DCU Comic Book Reviews

HAWKGIRL #55

The Dead Don't Sleep

October 2006

Written by Walter Simonson

Pencils by Howard Chaykin

Inks by Howard Chaykin

Cover by Howard Chaykin

Synopsis

At the St. Roch police dept., orders arrive to move Khimaera to another holding facility.  Elsewhere, Lt. Doucette learns about the deaths of several officers, all of whom were involved in the transport of Khimaera.  Too late, Doucette realizes that Khimaera is now free.  At the Stonechat Museum, Kendra Saunders (aka Hawkgirl) is surprised at the reappearance of Carter Hall (aka Hawkman); he is no an old man.  She suggests calling someone the JLA for help.  When she turns away from Carter, he stands and forces her to sleep.  He then tells her to dream of death.  Kendra recalls the time she attempted to commit suicide.  Elsewhere, Roderic is watching Stonechat when he sees Khimaera also watching the museum.  Meanwhile, Kendra’s suicide dream is interrupted by Hawkwoman, who tells Kendra that they are one and will always be together.  Kendra awakens and rips of the “face” of Carter Hall to reveal Khimaera’s partner.  Outside, Khimaera transfer power to her partner as he fights with Kendra.  She is able to get away from him, grab a helmet and then place it upon his head.  Unable to remove, Khimaera’s transfer or power overwhelms her partner until his head explodes.  Angry at his death, Khimaera swears to kill Kendra for what she has done. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I must admit that either I am getting used to the art style used by Chaykin in this series or the story is getting so interesting that it does not bother me as much as it once did.  Actually, I am guessing that the reasons are probably a little bit of both.  While I am still not enamored by the use of the face boxes in which character heads are placed in the middle of full page of half page spreads, I have to admit the style is unique compared to all other books.  In that regard, when I open the pages to this book, I am immediately placed within its world and to its story. 

Ultimately what helps is that the story is getting interesting.  Admittedly it has been slow going just to reach this point, but now that we are reaching the end, I am intrigued.  At no point did I really think that was Hawkman coming back, but I also did not expect what actually did unfold to happen.  The use of Hawkwoman was well done and echoes back to the theme of reincarnation that was such a big part of the early issues of the Hawkman series.  It will be curious to see how this plays out and to see how this will affect Kendra’s ability to remember her past lives.  One of the things I have noticed is that Khimaera and her partner keep referring to Kendra’s souls (note the plural).  How this will play out when we get to the final showdown or how Roderic, who is inhabited by Hath-Set, will affect the final resolution as well.