Wednesday, February 9, 2011

One Good Thing And One Bad Thing About Birds Of Prey #9



BAD THING: Hawk still sticks out like a sore thumb on this team and in this book in general. Reportedly Gail Simone requested Hawk and Dove specifically for Birds of Prey when the book was restarted. One has to wonder, if this report is true, how much of an effect the storyline in Brightest Day might be affecting Simone's plans, which so far have hinted at a rekindled romance between Hank and Dawn... which would be interesting and difficult, even without Dawn's apparent romance with Deadman in Brightest Day now.





GOOD THING: The scenes of Dinah confronting her regrets and worst moments is effective, if somewhat brief. While I would have liked to have seen more flashes (explaining just WHY The Ray and Ra's Al Ghul showed up last issue for the new readers, would be a nice touch), I can understand the desire to avoid harping upon it... particularly when the whole point is to build up to this moment, in which Dinah manages to overcome Mortis' telepathic attack through sheer force of will... totally unaided!





And hey - give them props for the Longbow Hunters reference, while still making it clear that as bad as things were for Dinah in that situation, she was (and still is) a survivor who can overcome anything.



The Final Verdict: A great issue which gives every member of the team a chance to shine, especially Dinah. Hawk's presence is still totally unnecessary but at least in this issue he seemed to be somewhat better developed than he has been in most of his recent appearances.

5 comments:

  1. *random*
    And since when is Hawk a 'Avatar of War' anyway? Or is that a effect of Brightest Day? Last I heard he was a Avatar of Chaos....

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's a slight retcon. Apparently he and Dove are now avatars of Peace and War, rather than Order and Chaos.
    This may be more in line with their original portrayal back in the 1960s but I'm nowhere near enough of an expert on Hawk and Dove to talk about that intelligently. Maybe another reader can shine some light on this point?

    ReplyDelete
  3. 'Slight retcon', my rooty poo candy ass.
    I complained about this the first time they changed it - back when it -was- Ditko, it was just 'We have here a Hawk and a Dove' and gave them powers. It was basically straight up Ditko style where A is A. (At least it was, until Skeates started trying to 'compromise' between the two, upon which Ditko quit...)
    Then the Kesels retconned the voices into T'Charr and Terataya, a Lord of Order and a Lord of Chaos in love, and then proceeded to show that Hawk and Dove were an experiment. (And yes, apparently they intended for Hank and Dawn to have a child together, to show order and chaos could unite. Try _NOT_ to think about the meaning of having TWO BROTHERS originally...) Then they killed T'Charr and Terataya and had Hawk host the Chaos and Dove host the Order ones, so they were literally embodiments of Order and Chaos.
    Then Dove died, and Hank Hall became Extant and somehow Extant was BOTH Hawk and Dove.
    Then Dove came back in JSA, and they were basically still fighting Order and Chaos, with Dr. Fate being their SON, who was Hector Hall reincarnated.
    Then Hawk came back in Blackest Night, and it became War and Peace.
    This 'War' and 'Peace' basically retconned out the Order and Chaos part. (and yes, T'Charr and Terataya somehow came back to life during Day of Judgment, which still puzzles the hell out of me.)
    So... yes, it's a Brightest Day retcon, and as I mentioned to LATS the FIRST time this happened, I hoped -someone- would explain the changeover.
    Doesn't seem likely to happen, though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. And I didn't even mention how Hawk apparently raped Dove to produce Dr Fate in JSA.
    You know, I think it'd be easier to just accept War and Peace as a result of this:

    Yeah damn right, a SUPERBOY PUNCH to the nuts. :P
    (Now if only someone would Superboy-Punch that Arsenal Dead Cat scene right out of existence...)

    ReplyDelete
  5. And to think... I thought the Longbow Hunters scene would be the big conversation starter!

    ReplyDelete