Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Hawkwoman :: The Thanagarian

When Geoff Johns revitalized the world of Hawkman, he reintroduced the Golden Age version of the character -Prince Khufu- and his eternal partner and love -Princess Chayara-, which in modern times were reincarnated as Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders.

Johns did a great job in streamlining the convulted history of Hawkman, and made it a cohesive, understandable, and fun concept. This, along with the fact that the Silver Age Hawkman -Katar Hol- had died, made this modern version feel right. There was only one loose end that had not been tied yet, though: Hawkwoman!

Shayera was reintroduced to the DC Universe in Hawkman #14 after several years of absence in an arc titled "The Thanagarian". Here, officer Thal, who had stayed under the radar after her husband died, finally returns and confronts the earthmen calling themselves Hawkman and Hawkgirl, while at the same time she tries to accomplish the task that brought her to Earth in the first place: Capture the criminal Byth.

Johns gave Shayera an opportunity to shine one last time before giving her -and us- a sense of closure to her story. Shayera and the hawks remained in good terms, and once Byth was captured, she returned to her home planet in the Polaris star system.

I was excited and happy to see Shayera one more time, but at the same time I was sad because it was evident she was being given a good-bye. We were able to see Hawkwoman again during Infinite Crisis, but that's astory for another time. For now, enjoy this great image of officer Thal.

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