DCU Comic Book Reviews

HAWKMAN #42

Aftermath

September 2005

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray

Pencils by Steve Sadowski

Inks by Drew Geraci

Cover by Matt Haley

Synopsis

At the St. Roch General Hospital, mystical pilgrims have come looking for Kendra Saunders, whom they believe to be the descendant of Judge Ely Sanders, who sentenced a sorcerer imbued with a demon to death in 1631.  Before his death, the sorcerer cursed the judge and all of his ancestors and now the pilgrims are looking for revenge.  With Kendra are Speed Saunders and the Golden Eagle.  While Kendra uses Hawkman’s nth metal to fly herself and Speed away, Golden Eagle fights the pilgrims although that does not go well.  Later, Kendra learns that Hawkman is dead.  At the Lure Nightclub, Kristopher Roderic visits Sara Descari (aka Satana) to let her know the Secret Society has provided the firearms shipment.  Then the Fadeaway Man arrives to pick up the second half of his payment for killing Hawkman.  At the Stonechat Museum, Kendra and Speed are once more attacked by the pilgrims.  Kendra changes into her Hawkgirl outfit and fights back using the Claw of Horus.  In the middle of the battle, the pilgrim vanishes.  Then Hawkman appears. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I am sooo confused.  Based on this issue, it looks as if Satana is the mastermind behind all of the attacks on Hawkman that ended with his death.  I am confused because this seems so anticlimactic.  One because she is not the most well-known villain and therefore her presence lacks that certain punch and two, because she was introduced earlier but not in a way that would suggest her role in any of the recent events.  Or the third possibility:  it is my own fault in that I was expecting something more (such as my guess that the Golden Eagle is the mastermind) and when I didn’t get it, confusion set in.  To me, it seemed as if this story was heading for an epic throw down between mentor and protégée, but instead it seems to be limping along.  To make matters worse, we get a brand new threat in this issue with the arrival of the Purple Pilgrim (unless of course this all part of Charley’s master plan).  The story is called “Aftermath,” but there actually is very little aftermath at all, but instead the start of something new.  While it is nice to see Kendra kicking some major ass, we miss seeing Kendra grieve for Hawkman or come to grips with her feelings for him.  There are small bits of this in this issue, but it makes me want to see more.  Heck, I would like to see the JSA involved (they were at the funeral) as well and see them grieve with Kendra.

Comic Connection

The Purple Pilgrim first appeared in Flash Comics, issue #86 (August 1947). 

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