Polite Dissent

It has been brought to my attention that in my complete review of Hawk and Dove appearances, I never got around to looking at Secret Origins #43, written by Karl and Barbara Kesel, which ties the original Hawk and Dove into the Kesel’s Hawk and Dove mythology.

The story opens with Barter — sometime ally, sometime enemy — researching Hawk and Dove by looking through old newspaper articles that refer to some of the duo’s original adventures¹. He can’t find the information he wants and realizes that the details he needs can only be learned from someone more intimately involved with the pair. He heads to a prison outside Washington DC where he talks to one of the mobsters present when Hawk and Dove made their first appearance.² From this conversation, he realizes that Judge Hall and his sons Hank and Don are somehow connected to Hawk and Dove. Barter heads off to the warehouse the mobster told him about, the warehouse Hank and Don were locked up in and where Hawk and Dove first appeared. Using some Ghostbuster-ish equipment, Barter is able to piece together what happened: how a strange voice (or was it voices?) offered powers to Hank and Dove in order to save their father. They agreed, and Hawk and Dove were born.

A short time later, back at his shop, Barter greets Child, one of the Lords of Chaos. In return for a piece of his crystalline companion Flaw, Child gives Barter a magical device that allows him to access specific memories related to Hawk and Dove. Barter witnesses an idyllic land where a golden knight does battle with a horrible dragon time and time again. Sometimes the knight is killed, sometimes the dragon. Regardless, the battle rages on. Barter learns that these are no ordinary combatants, but Terataya, a Lord of Order, and Tcharr, a Lord of Chaos. After ages of battle, they decide to call a truce and work together, something which has never happened before in all the history of Order and Chaos. The pair begins work on an “experiment” and they find two promising specimens on Earth: Hank and Don Hall. Each of the brother is given power by the Lords of Order and Chaos. At first the results seem promising, but then Don starts deferring too much to his brother Hank, and Dove begins exhibiting touches of Chaos. It comes to a head when Dove starts a fight after he thinks Hawk has been killed³. Tcharr and Terataya decide that for the good of their experiment, the Dove powers must be stripped from Don and given to a new candidate: Dawn Granger. Unfortunately for Don, he was in a precarious situation and was killed when he lost his powers.⁴

Just as Barter feels he is starting to understand Hawk and Dove better, Tcharr himself (herself? itself?) appears in Barter’s shop – it is his memories that Barter has been accessing. Barter agrees to return the memories, but only if Tcharr tells him why he and Terataya created Hawk and Dove.

“Because we are in love,” replies the Lord of Chaos. He refuses to answer any more questions and flies off into the night, leaving Barter more determined than ever to use Hawk and Dove for his own ends.

Thoughts:
This comic is dated August, 1989 which makes it coexistent with Hawk and Dove #3. This fits: he was first seen in Hawk & Dove #1 and mentions that he wants to learn more about the pair; he hires them to work for him in Hawk & Dove #6.

While this story does a good job linking the history of Hawk and the original Dove to the new Dove, it gives too much away too soon. The history and true origin of Hawk and Dove are better discovered slowly – a little learned here and there until the final reveal in the journey to Druspa Tau in issues #14 to #17. It’s a much more powerful story that way. Spelled out in its entirety here (especially this early in the series’ run), it loses much of its emotional strength.

The art is inconsistent. For example, for the first several pages, Barter is drawn without his trademark mustache and it took several pages to discover who the character was supposed to be.

Speaking of Barter, it was nice to see more of him and learn a little more about his curse (He was cursed by a power higher than that of Chaos and Order that he can never take or give an object or information; a trade must always take place). I’m surprised no other writer has taken up the character since the demise of the Hawk & Dove series.

Though it was strongly hinted at in Hawk & Dove (mini-series) #5, this comic makes it clear: the loss of his powers directly led to the death of Don.

The story sheds new light on the creation of Hawk and Dove. They didn’t gain powers, as generally thought, that reinforced abilities and beliefs they already had — instead Hank and Don were chosen because they fit the powers.

Hawk is listed as only 5′10″ and 181 lbs. That seems mighty short for Hank, let alone Hawk.

It is Tcharr here, but T’Charr in later issues of Hawk & Dove (I prefer the former. I loathe the unfortunate habit of fantasy and science-fiction authors to throw useless apostrophes in character’s names just to seem “alien.”)

Notes:
1. The Hawk and The Dove #3
2. Showcase #75
3. The Hawk and the Dove #5
4. Crisis on Infinite Earths #6, Hawk and Dove (mini-series) #5

Tags: comics hawk dove barter order chaos origin