The Golden Age Comic Blog (Hawkman page 32)

[John Moores]

"Beginning the tale of a phantom of the night..." Here, in Flash Comics #1, we meet young weapons collector and research scientist, Carter Hall, who has received a new package from Jim Rock, in Egypt. Enclosed is a glass knife, used in ancient sacrifices, but upon opening the new addition to his collection, Carter finds himself suddenly dizzy, and then, "as though hypnotized", falls asleep, slumping to the floor.

In his dream, Hall sees himself as the strangely blond haired Prince Khufu, in ancient Egypt, being attacked by the hulking Kolar, at the behest of the evil false priest, Hath-Set. Khufu refuses to give up the location of his beloved, Shiera, "betrayed by Anubis".
Furthermore, the young prince defeats Kolar, and leaving Hath-Set in disarray, leaves to rescue his love, swearing that he will return to kill the evil priest.

Reaching the lovely Sheira after a harrowing, speedy journey, Khufu cannot rest; the sky has turned ptich-black at midday, and Hath-Set's minions have followed him. Preparing for battle, the brave Prince, sword in hand, makes his stand, but sheer numbers overwhelm him. Wounded in battle, the heroic Khufu and Sheira are transported back to Abydos, and the temple of Anubis. Placed upon a sacrificial altar, Khufu is slain by Hath-Set's dagger, but with his last breath, tells the priest that "[Khufu] will live again...as shall you, Hath-Set. And then I shall be the victor!"

Carter Hall awakes from his dream, pondering the events he has seen. Placing the knife (which he has correctly gathered, killed him, in his incarnation as Khufu) in its box, Hall decides a while later to take a walk to clear his head. Approaching the district's train station, the scientist is suddenly jarred from his reverie by screams - the tracks are turning blue and the train is on fire!

Sprinting down the stairs to investigate, Hall careens into a lovely young woman, who is of course, Shiera. Unable to help the poor passengers incinerated on the train, Hall and the dazed Shiera take a cab back to Carter's house (88 Rimble Road, for those keeping score) and discuss the fact that Shiera, too, has had some strange dreams and visions concerning a lost life in Ancient Egypt.

Carter Hall has a purpose now. As Shiera, drained from her ordeal, sleeps, the young man, after performing some scientific investigations, dons "as a grim jest" an outfit evocative of the Ancient Egyptian Hawk-God (here miscalled "Anubis"!) and with his invention - the gravity defying Ninth metal as part of his outfit, flies off to fulfill his ancient destiny of revenge as The Hawkman.

A figure of terror himself, to the unsuspecting citizens, Hawkman soon reaches his quarry - a large, secluded house wherein according to the heros instruments, a large dynamo had recently been activated.  This is the home of Doctor Hastor, master electrician.

Sure enough, Hastor is not only the culprit behind the subway atrocity, but is also the knowing reincarnation of Hath-Set. As Hastor plans to hold the city for ransom, the bizarrely masked Hawkman appears at the window. Correctly sensing who the intruder is, Hastor begins to attack using his electrical equipment. Hawkman wheels around, evading the blast, and revealing that Ninth metal is a non-conductor, and that his weapon is a wooden quarterstaff, which soon makes short work of the equipment.
Fleeing, Hastor runs to a certain room in his large house and begins his emergency plan; before the room's giant altar, Hastor / Hath-Set mystically summons Shiera using   myrrh, which pervades the city, bringing the bewitched girl forth. Hawkman, flying home above the myrrh, returns to Rimble Road to find Shiera gone. Pausing only to grab a cloak of Ninth metal for Shiera's protection and a bow and arrow (miscalled a crossbow, oddly!), Hawkman soars off to settle the score with Hastor.

