Guide to Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl Reprints

Continuing our look back at the Golden Age, and where to find them now, we go all the way back to ancient Egypt....or the early days of World War II, with the high-flying Hawkman, and his partner, Hawkgirl.

Carter Hall was an archeologist and weapons collector, who came into possession of a knife which high priest Hath-Set killed Prince Khufu of ancient Egypt...and when Carter touched it, he saw Khufu's death and realized he was Khufu reborn!  Soon after, Carter met Shiera Sanders (the reincarnation of Khufu's eternal love, Chay-Ara) and ended up donning wings of the anti-gravity Nth metal and using ancient weapons to battle Dr. Anton Hastor, the reincarnation of Hath-Set, with Hawkman winning this time!

All this from Flash Comics #1 (January, 1940) with "The Origin of Hawkman" by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville.

This story was reprinted many times, in the Famous First Edition F-8 of August-September, 1975, in the Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes of 1976 (in both hardcover and soft cover, with cover by Neal Adams, and also had the Silver Age Hawkman origin), and in the Millennium Edition: Flash Comics #1 of September, 2000.

Hawkman fought the "Thought Terror" in Flash Comics #4 (April, 1940) by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff, where Carter faced a hypnotist called the Thought Terror with Shiera's help (though she had yet to don any winged identity....).


This story was found again in the Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told hardcover of 1990, which featured a stunning cover by Jerry Ordway, and many Golden Age stories that were, well, just great, and featured a few other JSAers like Flash, Wildcat, Sandman, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Black Canary and the Spectre as well!

Hawkman's next reprinted story was from Flash Comics #5 (May, 1940) by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff, later titled "The Kidnapping Of Ione Craig", a female secret agent, that Carter had to save from Hassan Ibn Sadah and his assassins (and no Shiera to be found in this story!).


This story was dug up by the comic archeologist of Jules Feiffer and reprinted in The Great Comic Book Heroes of 1965...

...along with other Golden Age tales of Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Spectre, Wonder Woman and more.

Hawkman took on a crooked doctor in Flash Comics #12 (December, 1940) in "The Heart Patient" by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff, where Carter was helping his friend, Tommy Rogers, who had been convinced he had a bad heart by his girlfriend, Betty Tremont.  Even back in the 1940s there were problems with healthcare fraud!


This story was reprinted in Hawkman #25 (April-May, 1968) in an issue featuring a cover by Dick Dillin, and a new story about the Silver Age Hawkman (who was the feature of the book).  Sadly, the Golden Age and Silver Age Hawkmen never teamed up in the Hawkman book, like the Flashes, Green Lanterns and Atoms did (in their own respective Silver Age titles).

Next up for Hawkman is an important comic for Shiera Sanders, Flash Comics #24 (December, 1941) later entitled "Meet Hawkwoman", though it was technically the first appearance of Hawkgirl!  Shiera was given a hawk costume for a costume party, and she ended up going into action at the event, when birds mistook her for Hawkman.  This wasn't Shiera's first time in a hawk costume, as she went into action in All-Star Comics #5 (June-July, 1941), but she kept at it after this.

This story was reprinted in Superman #252 (June, 1972) under a high-flying cover by Neal Adams, and this issue also features Golden Age Stories of Dr. Fate, the Spectre, Starman, Superman and more!

The Hawkman story from Flash Comics #71 (May, 1946) by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert involved "The Land Of The Bird People" (later known better as Feithera) and had Hawkman find this land in the arctic, including Trata (the villain of the piece), and Worla (the leader of the bird people).
 
This city's existence is kept a secret, but later on, Norda (known as Northwind) from Infinity, Inc. is revealed to be Worla's grandson (and son of Osroro and friend of Carter's, archeologist Fred Cantrell).  This story was represented in Infinity, Inc. #4 (July, 1984) under a shocking Jerry Ordway cover, and "The Land Of The Bird People" was partially redrawn by Al Dellinges (who did a wonderful job, but does make it a question of whether this was a true reprint).

