Issue # 2

"Who is Hawkman?"
Part Two

Written by Barry Reese

Prelude : The Hawk-God Flies

It soared through space easily, not caring one whit for the many difficulties such a thing presented. He was the Hawk-God and he could skim the spaceways as easily as an Earth-born cardinal could fly through clear skies. He was massive, a gargantuan man/bird-thing that seemed to be given life from one's nightmares. He had pillaged Thanagar not long ago -- and he would ravage far more than that in the days to come.

Since being freed from his awful prision inside the Avatar, he had roamed this universe, searching out fresh prey and delighting in the pleasures of freedom -- but now the call was coming, loud and clear. The Avatar was no longer in confusion -- he was aware that the Hawk-God was no longer in his shell. He was aware the raptor was feeding its many hungers.

I must strike him down while he is weak, devour his flesh and spirit while the anger drives me. It was his people who raped me, who shackled me down years ago. They made their so-called Nth Metal of my flesh, used me to escape the bonds of gravity. And this Katar Hol... he sought to master the spirits of those who had proclaimed themselves my champions. Foolish! Stupid! How I have longed to show him the true face of my power....

As his inhuman thoughts whirled about inside his brain, the Hawk-God flew on. He would reach Earth soon, a place he hated almost as much as Thanagar. And when he reached his goal -- he would destroy the legacy of the Hawkmen forever.

Part the First : Exposition, Origins and Lost Loves

In a small trailer situated in the middle of Arizona, a most unusual meeting was taking place.

Shayera Thal sipped her coffee and watched as the men before her tried to work things out. It was a bit strange seeing not one, but two Katars in front of her -- though, to be honest, they didn't look all that much alike. 'Her' Katar was more powerfully built, with a jagged scar across the bridge of his nose and long, somewhat tangled hair. In his eyes shone a cynical optimism born of constant fights against his own people of Thanagar.

In contrast, the Katar Hol of the alternate reality, the 'Prime Hawkman' as her Katar called him, was smooth and handsome -- with an almost cocky sense of confidence. It was as if nothing could completely tame his hope for the future. In the end, no matter how depressing things were, he would triumph. And he's married to his Shayera, she thought. Funny how things work out.

The third man before her was the Black Condor, a somewhat confused young man who come under Katar's wing (so to speak) a few years before. He'd turned to Katar in hopes of learning what it meant to be a hero* -- and, when Katar had finally realized that he was bereft of the Hawk-God and all that that meant, he had accepted Katar's offer to train with him and take a turn under the helmet and legacy of Hawkman. And he's done pretty well, too, for which I take most of the credit.

(*See Hawkman volume 3, # 20.)

"I still don't understand," the Hawkman of Earth-1 was saying, "How did you manage to pierce the multiversal barriers? Since the Crisis, all contact between Earths has been severed."

Katar grunted. "I don't think we have the same understanding of the multiverse -- I reached you through something we call Hypertime. I used a device recently created by the Secret Society of Super-Villains. It allowed me to hone in on you -- you're the Prime Hawkman, the one from whom all others are based."

The Prime Hawkman rubbed his chin, looking doubtful. "Seems to me that would be Carter Hall, friend. He became Hawkman on his Earth years before I did."

"I can only tell you that when I sent a command out to find the one who could help me -- I found you."

The Black Condor cleared his throat and got the attention of everyone in the room. "Katar, why is he here? If you needed someone to take care of something for you, Shayera and I could have --"

"Not this." Katar moved to his young protege and put his hands on his shoulders. "When Kulak tore Carter and Shiera Hall from me, he weakened the entire fabric of my being. He unwittingly allowed the Hawk-God to escape. If the Hawk-God were to come here to Earth -- and he will, eventually -- we could all be in grave danger."

The Prime-Hawkman cast a glance at Shayera before speaking. She looks so much like my wife... but this one is harder, somehow. Colder. Like she's been wounded too many times to feel the pain anymore. What kind of world is this? With a mental shrug, he turned back to his doppleganger. "You explained to me about the Hawk-God and how you became his Avatar... but I don't see why you need me. I think the boy's right -- surely you have enough help here without me. Why not contact your own JLA?"