While Hastor greets the mesmerized young woman and prepares her for sacrifice, via his electricity machine, Hawkman reappears, throwing the protective cloak over the girl and then, somewhat, ruthlessly, apparently slays the unarmed Hastor with his bow. After assuring the seemingly dying Hastor that the subway deaths will be looked upon as an unfortunate accident, the Hawkman takes Shiera back to his home, and safety where the new hero ponders that perhaps he hasn't seen the last of the evil Hastor - which of course, turned out to be true.

[Gardner Grayle]

 

[SDcomics]

Flash Comics number 1 was published in January, 1940.  The cover was penciled and inked by Sheldon Moldoff.

"The Origin of Hawkman" was written by Gardner Fox and penciled and inked by Dennis Neville.

This story has been reprinted a bunch of times:

        in Famous First Edition (DC, 1974 series) #F-8 (August-September 1975)
        in Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes (Crown Publishers, Inc., 1976 series)
        in Millennium Edition: Flash Comics No. 1 (DC, 2000 series) (September 2000)
        in Golden Age Hawkman Archives (DC, 2005 series) #1 (December 2005)

[John Moores]

Carter is the Hawk-Man - with hypen attached - in Flash Comics #2. Either way, the city is in chaos as an "unseen force" attacks it, causing great damage and chaos. As the earthquake-like destruction abounds, Hawkman, flying high over the city, spots Shiera (no surname yet in the stories, for those keeping score) caught up in the panic and plummets down to her rescue. Taking her back to his house - and safety - and switching back to his Carter Hall identity, Hawkman (already engaged to Shiera judging by their conversation!) learns from the girl, who at this point wants Carter to quit putting himself in danger as the Hawkman, of Alexander The Great, the villain behind the destruction.

Alexander, it seems, like Hastor before him, is engaged in a ransom scam. A great physicist, the villain has invented a machine from making things much, much heavier.
With it, he intends to obtain a modern version of the historical Alexander's empire, and his "campaign of terror" begins tonight. How does she know?

Because Carter and Shiera have both been invited to dinner with the villain that night!

Don't worry, Carter is incredulous too.

At ten, in formal wear, the couple arrive at Alexander's palatial place - Shiera having packed some of Hawkman's crime-fighting arsenal - and the villain, bald-headed and sinister-looking, greets them. Alexander knows of the Hawkman - the only one he need fear, apparently. And how? Why, Shiera told him! "It's courteous to warn our enemies!"

Alexander has been taking stock of the new hero, and over dinner, laden with barbed repartee, the two adversaries banter. Alexander offers Hall a cursory million dollars to stay out of his business, but even he doesn't believe Carter will accept it, and after the food, Alexander shows the twosome his experiements, the weight-gun, foremost among them. ("Don't fire it at me, I weigh enough!" says Shiera. Can't live with 'em...)
Demonstrating the weapon, Alexander again half-heartedly offers the hero the million, and tells them they're free to go (and call again anytime!) so long as they don't interfere, but of course, Hall can't make that promise. The two urbane enemies part, but a mile down the road, Carter stops the car and decides to check out if his Ninth Metal can withstand the weight-gun. Sneaking back, Carter breaks back into Alexander's, and finds the Ninth Metal immune. That condition satisfied, Carter is ready for war(!)

Arming himself with a Ninth Metal net and trident back at home, Hall switches to Hawkman, and flies back to confront the villain, who is at that moment inflicting more destruction on the city. To be fair on the Hawkman, he does try to talk his foe out of continuing his rampage, but when diplomacy fails, it's the wily Alexander's advantage when the villain furtively palms a gun and wounds Hawkman with it. Dragging the inexperienced hero to the underground lab, Alexander places him in the beam of the weight machine, intending the Hawkman to become so heavy...well, you get the picture.

Meanwhile, Shiera, worried now that the time limit Carter assured for his safe return has passed, bravely, stealthily returns to the lab and enters unseen, saving the Hawkman from the beam of the weight machine (Say, this dame might have a future in this super-hero biz!  )

Hawkman flies off, leaving Shiera annoyed that she's not going to be part of the action (!) and confronts Alexander. Catching Alexander in the throat with his trident (!!), he then destroys the weight machine raining havoc on the city. The other one, in the underground lab? It's going in Carter Hall's collection. Back at home, Carter proposes that the couple finish their cocktails, but Shiera points out that it's breakfast time. Huh!