It is first appearance time with the story of "The Ghost" from Flash Comics #88 (October, 1947) by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, though the character's name was technically the Gentleman Ghost (a ghost by the name of Jim Craddock).  Gentleman Ghost would go on to menace Hawkman and Hawkgirl again, and even cross Earths to menace the Silver Age Hawkman and the Atom!


This tale can be rediscovered in Secret Origins #1 (February-March, 1973) along with the origins of Superman, Flash (Barry Allen) and Batman, all under a cover by Nick Cardy, and series edited by E. Nelson Bridwell (who helped dig up so many of these glorious Golden Age tales).

The Gentleman Ghost came back in Flash Comics #90 (December, 1947) in "The Crimes That Couldn't Have Happened" facing off against Hawkman and Hawkgirl again, this time in Africa, in a story by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert.


This story was reprinted in Wanted, the World's Most Dangerous Villains #7 (March-April, 1973) under a Nick Cardy cover (that featured Hourman and Johnny Quick's Golden Age stories), in this other E. Nelson Bridwell edited 9 issue series that focused on reprints of stories featuring DC's bad guys, mostly with stories from the Golden Age.

The Gentleman Ghost was back again in Flash Comics #92 (February, 1948) with the "Riddle Of The Clown" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, with Hawkman and Hawkgirl facing off with their persistent foe in Paris, and again avoiding capture by apparently dying (as Hawkman had doubts whether gentleman Jim was really a ghost...).


This story was unearthed again in Detective Comics #439 (February-March, 1973) along with Golden Age Dr. Fate and Kid Eternity reprints (and Silver Age reprints of Batman, Elongated Man and the Atom, as well as new Batman stories and a new Manhunter story by Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson, putting a new spin on a Golden Age character), all under a cover by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano.

The last of Hawkman's reprinted solo tales not in a larger collection is Flash Comics #100 (October, 1948) with "The Human Fly Bandits" by John Broome and Joe Kubert, with Hawkman and Hawkgirl facing John Rotor and his henchmen (and having to fight their way out of a giant thermometer in a Batman related twist, as it was Batman and Robin who were usually trapped in giant death-traps!).


This tale was reprinted in Wanted, the World's Most Dangerous Villains #3 (November, 1972) under a Nick Cardy cover, and also had Golden Age Dr. Fate and Vigilante reprints.  Hawkman and Hawkgirl continued on with solo stories until Flash Comics #104 (February, 1949), but had a few other Golden Age appearances as well.

The biggest of which was in the Big All-American Comic Book of 1944 (a collection of many tales) with "A Hot Time In The Old Town" by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, with Hawkman and Hawkgirl facing off against Hot Shot, a foe who liked to set fires and needed heat to survive.

This story was reprinted in the DC Comics Rarities Archive #1 of 2005, along with plenty of different Golden Age characters stories, including fellow JSAers Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, Batman, Sandman, Wildcat, Mr. Terrific, Johnny Thunder, Atom, Hourman and even characters like Slam Bradly, Zatara and the Ghost Patrol!

More importantly, Hawkman has solo stories in All-Star Comics #1 and #2 in 1940, with All-Star Comics #1 (Summer, 1940) featuring Hawkman fighting the sorcerer Trygg and his army of zombies in a story by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff, and in All-Star Comics #2 (Fall, 1940) with Hawkman facing the Aztec priestess of Nyola, sacrificing people to her god, Yum-Chac.

These stories were reprinted in the the All-Star Comics Archives #0 of 2006, and Hawkman was there for the formation of the JSA with All-Star Comics #3 (Winter, 1940-1941) and the only one there for all 57 Golden Age issues of All-Star Comics (which themselves were reprinted in 12 total All-Star Comics Archives, making the JSA tales complete)!

Sadly, Hawkman's Golden Age tales aren't complete and need to be unearthed, as Hawkman only got one Golden Age Hawkman Archives in 2006, featuring Hawkman's solo tales from Flash Comics #1 to Flash Comics #22 (October, 1941)...


...getting more Golden Age reprints would sure be a reason to bring back DC's Archives, if only to see some of Hawkgirl's earliest tales, as well as villains like the Coin, the Hummingbird, Simple Simon, and the Monocle and friends like Neptune Perkins!