DCU Comic Book Reviews

CONNOR HAWKE:  DRAGON'S BLOOD #6

Dragon's Blood:  Part 6

June 2007

Written by Chuck Dixon

Pencils by Derec Donovan

Inks by Derec Donovan

Cover by Derec Donovan

Synopsis

Conner Hawk has just killed the mystical dragon raised by Peng Li Zhao.  Shado tells Connor that the power of the dragon is in the blood.  While Connor follows the blood, Eddie and Shado decide to investigate the dragon’s lair.  Elsewhere, Zhao and his aide Edison Hoon follow the blood’s trail.  At the dragon’s lair, Eddie and Shado find dozens of eggs.  And they start to hatch.  Eddie and Shado fight the newly hatched dragons, eventually putting the entire cave on fire.  At the end of the bloody trail, Connor finds Hoon (after killing Zhao) bathing in the blood and gaining the dragon’s powers.  In the fight, Conner is able to drive the magical arrow that killed the dragon through Hoon’s heart, killing him as well.  Later Connor visits Eddie in the hospital while Shado returns home to her son.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

“We both made a transformation, Hoon.  You to Godhood, me to murderer.”

I have been praising this book from the beginning.  Dixon and Donovan have crafted a well-done tale of mystery and action with each issue slowly building to the ultimate climax, the fight between Conner and Zhao.  And trust me I am not all that upset with the last minute decision to replace Zhao with Hoon.  It is a clichéd twist in the plot, but acceptable in a book that is intent on telling a good story rather than trying to wow us with something new or different.  There is nothing wrong with that.  I can appreciate good craftsmanship and this book had it.  Until this issue. 

I had two problems.  The first is the off-panel treachery by Hoon.  I do not object to the plot twist, but I am stunned that it would actually occur off panel like that, especially since it occurs only several pages after Zhao and Hoon were seen heading towards the pool of blood.  To me, the “shocking” plot twist is more of a cheat.  It might’ve worked if Hoon had a history with Connor or meant something to Connor, but Hoon is a character without a history or a perhaps, beyond this moment in the book, which we don’t even get to see. 

The second is the climax of the story with Connor killing Hoon.  I don’t have a problem with the ending, per se, but really this moment is pretty big for Connor and Dixon completely drops the ball.  I realize that this mini-series is not time for in depth exploration of this moment, but at least a mention, a discussion with Eddie on it, a narrative monologue.  Something.  It happens and then the entire thing is just dropped like it didn’t happen.  And this not a small thing; Dixon makes a point of that as it is happening (see the quote above).  Connor killed someone and you can tell it has affected him.  But to what degree or how he is going to deal with it, we don’t know because it is not brought up again.  Frankly we needed that page more than the age with Connor staring at Eddie in bandages.

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