Alexander survived, becoming part of a loose alliance of super-criminals in his next appearance, almost four-and-a-half decades later, in All-Star Squadron Annual #3.

[Gardner Grayle]

 

[SDcomics]

Flash Comics number 2 was published in February, 1940.  The cover was penciled and inked by Dennis Neville.

"The Globe Conquerors" was written by Gardner Fox and penciled and inked by Dennis Neville.

Alexander survived, becoming part of a loose alliance of super-criminals in his next appearance, almost four-and-a-half decades later, in All-Star Squadron Annual #3.

All-Star Squadron Annual number 3 was published in September, 1984.  The cover was penciled by Rick Hoberg (signed) and inked by Jerry Ordway (signed).

"Midnight in Manhattan-- Late February 1942" was written by Roy Thomas (CoPlot and Script) and Dann Thomas (Researcher and Co-Plotter), penciled by Jerry Ordway (pages 1-4, 40-41); Rick Hoberg (pages 4, 6-12, 35-39); Rich Buckler (page 5); Wayne Boring (pages 13-16); Richard Howell (pages 17-18); Carmine Infantino (pages 19-21); Don Newton (pages 22-24); Mart Nodell (pages 25-27); George Perez (pages 28-30) and Keith Giffen (pages 31-34), inked by Jerry Ordway (pages 1-4, 13-16, 28-30, 40-41); Richard Howell (pages 17-18); Frank Giacoia (pages 19-21); Mike Machlan (pages 22-24); Joe Giella (pages 25-27); Keith Giffen (pages 31-34) and Bill Collins (pages ?), colored by Gene D'Angelo and lettered by David Cody Weiss and L. Lois Buhalis.

[John Moores]

Here we are with Flash Comics #3, and Hawk-man (as it's rendered here) has the usual 1940 style disdain for keeping his identity secret. Seeing a college friend, Richard Blendon, walking - zombie-like - the winged super-hero introduces himself as "Carter Hall". And it gets worse, folks. Anyway, making sure his friend is okay, although the entranced young man doesn't respond in any way, Hall is shocked to learn the next day that his friend is dead.

Visiting Blendon's father, Hall is introduced to the exotic Miss Una Cathay, whom he engages in discussion. Turns out that the two - Blendon also being a scientist - had a theory about immortality, through scientific means. Leaving the lady, Carter smells a rat; is Miss Cathay planning on harvesting his friend's body to further these experiments? Well, she did start talking about how one who conducts the experiment successfully could master the world, one from the villains' 1940 playbook.

On a hunch, Hawkman visits the cemetary, but the body of his friend has gone. Visiting Blendon senior once again, he obtains Unas address; at the woman's house,
the experiment is going full throttle. When Miss Cathay dispatches her accomplice Rolf to move the body of Blendon into the large, preserving "bottle", the "dead" scientist awakes. Sure enough, Una is using him - and as it turns out, others - to gain his knowledge concerning immortality. The others? All eminent scientists who have been used and discarded by the devilish Miss Cathay.

Confronted by the Hawkman, the girl and her accomplice are surprised to find the hero almost friendly, as Hall is trying to talk the villains out of their information. We find that "Rolf" is a Russian scientist, and it is he that explains the preservative qualities of the scientific "bottles". As Una talks, she also surreptitiously fastens a hair round Hawkman's wrist, unnoticed by the winged vigilante. Her plan? Perform a voodoo ritual upon the mistrusted Hawkman, and burn him to death!

Back at home, Shiera is waiting, having been stood up; explaining his absence, Hawkman reaches for some daggers from his arsenal, when the sharp-eyed Shiera notices the hair. Removing it in time, Hawkman is spared a burning death.

