The Hawkman Archives, Vol. 2

Hawkman Archives #2

by Gardner Francis Fox, Murphy Anderson (Illustrator), Robert C. Harvey (Introduction)

A stunning new Archive Edition collecting Silver Age HAWKMAN #1-8 (1964-1965)! This volume , which opens with Hawkman's first appearance in his own title, pits the Winged Warrior against foes old and new. Plus, an intro by cartoonist and comics historian R.C. Harvey.

Genres: Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"

Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase

Reviews

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know what? Yes. These are nuts, and I like them. A nice married couple who are cops on Thanagar, chased a criminal earth then decided to stick around and learn new cop techniques. Not sure that cops of the 1960s were great role models, but that's besides the point. The Hawks get day jobs but are also Alien Hawk cops patrolling earth fighting other aliens, sometimes mystic things from the past. Also Zatanna debuts. How about that?

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fine detail work of Murphy Anderson is apparent, and he is clearly superior to many of the artists he inks, such as Gil Kane. It's not as good as the first set for a lot of the Same reasons Green Lantern Archives vol. 4 is less interesting. The science fiction element is largely gone with mostly superhero derring-do. Sure, it's mentioned every story that Katar and Shayera are from Thanagar, but we see it only once in this volume, as we see the Guardians of the Universe and another sector's Green Lantern only once in Green Lantern Archives vol. 4. I did enjoy this volume much more than some of the other DC solo heroes at this period, but this volume just doesn't hold up as well as the previous one, although the Shadow Thief and Illora stories are quite good. This is currently the final volume of the series, taking us up through HawkmanThe Atom for eight issues.

The stories make an effort to be educational about science and history, although you really have to take these aspects with a grain of salt, as well as Carter and Shiera's willingness to make fakes of the weapons they take from the museum. Why don't they make duplicates to begin with and let the originals stay in the museum instead of breaking them? The last story features Fal Tal, who figures in the Hawkworld mythos.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine volume of Silver Age Hawkman stories from Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson. As usual, Fox's stories are heavily influenced by pulpy sci-fi, but they are generally entertaining, even though he goes to the well of parallel worlds a bit too often. The Shadow Thief story is particularly good, and Fox has an ingenious way of the Hawks defeating their foe and saving the Earth.

Anderson's art is supreme, and simply some of the best work he produced. Clean, yet never simple, he delivered issue after issue. One of the best comics artists ever.

[Bill Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

These classic stories are a window to another world. With funky science fiction scripts by Gardner Fox and solid art by Murphy Anderson, this Hawkman carries a mace and uses his brain. The gadgets are quirky and the villains disposeable, but these comics are a tonic for people tired of grim, gritty and way too long modern comic stories.

[Doc]

This was a trip down memory lane. I had once upon a time all these issues of 1960's Hawkman with that clean beautiful artwok by Murphy Anderson.

[Sj n · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this trying to widen my horizons, and to that point I find that I understand the appeal to Hawkman. The problem for me is that I struggle to fully engage in comics older than the 70's. Not that I dislike them, but I find them to slow paced and overly wordy. There were some things to really enjoy though. Oddly, enough Hawkgirl was the best character. She had a more cheery attitude and was the more inquisitive of the duo. Hawkman was more matter of fact with things, which can be funny when going against the more wacky villains but he lacks personality. The book has a lot of interesting concepts that I'd love to dive more into but since this is a book of 1960's stories, they are surface level and finish just as they start. Glad to read this for historical purposes, but I did found it to be a bit of a chore to finish.