Time #[nn] (2025)
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