Meanwhile, Una and the Professor begin torturing the "undead" Richard Blendon for information. Hawkman enters after the villains leave, and manages to talk to Blendon; these so-called "corpses" aren't really dead, they're drugged. The trance Hawkman saw his friend under is an effect of the drug. Freeing everyone, Hawkman and Blendon administer an antidote to the effect of the drug. That accomplished, all victims are taken to Hall's house and safety(!; that secret identity thing again.)

(Hall's address has changed since #1; he now apparently lives at 20 Hudson Terrace.)

Hawkman then confronts the villains, who have found their victims gone, and as the Professor pulls a gun, Hawkman pins him to the wall with a dagger. Una makes her getaway during this action, and as Hawkman makes for the window to locate the fleeing villain, the Professor frees himself; lunging at the hero, who flies out at that moment, the villain falls through the window to his death. Oops!

As Una makes for her car, the Hawkman swoops over. Hurling a dagger, he takes out the tyre, causing Miss Cathay to hit a tree, breaking her neck. Hawkman leaves NO-ONE standing! Back at home, Hall gets an explanation about how Blendon met Una, and all of the rescued scientists promise that the hero's identity as the Hawkman is "safe with [them] all!" So that's all right then.

[SDcomics]

Flash Comics number 3 was published in March, 1940.  The cover was penciled and inked by Sheldon Moldoff.

"The Secret of Dick Blendon" was written by Gardner Fox and penciled and inked by Dennis Neville.

[John Moores]

Flash Comics #4, and at the Futurist Club in New York, the "entertainment" is somewhat sinister: The Thought Terror! Asked to predict a man's future, the seer instead hypnotises the man, making him think that he is drunk. As the non-drunk drunkard wheels through the streets later, he bumps into Carter Hall, Hall having just left his sports club. Tyro crimefighter he may be, but Carter still smells a rat: a drunken man who doesn't smell of liquor. As the "drunk" stumbles into the road into the path of a speeding car, Carter rescues him. After upbraiding the dangerous driver, Carter makes sure the "drunk" gets home. And of course, later the driver reports to...The Thought Terror. Yep, it was a set-up. The Terror makes three grand a night - one hundred a question - telling the future, but he merely hypnotises the questioner and then makes whatever he predicted happen. The hooded criminal is about to get a nasty shock though...

The drunk man spills what happened to Carter, and at home, Hall changes into Hawkman (hyphen now gone) and tracks down the driver, drowning his sorrows in booze. The Hawk, using a net, simply kidnaps the driver, puts a scare into him by flying through the air with him and then interrogates the man until he breaks down; he works for the Terror out of fear. He'd like to help, but...

Hawkman isn't perturbed. Arming himself with a shield with a reflective shine, the hero takes off, to the Terror's HQ. Once there, he is discovered, as the villain sets a bunch of hooded minions on the hero. Hypnotised into invulnerability, the henchmen are a tough fight, and Hawkman is overpowered. Placed into a cell with barred windows, Hawkman comes to; he's trapped.

The next day, Shiera calls round to see Carter. Of course he's absent, but the Hall butler gives her the address (Corner of Tree and Elm Streets, since you asked) and soon the love of Carter's life is at the house. Hearing her voice outside, Carter uses his shield to reflect the sunlight, signaling his love. Using Morse-code, Carter gives instructions, but soon his shield is removed. As the Thought Terror boasts of the slow death Hawkman will suffer, Shiera leaves the area, only to return at night as instructed, with a blowtorch. Pushed through the bars, the blowtorch affords Hawkman freedom, and pausing only to grab some makeshift bindings, the crimefighter grabs the cell guard, and gains the location of his shield from the frightened hireling.

