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Apr 16, 2021
Review – Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1
Story by Dan Abnett, Kyle Higgins, Danny Fingeroth
Art by Le Beau Underwood, Andrea Di Vito, Juanan Ramirez, Mike Manley
Colours by Chris Sotomayor, Sebastian Cheng, Erick Arciniega
Letters by Travis Lanham
Cover by Inhyuk Lee
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: 14th April 2021
Introduction
2021 marks the 30th anniversary of Darkhawk’s 1991 debut in Darkhawk 1, a title that ran for 50 issues while the character himself had stints alongside the New Warriors, Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
This is a tribute issue and a hope of things to come! From early 90s action to post-Annihilation plot and finally closing the arc. The issue is way too short, to be honest, b
ut let’s head back to the 90s, find our alien amulet and transmute into DARKHAWK!
Stories/Writing
Review - Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1
Giving us a past, present and future(ish) look at the 90s character that defied the odds and joins Marvel’s teams. During the issue, Chris Powell (Darkhawk) taps into the DATASONG of the amulet and the three stories flow from this lament.
The first story, titled “Cry of the City,†is handled by the original Darkhawk creative team of writer Danny Fingeroth and artist Mike Manley, with colours by Chris Sotomayor. It follows Darkhawk as he follows criminal mastermind Phillipe Bazin, before facing off against Savage Steel. Written by the original team of Fingeroth and Manley it plays to the fans!
In the second “Long Way From Home,†Powell is wandering a random planet and stumbles into an alien bar. In ten short pages, we get a neat, tidy standalone story showing off Darkhawk in a story with familiar alien baddies . It sits the most comfortable of the three stories and writer Dan Abnett teams up with Andrea Di Vito to draw these pages
The final very short five-page story “Last Flight†is a short sombre finale and prelude in one. Finished wearing the amulet, Powell fills the Datasong with his memories to hope the next wearer learns from his mistakes. It’s both a moving and sad chapter to a fan favourite character. Writer Kyle Higgins and artist Juanan RamÃrez fill the space with both hopelessness and hope at the same time.
Artwork
Review - Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1
The three vignettes are designed well and fans will recognise the first splash page from issue 1 as a tribute to the style and writing of early 90s comics. De Vito and RamÃrez though show their talent in the final 15 pages of the comic. It’s beautiful, desolate and action-packed with modern imagery and panelling.
It’s amazing to show this action next to this more realistic artwork and shows you just how far comics have come in 30 short years! We are now as far from the 90s as the 90s was from the late 50s and early 60s artwork!
Review - Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1
Overall Thoughts
This is a quick 12-minute read but worth it as it hints at things to come for both Marvel and Darkhawk. For fans of the hero, it’s a must-buy, but and for others, it’s a good sedge way into a character that fans love but many mainstream fans may not have heard of. If all else fails many will buy it for the stunning Lee cover that collectors will snap up and seal into CGC plastic for eternity!
If you enjoyed our Review of Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1 then leave a comment or rating below.
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Apr 23, 2021
This was a really solid celebration of Darkhawk's history, and a little bit more. The three short stories are set in the character's street hero days, his cosmic era, and his future, respectively.
The first is both written and drawn in the style of his early 90's issues, and even makes clever passing references to things that were going on in the series at that time. By modern standards, it probably seems a little cheesy, but as an homage? It's just about perfect. This is a story that really would fit in nearly seamlessly with the era it's celebrating.
The second story does a similar thing with what DH was up to in the 2000's, paling around with Nova in space and such. I don't have quite the same nostalgia for that era, but the s
tory worked. The closing story concerns me a little bit as to the character's future, but the conceit used to tie all the stories together was kind of neat.
If I had come into this without much familiarity with Darkhawk's history, it probably would have felt like the sort of haphazard content I usually expect to find in something like an anniversary one-shot. As a longtime fan of Darkhawk, however, it exceeded my expectations. more
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Apr 15, 2021
Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel @marvel
Writer: Danny Fingeroth @danny_fingeroth ; Dan Abnett @dabnett ; Kyle Higgins @kyledhiggins
Artist: Mike Manley @drawmanley ; Andrea Di Vito @andreadivitoart & Le Beau Underwood @lebeauunderwoodinker ; Juanan RamÃrez @juananramirez
Colors: Chris Sotomayor @sotocolor; Sebastian Cheng @sebastianchengcolor ; Erick Arciniega @erick.arciniega
Letters: Travis Lanham @immortalandroid
Cover: Logan Lubera @loganx37 & Rachelle Rosenberg @rachelle_cheri
A trio of short stories highlighting the ultimate 90’s character, Darkhawk! The first story showcases Chris attempting to gain intel on the Bazin crime family until the untimely arrival of a kidnapping attempt by Savage Steel
, who unbeknownst to Chris, is his own father! Next we see Darkhawk in the months following the War of Kings and the invasion of the Cancerverse battling a Brood infestation of an already decimated colony. Finally, a cosmic war is coming and Chris gloomily faces his heroic end, being sucked into a massive singularity. But not before imprinting his memories into the Darkhawk amulet and sending it out to the cosmos in search of a new host.
I really enjoyed all three of these stories. It would be pretty fitting to see the character eventually join up with the Guardians of the Galaxy. I was really excited to get to Abnett’s story, as his work on Nova and Guardians was always my favorite. Hope he returns to the Marvel cosmic books for good!
Rating: âï¸âï¸âï¸ (3/5)
Reviewed by: @meanadam of The Comic Book Club of Instagram
Follow: @the_comic_book_club on Instagram for more reviews! more
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Aug 18, 2021
I am astonished that Marvel has found even more writers (besides Chad Bowers and Chris Sims) who want to try to make Darkhawk happen. With that bitchy line hopefully establishing my level of interest in/appreciation of the character, I'll say I was pleasantly surprised by this anthology. I liked the trick of tying all 3 strips together with an over-arching story, and the notion of actual character development in the future was a bit promising. But the first strip is letting the team down with shabby art and excruciating (both dated and poorly-crafted) writing.
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Apr 23, 2021
This was fiiine. I've never been an avid Darkhawk reader, so... But I liked how each story showed how the character has evolved since his introduction. However, if this was supposed to make me excited for more Darkhawk, it failed!
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Sep 17, 2021
Ah yes, my favourite hero..... Kevin....... Hawk.........e?
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Apr 15, 2021
This was pretty bad and generic writing. Artwork was the only thing I enjoyed about it. Definitely wouldn't pick up the second issue.
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