The Shadow War of Hawkman #1

History

The project originated when Dick Giordano, then DC's Vice-President Executive Editor, decided Hawkman was due for a comeback and opened the project to proposals. Tony Isabella — already known as the creator of Black Lightning — won the pitch by promising an upheaval in the Hawks' lives with effects that would outlast the mini-series itself. Before writing a single page, Isabella read every Silver Age Katar Hol appearance DC had published, treating them as binding continuity and choosing to label any outliers as 'imaginary tales' rather than discard them. Editor Alan Gold shepherded the series, with pencils by Richard Howell and inks by Alfredo Alcala on interior pages and Dick Giordano handling the cover inks; lettering and logo design were supplied by Todd Klein.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Captain Stewart Frazier, the Midway City police captain who allies with Hawkman and Hawkwoman throughout the series.
• The issue contains an in-continuity retelling of Hawkman and Hawkwoman's Silver Age origin, including flashback cameos of Batman (Bruce Wayne), Superman (Clark Kent), Byth, Hyathis, Paran Katar, and Commissioner George Emmett.
• Mavis Trent dies off-panel in this issue — killed by a rogue Thanagarian named Rab Mekir who mistakes her for Hawkwoman — though her death is not revealed to readers until issue #3.
• The Equalizer Plague of Thanagar, referenced here for the first time as backstory, is established as the social and political trigger that sets the Shadow War in motion: the plague stripped all Thanagarians of individuality before a faction eventually broke free and turned fascist.
• Fell Andar, the lead Thanagarian antagonist introduced across the series, was later incorporated into post-Crisis DC continuity as the Thanagarian spy who impersonated Hawkman in Justice League International — a retroactive fix for continuity problems created when Hawkworld (1990) rebooted the Hawks' timeline.
• The series was published concurrently with Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) but largely ignores that event; after the Hawkworld reboot in 1990, the entire Shadow War mini-series was removed from mainstream DC continuity.
• The issue was edited by Alan Gold with Tom Condon as managing editor; it was available in Direct, Newsstand, and Canadian variants, with the on-sale date recorded as February 7, 1985, against a May 1985 cover date.
• A black-and-white reprint of material related to the series appeared in TwoMorrows Publishing's Alter Ego #106 (December 2011), which also included commentary by Isabella and Howell about their history with the Hawkman characters.

Cast · 14 characters

Full credits

Key issues in The Shadow War of Hawkman

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#4 1st appearance — Herbert Lesser

Variants (2)