Polite Dissent

Hawk & Dove #16 is essentially a battle royale between the forces of Chaos, led by Hawk, and the forces of Order, led by DOve, who are defending Arriya’s citadel. Both Hawk and Dove are confident, probably overconfident, that they can defeat the other. The forces of Order and Chaos are both using a magical substance known as tridic metal which the user can mentally shape into a variety of weapons. The Order forces are using it to craft traditional weapons such as swords, staves, bows, and shields. Hawk, however, has out-thought them all, and has used the magical metal to create attack helicopters, military rifles, and bazookas. In no time at all his army is winning the battle.

Dove flies out to confront Hawk and convince him to see things her way. It’s a wasted effort as Hawk has no intention of listening to her. In the end, he takes a dive off a bridge at the top of the mountain just like he was doing cannonball in the local pool. He crashes to the ground at the foot of the mountain. Thanks to his invulnerability he is able to walk away unhurt, but the shockwave topples the citadel and most of the mountain. The forces of Order have lost and Chaos has won.

In addition to the epic battle between Hawk and Dove, there are several other important events in this issue.

• The Lord of Chaos M’Shulla taunts Rome, the head priest of the Order goddess Arriya. He gleefully informs Rome that the priest’s whole religion is based on a lie: Arriya has never heard his prayers because Arriya is not her true name. There is a Goddess of Order for Druspa Tau, but generations ago M’Shulla cast a spell to make everyone forget her true name — and until that true name is spoken, she cannot return.
  
• Ren is starting to fight back against her possession by Kestrel and stops him from killing innocents during the battle.
• In a climactic final scene, Rome encounters Barter. It seems that Barter knows Arriya’s true name and offers it up to the old priest (though what the priest has to trade in trturn is never stated). Within minutes, her true name “Terataya” is being spoken throughout Druspa Tau, and in the clouds overhead Unity — the combined form of the Terataya and her lover the Lord of Chaos T’Charr– return to their rightful world.

Tags: comics hawk dove kestrel .

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I’d be remiss if I failed to point out that Brian Cronin’s Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #36 over at Comics Should Be Good deals with an issue concerning Hawk & Dove #5 (the 1988 mini-series) and the art by Rob Liefeld.