I'm not just talking about the original miniseries here folks, but the ongoing series as well. The whole concept of Hawkworld is crazy, a lot of dense sci-fi, some intense themes of religion and moral philosophy. With all of that, it's not exactly surprising that it never really caught fire during the age of Spawn. John Ostrander and Tim Truman packed so much into this series that it's a bit tough to appreciate on a first read through. If you don't get all caught up in Hawk-continuity, this series ages well and a reader can really get a lot from coming back to it every few years. I'll admit that I totally missed it the first time around. I got quite lucky in 1995, during my first year of law school. I stumble upon 80% or so of the series in a quarter bind and scooped them all up - just looking for something to help me procrastinate. I loved it. I shouldn't have been surprised, as I was a big fan of the Spectre series, so I already knew what kind of things came from Ostrander's fertile imagination.
Like many people, I've always thought that the Hawks looked great, but never got into their adventures. The Hawkworld team really focused on humanizing them here, and made the characters much more appealing. The supporting cast (both on Earth and on Thanagar) was also impressive. Katar and Shayera's relationship is all over the place, Byth's made for a menacing foil and Jonesy's death was a real punch to the gut. Graham Nolan is simply amazing - he can drawn anything, from alleyways to alien costumes. In particular, I really loved the designed of the 'Raven'. Some people look back at the 90s with disdain, but DC was putting out some truly innovative books and both the Hawkworld miniseries and the ongoing series are proof that good things can happen when a company gives the key to thoughtful creators.
I'm not just talking about the original miniseries here folks, but the ongoing series as well. The whole concept of Hawkworld is crazy, a lot of dense sci-fi, some intense themes of religion and moral philosophy. With all of that, it's not exactly surprising that it never really caught fire during the age of Spawn. John Ostrander and Tim Truman packed so much into this series that it's a bit tough to appreciate on a first read through. If you don't get all caught up in Hawk-continuity, this series ages well and a reader can really get a lot from coming back to it every few years. I'll admit that I totally missed it the first time around. I got quite lucky in 1995, during my first year of law school. I stumble upon 80% or so of the series in a quarter bind and scooped them all up - just looking for something to help me procrastinate. I loved it. I shouldn't have been surprised, as I was a big fan of the Spectre series, so I already knew what kind of things came from Ostrander's fertile imagination. 
Like many people, I've always thought that the Hawks looked great, but never got into their adventures. The Hawkworld team really focused on humanizing them here, and made the characters much more appealing. The supporting cast (both on Earth and on Thanagar) was also impressive. Katar and Shayera's relationship is all over the place, Byth's made for a menacing foil and Jonesy's death was a real punch to the gut. Graham Nolan is simply amazing - he can drawn anything, from alleyways to alien costumes. In particular, I really loved the designed of the 'Raven'. Some people look back at the 90s with disdain, but DC was putting out some truly innovative books and both the Hawkworld miniseries and the ongoing series are proof that good things can happen when a company gives the key to thoughtful creators. 
2 comments:
I agree about Graham Nolan. I have some of his Batman work (or was it Detective?), and I really only bought it for the art back then.
One of my favorite series from the 90's. Ostrander produced so much good stuff then--sorry he hasn't / isn't able to do more now.
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