Hey folks welcome back. Again thanks to everyone who got his or her questions to me. I will work my best to make sure that they answered to their fullest.
Here is the scoop on the Kryptonian Supergirl.
Y’see in the old Pre-Crisis DCU Kal-el wasn’t the sole survivor of Krypton. When Krypton blew up one domed city survived the explosion. That city was Argo City. The dome was built my Kal-el’s uncle. Of course the ground turned into kryptonite, anti kryptonite. But those kryptonians were survivors so they laid lead sheeting to protect them from the anti kryptonite. Everything was good and dandy. Kara Zor-el was even able to see her cousin Superman’s exploits on Earth via a super telescope. But then some meteors crash into Argo City. Fortunately the dome was self-sealing.
Unfortunately they damaged the lead shielding. Slowly dying from anti kryptonite poisoning they managed to send Kara Zor-el to Earth to be with her cousin. And that is the honest truth. The sad, wacky, honest truth.
She managed to hook up with the current Supergirl through a villian who wanted to rid every universe of Supergirl. Kara landed in the current DCU on accident, but eventually everything was returned to normal.
Our first question is from email.
What is the deal with Hawk and Dove. Weren’t they both Dudes? Isn’t Dove a dumb name for a guy super-hero? But then Dove was a she. Then she died. Then Hawk was evil?
Ok, here is what you have to understand about Hawk and Dove, they were created in a different time. See America was in turmoil. There was this war that America was involved in for some sketchy reasons. Some Americans supported it and other Americans were against it. People were protesting, and the whole thing was a big fiasco. I know, I know 1968 looks pretty absurd with thirty-five years of hindsight.
Well Hank Hall and his brother were like opposite sides of a coin. Hank was the athlete, Don was the intellectual. Hank was conservative, Don was liberal. So on and so forth. Their pop was a judge and encouraged them both. Well someone mad an attempt on his life, and the boys followed the would be assassin. They ended up locked in a room listening to the new plans to kill their father. The kids wished for some power to help the situation. Their wishes were answered by a couple of voices (where were those voices when I wished for my cd turntables?) Those voices belonged to a pair of Lords, one Lord of Order and one Lord of Chaos. Now as one would expect Lords of Order and Chaos are enemies. But these two Lords, T’Charr of Chaos and Terataya of Order, were in love. Sort of like an extra dimensional “West Side Storyâ€. Terataya, I just met a Lord of Order named Terataya. Sorry I got distracted.
These Lords peeped the plight and granted the Hall brothers powers. Hank was Hawk (because he was aggressive, like the bird of prey) Don was Dove (as in the universal symbol of peace). Hawk was pretty fast, super strong and nigh invulnerable, and Dove was extremely agile. Now how the powers worked was that whenever there was a great injustice, all the kids had to do was say “Hawk†or “Dove†and they would be transformed into the heroes. As long as that injustice was present they would remain empowered and costumed. But once the injustice was gone so were the powers and costumes.
You see Hawk and Dove were an experiment. These Lords wanted to prove that their respective houses could work together. The problem was that Don looked up to Hank too much, and wasn’t individual enough for the Lords. So while Don was saving some kids in a building, the Lords took his power away and gave it to Dawn Granger. Unfortunately it was at an inopportune time and Don was killed. Without his brother Hank became a loose cannon. Eventually Hawk and Dove/Dawn became a team together again for the first time. They had lots of adventures, one in which they even met T’Charr and Terataya. The Lords transferred their essences to ensure that Dawn and Hank would be the last recipients of the Hawk and Dove powers, and to give them a power boost. Dove could even fly. Plus Hawk and Dove kind of hooked up (wink, wink).
But then in 1991 some dude named Waverider came back from two years ago (2001) and said that one of 1991’s heroes would kill all the other heroes and rule the world in 2001 as Monarch. How could one of 1991’s best and brightest go on a superhero killing rampage? With a little help from the future. Monarch traveled back in time to confront Hawk. Monarch revealed himself to be none other than the future Hank Hall. Hawk refused to believe that he could become evil. So Monarch killed Dove in front of him to prove just how evil Hank would become. Hank then killed Monarch, and accepted his destiny by becoming Monarch. Monarch then became Extant and killed some Justice Society members. The end, or is it?
The next question is from Manolis Vamvounis via email.
Can you explain the Hawkman/HawkGirl/Dr Fate/Sandman/Lyta Hall connection? the genealogy hinted in Hawkman and JSA drove me nuts. Could you also explain how the mainstream characters are different from Lyta Hall and Daniel from the sandman series?
Ok, ok I can do this. I just need to take a deep breath. The common thread is Hector Hall. Carter “Hawkman†Hall and Shiera “Hawkgirl†Hall had a son, Hector Hall. Poor little Hector wanted to be a hero but had no powers. So he built a solar powered suit using “nth metalâ€, which among other things can be used to fly because of it antigravity properties. In this suit he made is superhero debut as Silver Scarab. Well Silver Scarab (who was as lame as he sounds) was put out of his misery by the latest reincarnation of Hath Set, Hawkman’s immortal enemy. Y’know on the topic of immortal enemies, just last week my immortal enemy, Sumner, put gum in my hair. So then I had to go to the barber to get every evened out. What a mess.
Anyway while his body died his essence was gathered up, and took up residence in the dream dimension, where Hector became Sandman. He even brought is wife there and she got pregnant. But then the real Sandman, Dream/Morpheus reclaimed his throne. What did he do with Hector? Why he put Hector’s soul in the baby growing in Dawn “Dove†Granger’s comatose body. Oh you thought she was dead. Well it turns out she was just comatose, a pawn a grand scheme. Who is Dawn’s baby’s daddy? Hawk of course. See it was prophesized that the child of Hawk and Dove would have great powers. So Mordu, a real bad guy, wanted possession of the body. But Hector’s soul got there first. Once Hector was (re)born he instantaneously grew to adulthood and took the mantel of Dr. Fate.
So there you have it. Hawkman and Hawk are Hector’s fathers, and Hawkgirl and Dove are his mothers. Oh yeah Hector’s wife is MIA and his son is the new Sandman over in Vertigo. As far as I know the DC and Vertigo versions are the same, but I imagine that the new Peter David project will clear up those blurry visions.
Well that does it for me. Keep those questions coming. And that’s no baloney.