Katar glanced at him. "Because the Hawk-God can't be truly destroyed. It can only be contained. The problem was I wasn't quite strong enough -- Not long ago, I visited the Ultra-Humanite in prison," Katar could see the Hawkman of Earth-1 flinch at the name. I wonder how he knows of him? Was there one on his Earth? Or on one of the others that he's visited? "He recently tried to pierce the barriers between Hypertime realities* and I knew he was as close to an expert as I was going to find. It wasn't easy to get him to answer my questions, but I managed to.. persuade... him. He told me that it was most likely that this battle between myself and the Hawk-God has been played out in numerous realities -- and that it could very well be that only I, as the man destined to be the Hawk-Avatar, could house the Hawk-God."

(*In the classic Justice Squadron # 7-9.)

The Hawkman of Earth-1 suddenly began nodding. "I think I understand. You weren't strong enough to hold onto the Hawk-God and keep him imprisoned... so you summoned me, thinking that the Prime version of yourself would be strong enough to handle it?"

Shayera set her coffee cup down with a loud crack. "Peacock... I can't believe you!"

Katar frowned. He and Shayera had been reunited only a brief time ago*, and their joyous reunion had been anything but so far. "What's wrong?"

(*Following the events in the soon-to-be-released Showcase storyline written by Tim Hartin)

"What's wrong? You bring him here from another universe and you ask him to fight your battle for you? You ask him to take on the lifelong responsibility of housing that monster who destroyed Thanagar?"

"If I were in his place, I'd--"

"But you're not, are you? All you're doing is passing the damned buck! Maybe there isn't even a Hawk-God in his universe, to begin with. Now there will be, though. Have you thought about what might happen if he goes as nuts as you did, what he might do to his marriage?"

And there it was, out in the open. Katar stared at her for a long moment, saying nothing. When he'd first become an Avatar, he'd sworn his relationship with Shayera, saying he was no longer the man she loved. Or who loved her.

In recent months, his love for her had returned -- but it had, unknowingly, been in the absence of the Hawk-God.

Would the Prime Hawkman no longer love his Shayera?

"Seven Hells," she muttered. She shoved her way past the three men and stalked outside.

For a long time, no one said anything. When the silence was breached, it was the Hawkman of Earth-1 who spoke up. "If your Earth's in danger... I'll help. My Shayera would understand that."

Katar nodded, wondering if his counterpart knew what he was really doing. He felt the pain that still ran through his body, lingering after-effects of his bloody battle with the Extremist known as Tracer. "Condor and I will help you. Between the three of us, we should be able to weaken him enough for you to absorb him." And, if it works, I'll be guilty forever.

Part the Second : The Hawkman Revenge Squad?

Fel Andar moved through the Slab's common area, ignoring the other prisoners who milled about him. He'd been scheduled for extradition to Thanagar weeks ago, but the process was being moved forward at a snail's pace. Incompetent humans. It amazes me that Hol is able to stomach living amongst you. Of course, he is a bastard half-breed.

"New meat! New meat!"

The call rang out as two new prisoners were escorted inside. Catcalls and jeers rained down around them and Fel craned his neck to see who they were. One of them was vaguely familiar as one of Hol's old enemies -- a thin man with a goatee. The Shadow Thief or something to that effect.

The other, however, was a familiar face -- and one that brought a smile to Fel Andar's features. "Ferris Thul," he murmured. A cult-leader on Thanagar... and one of the most devious minds in the galaxy.

He managed to make his way close to his fellow Thanagarian, who was looking about himself with disdain. Dressed in prison grays, he lacked much of his normal grandeur. "Ferris... How strange that we should meet one another in such circumstances."

Thul looked surprised to hear his name, but when he saw Fel Andar's face he chuckled. "Fel... The failed spy sent her to prime Earth for our invasion. How low you have fallen," he said with disdain.

Fel grinned maliciously. "I could say the same for you."

"Hmm."

"So... As fellow Thanagarians trapped on a hostile planet... What are we to do?"

Carl Sands, the Shadow Thief, sidled up next to the Thanagarians. "If you plan to go after Hawkman... I want in."

Ferris regarded them both before nodding. "So be it. We shall escape together."

Part the Third : Relics

The Condor rolled the Thanagrian relic over in his hand. "This is what Sands retrieved for Thul. You recognize it?"

Katar, sitting outside in the cooling night air, took the relic from Condor. He ran his hands over the edges of the object, sensing instinctively its age and power. "No... But that's not surprising. I was a wingman on Thanagar, not an archaeologist -- and Carter Hall's memories are no longer my own. Other than confirming that it's Thanagarian, I have no clue."

