Another D-Lister Turned Gold by New 52
It's happened again. Another writer and artist combo has made a D-list DC Universe character someone I actually like in the New 52, and it's Carter Hall AKA The Savage Hawkman.
Written by Tony S. Daniel and drawn by Philip Tan, The Savage Hawkman #1 opens with Hall trying to destroy his alien nth metal armor in the woods. His career as Hawkman had cost him his life once and he wasn't going to let it happen again. But what starts as a funeral pyre for his old way of life soon turns into a new transformation for Hall. He never understood the properties of nth metal completely, and now he's become more powerful than he was before, consumed by the armor. His new found abilities have to take a back seat however, as a new threat from abandoned alien spacecrafts in the depths of the ocean start killing a research team that Hall is a part of. Can he master his new abilities and save his colleagues? I guess we'll have to keep reading to find out. And I do intend to keep reading.
The writing on this was easy enough to understand if you've been a DC fan for some time, but if anyone is confused about why Hall, just like Alec Holland from Swamp Thing is back from the dead, it would only take a quick glance to read about the event known as "Brightest Day" to get some background information. Other than that little bit of a loose thread it's a great place for new readers to pick up. Hall has become tortured by the thought of professional superheroics and it's refreshing to see how someone might actually react to their situation after having been resurrected back into a place like the DC Universe.
The artwork was really solid and the style was something I didn't expect. Tan uses a mixture of lines and strokes that give the illusion of a painting and it really works for this title. It felt more like an adult tile from Vertigo than it did a DC Universe book. I've been finding that sort of thing in most of the books I'm sticking with after the relaunch, and I have to say that I really enjoy the raised maturity level.
I'm going to give this book a 4.5/5 for being a huge surprise and a really fun read.
Written by Tony S. Daniel and drawn by Philip Tan, The Savage Hawkman #1 opens with Hall trying to destroy his alien nth metal armor in the woods. His career as Hawkman had cost him his life once and he wasn't going to let it happen again. But what starts as a funeral pyre for his old way of life soon turns into a new transformation for Hall. He never understood the properties of nth metal completely, and now he's become more powerful than he was before, consumed by the armor. His new found abilities have to take a back seat however, as a new threat from abandoned alien spacecrafts in the depths of the ocean start killing a research team that Hall is a part of. Can he master his new abilities and save his colleagues? I guess we'll have to keep reading to find out. And I do intend to keep reading.
The writing on this was easy enough to understand if you've been a DC fan for some time, but if anyone is confused about why Hall, just like Alec Holland from Swamp Thing is back from the dead, it would only take a quick glance to read about the event known as "Brightest Day" to get some background information. Other than that little bit of a loose thread it's a great place for new readers to pick up. Hall has become tortured by the thought of professional superheroics and it's refreshing to see how someone might actually react to their situation after having been resurrected back into a place like the DC Universe.
The artwork was really solid and the style was something I didn't expect. Tan uses a mixture of lines and strokes that give the illusion of a painting and it really works for this title. It felt more like an adult tile from Vertigo than it did a DC Universe book. I've been finding that sort of thing in most of the books I'm sticking with after the relaunch, and I have to say that I really enjoy the raised maturity level.
I'm going to give this book a 4.5/5 for being a huge surprise and a really fun read.
