Hawkman #21 Review

Size Doesn't Matter

Written By: Robert Venditti

Art By: Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Wade Von Grawbadger, Jeremy Cox, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 12, 2020

Sky Tyrant, the evil former life of Carter Hall is still alive and active now that he's become infected by the Batman Who Laughs and when we last saw our former hero, he was on his way to a key that would start a doomsday weapon to destroy all life in the Universe.  Thankfully though, we have Hawkwoman, Adam Strange and The Atom working together to stop their former friend and hopefully, end the infection and bring Carter Hall back to all of us.  I don't know if they'll be in time though because in the previous issue we saw Sky Tyrant going up against a Hawk Titan on a world of giants to get the key, but it doesn't look like this guardian is going to make it easy on him.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

For this issue of Hawkman we see our former hero going up against a long line of Titan paladins, who swore to the Titan Hawk that they would always protect the key that would open a doorway to a threat that could destroy the Universe...... kind of seems like that God Beyond the Void we heard so much about at the beginning of this series, but that's never said here.  

The thing is, we have Sky Tyrant put up a hell of fight and ultimately win the battle it seems against this paladin, but because of the size difference, think Hawkman vs. Godzilla, the fight between them isn't as bad ass as you would hope because it seems like a flea picking a fight with ya, but somehow still coming out on top. Really though, this book shines in our heroes, Hawkwoman, Adam Strange and the Atom trying to get to the key before Sky Tyrant does and ultimately trying to get Carter as well so that they can end the infection and hopefully put an end to this psychotic idea of destroying the Universe so that Hawkman's lives never truly end.

All in all, there isn't a lot to this issue beyond some further exposition that really spells out what this doomsday weapon is that Sky Tyrant wants and what our heroes are planning to do to stop him before he can achieve his plan.  Beyond that though, we have a fight that felt kind of weak after all was said and done, not to mention a sad giant paladin, who's probably going to kill himself out of shame for failing his family's legacy, but nobody has time for that bit of story.  I did enjoy fully understanding Sky Tyrant's plan though and seeing our heroes work together, but like usual, I'm always looking for more out of this title and seriously wanting Hawkman back because this Infected story has worn a bit thin in my mind.

Bits and Pieces:

While I think the addition of our new heroes really works well this issue, the overall Sky Tyrant parts left me wanting more because beyond his big plan of destroying all life in the Universe, there hasn't been a lot for this infected version of our hero to do and I would love to see this story end soon.  The art is great though and we do get a full explanation about what's going on in Sky Tyrant's head here, which was really appreciated.

6.5/10