The Black Condor looked up, seeing the graceful figure of the Prime Hawkman soaring overhead. "I wonder what it's like for him, to realize that all other Katar Hols in the multiverse are iterations of him. Not to mention seeing how things have turned out differently here..." The Condor stopped suddenly, sensing the tension in Katar. "Speaking of which, why didn't you go after Shayera?"

Katar thought back to how she'd stormed out only a few hours before. "I'm beginning to think it's hopeless. She'll never feel the same way about me again -- and maybe she shouldn't."

Hawkman Prime landed nearby, his artificial wings strapped to his back. "I just noticed, Katar, that I haven't seen you in the wings at all. Are you too hurt to even fly?"

Katar smiled softly and stood. He raised his arms a bit and flexed the muscles in his back. His wings burst forth , spreading out behind him in an angelic fashion. "I don't need to wear them -- they're natural."

Earth-1's Katar whistled. "How did that happen?"

"It happened when I merged with the other Hawk-Champions. It might happen to you, too. That's also how I got the bird-like eyes."

"Interesting. Hopefully, I'll be able to deal with all of this once it happens. How exactly are we going to capture the Hawk-God by the way?"

"By using the Kali-Norn Method. Do you have that on your Thanagar?"

"We have the legends, but's that all they are. It's a semi-mystical means of, and I'm quoting here, "opening one's soul to the possibility," or some such. I never put much faith in it. I'm a scientist by nature."

Katar smiled. "Well, here it is real. In the heat of battle, when we have pushed the Hawk-God to its limits, we shall perform the rite. You shall open your soul up... and swallow him whole."

"If you say so... It sounds like a bunch of mystical hogwash to me. Maybe you should called in Zatanna and not Hawkman." The Prime Hawkman paused uncertainly but then pushed on. "Don't hold on to your pride, Katar. Go after the girl. If she's half the woman my Shayera is... You need her. Without her, I'd... I think I'd go crazy."

Katar hesitated, but threw off the tendency to argue that sometimes plagued him. How could you argue with yourself? "Perhaps I will when --"

"Katar! Something's coming!"

The Condor's warning came a split-second before an awful, inhuman cry shattered through the night. Katar looked up to see a figure from his nightmares, flying downwards at great speed. It was large, so large... and filled with angry, vengeful power. My people did this. My people enslaved him and used him. "Condor... I need my helmet."

The Black Condor slid his own helmet into place, using his telekinesis to toss the spare to his mentor. In seconds, there were three men wearing the garb of Hawkman.

"I may be the so-called 'Prime Hawkman', Katar," murmured the Hawkman of Earth-1, "But I'm willing to follow your lead here. You know this monster."

Katar nodded, feeling the full weight of the Hawkman legacy fall upon his shoulders. He had been inspired first by the exploits of his own world's Carter Hall, but he had soon come to know intimately the minds and spirits of all those who had worn the mantle on this world -- the Silent Knight, the Nighthawk of the Old West and many more. And now he had glimpsed into others worlds, other Hawkmen. In almost all of them, there had been someone who called themselves Hawkman. In almost all of them, he had helped forge heroic teams into cohesive fighting units -- the JLA, the JSA, the Justice Squadron.

Hawkman was a legend.

Hawkman was an icon, embodying the spirit of heroism, taking flight in the face of adversity.

He watched as the Prime Hawkman hefted a mace, saw the Condor draw forth his knife. And Katar held the knife that was his namesake, the sleek blade glinting in the night. The time for battle had come and he would be true to his legacy. "Let's end this," he said.

And they took flight.

In Hawkman # 3 : The Hawk-God attacks -- and faces the might of three Hawkmen! Who will survive and in what form? Be here to find out!

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Fun, fun! I enjoyed this issue, which is the first I've written in awhile. Grad school, work and more have conspired have to keep me too busy to release myself creatively. Still, I hope you're enjoying this -- look for a major shocker next issue (whenever that comes). One thing I wanted to do with this series is examine the legacy aspect of Hawkman -- and to play up his important role in the DCU. The Hawkman who appears in # 4 will be the embodiment of all that I think is good in the Katar Hol mythos.

Excited? I hope so.

See you soon,

Barry Reese