The Brave and the Bold #34
The Brave and the Bold #34 is the Silver Age debut of Hawkman and Hawkgirl — the issue that transplanted a Golden Age mystic hero wholesale into the science-fiction idiom DC had been perfecting since the Flash's 1956 relaunch. By recasting the Egyptian-reincarnation premise as a story about married Thanagarian police officers pursuing a fugitive shape-shifter to Earth, writer Gardner Fox and editor Julius Schwartz demonstrated that the Silver Age formula could accommodate a duo rather than a lone hero, with Hawkgirl participating in combat as a genuine co-lead rather than a supporting character. The issue's success unlocked five additional tryout appearances in the same title and eventually a solo series, placing Katar Hol on the path to Justice League membership and cementing Hawkman as one of the defining Silver Age properties. It also introduced Byth Rok — the shape-shifting archenemy whose capture frames the entire origin story — along with the supporting cast of Midway City that would anchor the Hawks' adventures for decades.
In "Creature of a Thousand Shapes!", Thanagarian officers Katar and Shayera arrive on Earth to track down the elusive shape-shifting criminal Byth, aided by Police Commissioner Emmett in their quest. Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated with dynamic precision by Joe Kubert—both inks and pencils—this 1961 issue blends alien intrigue with classic detective work, setting the stage for a new chapter on Earth. The cover by Joe Kubert captures the mystery and motion of the hunt.
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The issue arrived as part of editor Julius Schwartz's systematic effort to modernize dormant Golden Age characters with science-fictional origins, following successful reboots of the Flash and Green Lantern. Schwartz assigned writer Gardner Fox — who had himself co-created the Golden Age Hawkman with artist Dennis Neville back in 1940 — to reimagine the character, and paired him with Joe Kubert, an artist who had been drawing Hawkman stories as far back as 1944–45. The familiar visual identity was preserved almost intact (Kubert's Silver Age costume closely echoed the Golden Age design, though the helmet lacked its signature side-wings in this debut issue), while the mythology was rebuilt from scratch around Thanagar, Nth metal, and a police-procedural premise. The Brave and the Bold was then functioning as DC's primary try-out vehicle for new and revamped characters, giving the Hawks a structured audition format before committing to a dedicated series.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of Silver Age Hawkman (Katar Hol), created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Joe Kubert, published February–March 1961 with a cover price of ten cents.
- First appearance of Silver Age Hawkgirl (Shayera Thal / Shayera Hol), who fights alongside Hawkman as an equal partner throughout the story rather than as a passive supporting character.
- First appearance of Byth Rok, a Thanagarian shape-shifting criminal who becomes the Silver Age Hawkman's principal nemesis; the story is titled 'Creature of a Thousand Shapes!'
- First appearances of the supporting cast that would anchor the Silver Age Hawks: Midway City Police Commissioner George Emmett (who provides the Hawks with their secret identities), museum naturalist Mavis Trent, and press agent Joe Tracy.
- The issue established the Hawks' civilian identities as Carter and Shiera Hall, curators of the Midway City Museum, and introduced the device (here called an 'electronic brain'; later named the Absorbascon) that allows them to absorb all Earth knowledge.
- Edited by Julius Schwartz; lettered by Gaspar Saladino. Joe Kubert handled pencils, inks, and the cover — the same Kubert who had drawn the Golden Age Hawkman and who was intimately familiar with the character's visual history.
- The strong sales spawned five additional tryout issues in The Brave and the Bold (#35, 36, 42, 43, 44), followed by a backup strip in Mystery in Space, and ultimately a solo Hawkman series launched in 1964.
- The story has been reprinted multiple times: in the 1989 DC squarebound reprint of the six B&B Hawkman tryout issues, in Hawkman Archives Vol. 1 (hardcover, May 2000), in Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 1, and in the 2025 DC Finest: Hawkman – Wings Across Time collection.
Cast · 8 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Katar and his wife Shayera, police officers from the Planet Thanagar, come to Earth in pursuit of a shape-shifting criminal named Byth from their world. Police Commissioner Emmett helps them to establish secret identities, and, after they have succeeded in their mission, helps convince them to stay on Earth.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).