Rann-Thanagar Holy War isn’t even an “event” mini-series. So how come its managed to spawn a tie-in one-shot?
Well, according to an interview with writer Jim Starlin, DC had decided that Hawkman as a character is broken and needed fixed. Now, I’m not a big Hawkman fan. He’s not a character I’m bothered about, but I’ve enjoyed his use in the Rann-Thanagar stuff as someone with ties to Thanagar who can see the bigger picture.
I know the basics of his origin as well. I know how Zero Hour had completely muddled his character and left him a confused mess until Geoff Johns sorted it all out in the JSA series, explaining that he’s the reincarnation of an Egyptian Pharaoh, with the memories of Katar Hol, a Thanagarian and the Silver Age Hawkman, due to the properties of the Nth metal used in Thanagarian technology (at least, I think that’s right). My perception of the character had been that Geoff Johns had pretty much managed to make the character usable again, so the announcement that he was again needing “fixed” struck me as odd.
Curiousity got the better of me. I’m not a big fan of tie-ins to non-event series. If I’m picking up an 8 issue mini, I expect to pick up 8 issues. But still, it was a quiet week, and I’ve enjoyed what Starlin’s been doing with Mystery in Space, and Rann-Thanagar Holy War.
Thank God I’m not a Hawkman fan. As I said above, I’m no expert, but it seems to me that this special has accomplished the exact opposite of “fixing” the character. All the Egyptian stuff was fake? The Nameless is calling him Katar Hol? Going by the reference to the multiverse, I can’t help but presume that this current Hawkman is going to be revealed as Katar Hol, with the Golden Age Carter Hall being worked back in as a separate character. However I can’t help but wonder that if they are planning on separating the two, then perhaps doing it the other way round would’ve made more sense. Leave this Carter Hall as the reincarnated Pharaoh, and bring back in Katar Hol through another route.
Needless to say, going from some of the online reaction I’ve read, Hawkman fans are up in arms. For myself, I enjoyed the story on its own merits, but even I could see that it was going to damage the character rather than help him.
The only hope I can take out of the story for Hawkman fans is that the Nameless is a guy with skulls for knee-pads. A sure-fire sign of evilness. Maybe its going to be revealed as him messing with Hawkman to try and take him out of the fight?
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