Polite Dissent

Hank and Dawn, along with Hawk and Dove, take a trip to Paris in Hawk & Dove #6 and #7.

The mysterious businessman Barter nabs the duo and asks them to perform a favor for him. In return, he will tell them the names of their benefactors: the entities who granted them their power. Hank wants no part of it, but Dawn has a strong desire to know more about their background so she convinces Hank that they should help Barter.

In a well-guarded chateau in Paris, an alchemist count has an old family Bible that Barter wants. He knows that it’s well hidden, but he thinks that Hawk and Dove will be perfect for this job because the Count won’t expect such a potent combination of Order and Chaos. He does recommend that they stay in human form as long as possible because changing into Hawk and Dove will set off the Count’s mystical alarms.

Once in Paris, Hank and Dawn climb over the wall and slip onto the grounds of the estate. They subdue the guard dogs and then sneak into the chateau itself. As a roomful of suits of armor comes to life, Hank changes into Hawk to act as a decoy and draw them away. Dawn sneaks further into the chateau to find the Bible but stumbles into a trapped room. She is able to escape, but not without losing a little blood — blood that is found by the Count and his assistant, an enigmatic woman known as Kali. Kali takes her two tigers and begins stalking Dawn.

Meanwhile, Hawk has disposed of the suits of armor and is attacked by a giant magma monster. He defeats the monster by submerging it in a fountain on the estate grounds. When a mystical barrier prevents him from re-entering the chateau, he climbs to the roof where he is attacked by a flock of gargoyles.

Dawn is still making her way through the mansion. Pursued by Kali and the tigers, she is cornered in a storage room. She dumps a shelf of chemicals on her pursuers and then scrambles into a dumbwaiter. Climbing up the shaft, she emerges in the Count’s laboratory and is quickly captured by Kali. In a weird moment of contradiction, Kali first stops Dawn from talking (telling her that “names have power”), but then convinces the Count to let her talk and explain why she’s there. Unsurprisingly, Dawn uses the chance to turn into Dove and fight back. At that moment, Hawk crashes through the skylight into the laboratory. Looking at a painting on the wall, Dove is able to deduce that the Bible is hidden beneath the courtyard fountain.

The duo escape outside and Hawk topples the fountain. Underneath, nestled in a cache of jewels and gold, is the Bible. They grab the book but are pursued by a giant snake. Hawk fights the snake while Kali confronts Dawn.

Barter’s shop reappears at just the right moment and Hawk and Dove dive through the doorway. They hand the Bible over to Barter. In return, he tells them the names they wanted: Tcharr and Tetraya. It’s clear that he knows more, but he won’t reveal it as the bargain was for the names only. He returns the Hank and Dawn to Washington D.C.

Speaking of D.C., workers are cleaning up the abandoned warehouse that Kestrel used as a hideout. When one of the workers notices a mysterious doorway in the wall, a strange purple and black energy emerges and engulfs him. This worker later shows up at Suds, the bar where Ren works, and passes this energy on to her boss Dugan.

Other Notes:

• Names and Transformations: Because Barter does not represent a danger to them; Hank and Dawn are unable to change into Hawk and Dove while in his store. Later, while sneaking onto the count’s estate, Dawn stops Hank from even saying “Hawk” casually, so apparently just saying the words “hawk” or “dove” in the presence of danger initiates the transformation, there does not need to be any intent.
• Barter mentions that his shop cannot open into magical doorways such as the Count’s chateau, Dr. Fate’s tower, or a “certain sanctum in Greenwich Village.” You just gotta love a comic that includes little fanboy in-jokes like this.
• As of issue #7, this series outlasted the original The Hawk and the Dove series.