"The End" Week: Hawk & Dove!

Ooh, this could be a tough one, since I bought these specifically for "The End" and prior to picking them up, I'm really sure I had more Hawk & Dove action figures, than I had read Hawk & Dove comics. Today we'll at least tie that score, with 1991's Hawk & Dove #28, "Mad Dogs and Americans" Written by Barbara Kesel and Karl Kesel, pencils by Greg Guler and Curt Swan, inks by Ian Akin and John Statema; and from 2012, Hawk & Dove #8, "Endgame" Written by Rob Liefeld, pencils by Liefeld and Marat Mychaels, inks by Adelso Corona and Jacob Bear.

"Mad Dogs and Americans" is a War of the Gods tie-in--why does DC keep cancelling books during crossovers? Aztec war goddess wannabe Huitzilopchtli is sprung from a prison truck by the real deal, but then defeats him in battle, and heads off in search of Hawk, to revenge herself for her prior defeat. Dawn has a talk with Hank (and Don) Hall's mom, since Hawk was wanted for attempted murder after attacking Senator O'Neill. And Hawk seemingly knows he's dumb as a box of rocks, but is also too stupid to see an out except trying to beat the truth out of O'Neill. Before he gets anywhere, he's attacked by the Wildebeest--from the pages of Teen Titans, I'm assuming, although Hawk repeatedly proclaims he's no longer a Titan. The Wildebeest are turned to stone by Huitzilopchtli, who wants to beat Hawk hand-to-hand.

Senator O'Neill, who is obviously crooked as your average congressional district (hey-o!) has a visit from his benefactor, Barter; and alludes to being good at putting a spin on things, which will have a double meaning later. When Hawk's fight makes the news, Dove's mom subtly slips her the news, which Hawk's mom sees as she obviously knew her secret. With Dove's help, Huitzilopchtli--or Azure--is easily captured by the cops, using the same doohickey that captured her last time. Then, Dove has to race to stop Hawk from killing O'Neill, who isn't worried at all; he's got Uncle Sam on his side! Literally, Uncle Sam. (I do like it when DC remembers it has other tiers of characters and doesn't just use Superman or Batman.)

Sam is more that a little suspicious of O'Neill, and Dove knows his secret: he was really the resurrected Flash villain, the Top! Still, Sam can't let the furious Hawk kill him, no matter how mad he is about him pretending to be his dead brother, Don, the first Dove. Sam tells Hawk, to "take it out on him." Dove manages to easily defeat the Top, with his own jacket wrapped around his head; but by the time she gets back, Hawk has surrendered to the cops. Dove tries to get arrested with him, and Hawk angrily refuses to let her; while watching on TV, Hawk's mom realizes she's going to have to let her husband in on the secret.

After a pretrial hearing, Hank is released to his parents' custody, although forbidden from becoming Hawk. (Even though he acted like an angry 12-year-old, Hank had to be over 21.) Uncle Sam tries to persuade him to resign, and "O'Neill"/the Top does...but only to devote time to his presidential campaign. While Hank is feeling sorry for himself, his love interest Ren reminds him of everyone he did help, including her, and asks him to marry her. Dawn gets back in touch with her own love interest, a cop who had also figured out her secret, but wouldn't spill the beans. It's a happy ending for everyone...that I think would be completely undone in Armageddon 2001 #2. I can't remember either of their significant others coming up again, either.

That was a 48-pager, but I was pretty sure it was going to be more substantial than their 2012 last issue: Hawk & Dove was part of a wave of early cancellations for DC's New 52, alongside OMAC, Static Shock, and I think most of the war book offerings. And it was a little slight, although I don't know how much time they had to prepare for the cancellation, but that is probably giving Liefeld too much credit. It's Hawk and Dove vs. some ninjas, Kraven-knockoff Hunter, and Zhar, who wants to steal their avatar-power and gets stabbed for his trouble. I don't think many of these cancellations ended with a lot of closure, and this one goes with them still out there to fight the good fight, or get murdered in some crossover event, either or.

Just from reading this issue, I don't know if in the New 52 continuity Don Hall had been Dove prior to Dawn Granger taking the role. Also, I was surprised Liefeld's book was the first thing I'd read with Hawk that made him seem like less of a meathead: it tried to bring him up to the level of say, Flash Thompson, somebody who thinks a lot in sports metaphors; as opposed to just angry punch guy.