Taking out another guard, Hawkman retrieves his shield, and as the Terror senses the hero approaching, sends out a hypnotic suggestion: Hawkman is an idiot, a mewling kitten. Of course, the eyes seen in the darkness of the hallway are the Terror's own, reflected in the shield. The Terror is reduced to a helpless wreck, and the hold over his hirelings is gone. Everyone is free, and the Terror has a one-way trip to the lunatic asylum.

This story was reprinted in the Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told, but was the villain outfitted in burgundy robes in the reprint? I can't quite recall.

[SDcomics]

Flash Comics number 4 was published in April, 1940.  The cover was penciled and inked by George Storm.

"The Thought Terror" was written by Gardner Fox and penciled and inked by Shelly Moldoff. 

As John noted, this story was reprinted in The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told hardcover in 1990 and in The Golden Age Hawkman Archives in 2005.

This story was reprinted in the Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told, but was the villain outfitted in burgundy robes in the reprint? I can't quite recall.

In the Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told, his robes were blue.  In the Golden Age Hawkman Archives, they were burgundy.

[John Moores]

I knew you'd know!

[John Moores]

An attempt on FDR's life? Almost a year before the November attempt by Valkyries? Yep, this is Flash Comics #5, and the assailant is described as an "Easterner" - a fairly stereotyped Indian guy in a turban. When Carter Hall spots a similar guy on the street during the intermission at the Metropolitan opera, (after musing on similar attacks on the King of Emporia and the Premier of Frappe) he's suspicious - and when the Eastern guy attacks a woman with a scimitar-like weapon, he springs into action and saves her, tackling the guy. When the would-be assassin is out cold, Carter's interest in weapons takes over, and he identifies the blade as a "khanjur" - an identification that surprises the would-be victim - who slips away as Carter is occupied with the arriving police. Turns out though, that she's slipped a card into her pocket with her name - Ione Craig - and her address printed on it, and "Why not meet me tonight?" written in ink, too.

Carter doesn't let the lady down and later that night, shows up, still in civvies, and finds out the beautiful Ms. Craig's story: She's going to "Araby" tonight - and Carter will be left a message at his house warning him not to interfere on pain of death. Why is she going? Because of Hassan Ibn Sadah - the man who founded the Sect of Assassins in 1070. The Sect have been revived, and are plotting the mass murder of many officials and heads of state. And Ione? She's a Secret Agent.

Heading home, Hall revolves that Ione needs a bodyguard - and Hawkman will serve. Flying out that night, Hawkman trails the ship taking the Secret Service girl to Araby, and lands upon it, a masked stowaway. Presenting himself to Ione upon her docking in Cairo, the hero offers his services. Giving the Hawk a map with Alamut, the Secret City of Assassins on it, Ione tells him that she will prepare for an air raid, as the authorities will be liable to listen if they know the location of the fabled place. And so the Hawkman is off on another long flight - this time across the desert. Finally he finds the city, and evades the guards unseen simply by flying over the wall. Keeping to the shadows, Hawkman soon finds the grand Palace, wherein dwells Hassan Ibn Sadah, a namesake descendant of the founder of the Sect.

Alas, while Hawkman spies upon the Head Assassin, Ione Craig is kidnapped in the street by two of the Sect. Taken to the city, and the Palace, Ione is instantly desired by the Sect Leader, who begins to force himself upon her. Angered, Hawkman bursts in, takes out his weapon, a slingshot, and kills Assassin Abdul Ben Hathor. (Because of fear he might hit Ione if he goes for Sadah, who of course stops his assault anyway!) Sadah calls for his archers, who miss the deftly aeronautical Hawkman. Having evaded the archers, Hawkman returns later, takes out another assassin with his slingshot, and entering the main hall, simply challenges all the assassins present, and grabbing a huge scimitar from the wall, holds off enough of the villains with his skill until he can cut the chain which holds Ione prisoner in the room, grabs the girl, and once he's up in the air, kills Sadah with his slingshot. ("Conan with wings", anyone?) That done, Hawkman simply flies away with Ione, musing that this adventure was "short... sweet and to the point". Not taking into account the massive amount of ground covered, I suppose.

