In this second install of the three day essay block, I explore my favorite comic book character. She is beautiful and powerful, she comes from the Polaris star system, she is the winged wonder. The pencils below are by artist Steve Lieber.
Shayera Thal is definitely not a damsel in distress. As a thanagarian police officer, Hawkwoman (or Hawkgirl, depending on how early or later in her career we are talking about) is trained in hand-to-hand combat, a weapons expert, and a superb detective. Thanks to the advanced culture from her home planet, Hawkwoman also has knowledge of revolutionary technologies, and thanks to the absorbascon in hers and Hawkman's spaceship, she can talk all of Earth's languages, and even communicate with animals. Her body can adapt to the rigors of outer space, and her strength is above human levels.
But it is none of these that make Shayera Thal a great character. It is her sense of justice and order that makes her unique. She can be as tough as the fiercest warrior in battle, but at the same time has a compassion and nobility greater than that of the humans she has sworn to protect.
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