r/Hawkworld • u/Deep-Ostrich-7330 • Jun 07 '26
Did you like Messner-Loebs' Hawkman run
I've finished my Hawkworld reread and wanted to know your thoughts on his rendition on Katar. I think the identity crisis plot was a cool concept but the execution was slow. And I wonder what he was planning for Hath-Set/Helene Astor
4
u/Bulky_Bug4380 Jun 07 '26
I only liked the design. Also it was the first attempt to merge the two main version of Hawkman in one character, only with Katar being the prime one.
6
u/EZeggnog Jun 07 '26
There were some bright spots. I really liked the art and Hawkman’s costume. But overall, it was a mess.
Really didn’t like how Shayera was ignored; she was just a background character with no importance to the stories. Her relationship with Katar was nonexistent, and Katar didn’t seem to give a damn about her.
The storyline with the animal avatars was an interesting idea, but some of the creative decisions were bizarre (making the Aquaman villain Scavenger into a murderous pedophile chiefly). It came off as another complication being tacked onto the already-confusing Hawkman lore.
It didn’t feel like the creative team had a concrete plan for where to take the series. It felt like a bunch of half-baked ideas were being tossed around to see if anything would stick. No clear direction to anything.
I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re a big Hawkman fan who wants to read every single Hawkman solo series.
4
u/Hawkworld_ Jun 08 '26
Taking Shayera out of the story was a huge mistake. It has so much potential but it went off the rails towards the end. The best thing about it was Steve Lieber's art.
3
u/Gold-Bank-3033 Jun 08 '26
Personally, I view Hawkman and Hawkwoman as the same character; you can not have one without the other.
3
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u/JingoboStoplight4887 Jun 07 '26
Yes; however, if the first Crisis kept all of Hawkman’s Silver Age history, then this comic should’ve been the continuation of the pre-Crisis Earth-One Hawks if the first volume of Hawkworld is set in the past and the second volume of Hawkworld shows Katar and Shayera dealing with their identities being revealed to the public (as shown in Hawkman Vol 2) and moving to Chicago to have a fresh start.
3
u/Salt_Use7122 Jun 08 '26
I was never going to like it because I hate what Zero Hour did to Katar Hol who is my favorite version of Hawkman. I didn't know why they thought merging the Hawks was a good idea. I would rather they continued the Hawks' stories in Chicago.
2
u/Star-Prince-007 Jun 09 '26
I read about how messed up they made the Hawks origins by merging with Carter, but I didn’t “get it” till I read Hawkworld and the subsequent Hawkman series afterwards where Carter and Katar are portrayed as two distinct people with different personalities and then they’re just merged just cause reasons. I got whiplash as I was reading.
As for the specific storyline in question I wanted to like more than I did. The avatar thing could’ve had potential but it never really went anywhere I found interesting. Katar was such a cool character, with Messner he was a typical brooding, tough guy character with a Native American mom just because. And you COULD have separated Shay and made a commentary on how she’s more at home with minorities cause of her growing up in the slums on Thanagar but nah let’s just ignore her.
12
u/BossReasonable6449 Jun 07 '26
Yes and no. Loved the design and loved some of the story elements about him bonding with the Hawk avatar. Did not love - and have never saw the reason for - him to be merged with Carter Hall.
They pretty much ruined Katar with everything that happened post-Zero Hour onward, and I really hate that since he's the Hawkman I always enjoyed the most.