Points of interest: No Shiera. No overt jingoism / racism that's sometimes found in the early comic books. And it's cool that Hawkman didn't beat scores of assassins on his own; he just holds them off until he can free the damsel-in-distress. Much more "believeable".

[SDcomics]

Flash Comics number 5 was published in May, 1940.  The cover was penciled and inked by Jon L. Blummer.

"The Kidnapping of Ione Craig" was written by Gardner Fox and penciled and inked by Shelly Moldoff.

This story has been reprinted twice, first in The Great Comic Book Heroes hardcover (Dial Press in 1965) and later in The Golden Age Hawkman Archives (DC, 2005).

[John Moores]

Flash Comics #6 - part two of the Ione Craig story. We return to our hero whilst he's flying Ms. Craig across the desert, having killed the head of the Assassins' Sect and escaped. Having got lost, Hawkman flies up high to get his bearings, but once he's gone - a group of servants of the Sheik Abdullah (were they following, unseen, and waiting for their moment?) gallop up and snatch Ione, taking her to their master.

When the Hawk returns to the ground, of course the stallions the kidnappers were riding have left tracks, and so the hero sets out to rescue the damsel-in-distress. Again.

At the desert city of the Sheik, the ruler realises that a white girl will bring a high price at the slave market. At the market, things are soon disrupted as the Hawkman catches up, and panics the crowd with a previously unseen weapon in his arsenal - a high-pitched whistle in his helmet, screeching madly as the frightening apparition swoops down and catches Ione. One man attempts to lasso the hero, but due to the nth metal, the man is dragged into the air himself. When Hawkman lands, a safe distance away, the tired hero is attacked by the would-be captor who was carried along. After a struggle, Hawkman manages to snap the guy's neck. Another villain permanently corrected! As the pursuing tribesmen appear on horseback, Hawkman knocks the leader off his steed, commandeers the horse and moves to grab Ione. Alas, the horse trips, allowing Hawkman to be bound and dragged back to the city.

Back at the city, the Hawkman's curious appearance intrigues a bewitching native woman, and she resolves to find out about him. More on her in a moment.

In his prison, Hawkman meets another white man, Major Brent, who was captured when the rest of his company were slaughtered in the revolt of Sheba, "Queen of the Desert".
This is the woman who, even now, meets with the Sheik because she "wants that man!"
Sheba claims that she is soon to free Araby from the hated whites. The plot thickens.

Hawkman is occupied, at that moment, fixing his damaged wings, unaware of the wheeling and dealing going on elsewhere. As Hawkman is summoned to meet Sheba, the so-called Desert Queen showers him with questions, but the masked vigilante simply flies away (duh!), rendezvous-ing miles away with the army outpost Brent indicated would be there.

At the city, Istanyulk, Sheba still has Ione, and both Ms. Craig and Brent are thrown into a gladiatorial arena with lions. Hawkman is already back in the city, however, and with bow and arrow, picks off the lions and frees the prisoners. On schedule, the army, having been appraised of Sheba's location, enter the city gates and restore order quickly. Hawkman and his dagger spell the end of Sheik Abdullah, and takes Sheba up, up and away onto a high tower so she can't escape. Rescuing the chained-up Brent from the last lion, Hawkman meets with the army; all that's left to do is retrieve Sheba from the tower and put her in custody.

A rare two-parter! Hawkman really fits this Indiana Jones-esq milieu. And chalk up another two for the Hawk's body-count (plus some lions!)

[SDcomics]

Flash Comics number 6 was published in June, 1940.  The Flash cover was penciled and inked by Everett E. Hibbard.

"Sheba, Queen of the Desert" was written by Gardner Fox and penciled and inked by Shelly Moldoff.

This story was reprinted in the Golden Age Hawkman Archives in 2005.

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