Hawkman

Hawkman is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940.

Several incarnations of Hawkman have appeared in DC Comics, all of them characterized by the use of archaic weaponry and by large, artificial wings, attached to a harness made from the special Nth metal that allows flight. Most incarnations of Hawkman work closely with a partner/romantic interest named Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman.

Hawkman is most often depicted as human archaeologist Carter Hall—the modern-day reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian prince named Khufu—or as Thanagarian police officer Katar Hol from the planet Thanagar. The character is generally regarded as having one of the most confusing backstories of any in DC Comics, due to a series of reinventions over the years following DC's 1985 series Crisis on Infinite Earths. Some writers have attempted to integrate Carter Hall and Katar Hol into one story by linking the Thanagarian aliens to the Egyptian curse that causes Hawkman to reincarnate periodically throughout human history, or by using Carter Hall as Katar Hol's alias, or otherwise depicting the merger of Carter and Katar into one being.

The character has been adapted into other media numerous times, with significant appearances in the animated Justice League Unlimited cartoon, which featured Hawkgirl as a main character, as well as several DC Universe Original Animated Movies.

In live action, the character first appeared onscreen in the two-part 1979 TV special Legends of the Superheroes by Bill Nuckols appearing alongside Adam West and Burt Ward as allies Batman and Robin. Hawkman was later portrayed by Michael Shanks in Smallville and by Falk Hentschel in The CW's Arrowverse family of shows, with both versions favoring the ancient Egyptian version of the character. Hawkman made his cinematic debut and portrayed by Aldis Hodge in 2022's Black Adam set in the DC Extended Universe.

Carter Hall
In the days of ancient Egypt, Prince Khufu is engaged in a feud with his rival, the Egyptian priest Hath-Set. The priest eventually captures both Khufu and his consort Chay-Ara, and kills them using a cursed dagger of Nth metal. Millennia later, in 1940, Khufu is reincarnated as American archaeologist Carter Hall, Chay-Ara as Shiera Saunders, and Hath-Set as scientist Anton Hastor. After touching the same Nth Metal dagger used to kill Khufu, Carter regains the memories of his former life and realizes Hastor is the reincarnation of his ancient foe. When Hastor kidnaps Shiera, using a magic spell to draw her to his lair, Hall uses his newly-refound memories to craft a gravity-defying belt using Nth metal and a winged costume to become Hawkman. Carter successfully rescues Shiera, Anton is killed by electrocution, and Carter and Saunders begin a romantic relationship.

Carter Hall and Shiera Saunders had a son together, named Hector Hall, who grew up to also have a superheroic identity as Silver Scarab and later adopted the mantle of Dr. Fate. Hector Hall was a member of the superhero groups Infinity Inc. and the JSA, where he served alongside his father.

Katar Hol
Katar Hol is an honored police officer on his homeworld of Thanagar. Along with his wife Shayera, they use the anti-gravity belts and their wings to fly and fight criminals. These were the tools of an elite police unit tasked to track and apprehend the most dangerous criminals. The pair were sent to Earth in 1961 to capture the shape-shifting criminal Byth. Following this mission, they elected to remain on Earth to work with authorities in the United States and learn human police methods. The two adopted covers as a pair of museum curators, Carter and Shiera Hall, and acted publicly as the second Hawkman and the second Hawkgirl (later Hawkwoman).

Although initially depicted as surviving the Crisis on Infinite Earths intact, Katar Hol was rebooted just a few years afterwards in a prestige-format miniseries named Hawkworld, by Timothy Truman. A regular ongoing series of the same name followed, with writer John Ostrander joining Truman. Katar Hol, a young police officer on the planet Thanagar, rebels against the oppressive system of his planet and is sent into exile. He later escapes and uncovers a renegade police captain Byth. As a result, he is reinstated into the force, given a new partner, Shayera Thal, and sent on a mission on Earth, where he is the third Hawkman.

In DC's The New 52 universe, Hawkman is Katar Hol but uses the name Carter Hall.

Fel Andar
Late in the 1980s, Thanagarian spy Fel Andar—who had been living on Earth for some time already—fell in love with an Earth woman, Sharon Parker, and they had a son named Charley. Andar was ordered by the Thanagarian government to infiltrate the Justice League and Parker's memories were altered so that she believed she was Hawkwoman and believed that her son was "Carter Hall Jr." instead of Andar's son. Charley Andar later took up the name Hawkman to honor his "father" whom he believed to be Carter Hall. When Parker's old memories surface, she exposed Andar's infiltration plot; Andar murdered her and fled to Thanagar. Andar later returned to Earth to help his son become the hero known as Golden Eagle, and saved his life once before being recaptured and returned to Thanagar.

Zauriel
When Grant Morrison revived the JLA comic book in 1997, they expanded the roster to include over a dozen heroes. With frequent collaborator Mark Millar, they intended to create a new Hawkman with no links to the old characters. This new Hawkman, an Earth-bound angel of the "Eagle host" named Zauriel, was to be introduced into the JLA with issue #6 (June 1997). Morrison was denied permission to use the name "Hawkman" by DC editorial, which still considered it "radioactive", due to the complex post-Crisis continuity problems with the character.

In the Wizard JLA Special, Morrison made an appeal to the fanbase, "It's a good name and it seems a shame to let it go to waste. We're hoping that fans will figure 'For God's sake, let's just call him Hawkman and get him in the Justice League as Hawkman,' and the editors will relent. We're hoping to start a campaign." DC held firm, and the "Hawkman" name went unused for several more years.

Charley Parker
Originally the Teen Titans member called Golden Eagle, Charley Parker was presumed deceased after an attack by the Wildebeest Society during the event known as Titans Hunt. He was later revealed to be alive in the fourth volume of Hawkman and went on to assist the Carter Hall Hawkman for some time. When Carter Hall seemingly perished, Charley Parker took on the mantle and became the fourth Hawkman, and revealed himself as the son of Carter Hall. In fact, he was actually the son of Fel Andar, and had been responsible for Carter's troubles and his apparent demise. Carter Hall eventually defeated the Golden Eagle, their vendetta was later dropped, and Carter Hall reclaimed his mantle.