I can tell this story tersely enough with just a few panels:
Comments: Overall an amusing story, obviously padded quite a bit to make a book-length tale. Murphy Anderson's art sizzles however, and Gardner Fox does redeem himself a bit with the ending. Hawkgirl had turned off a mind control machine that Queen Alvit had planned to use to force him to marry her, but Hawkman has a different explanation:
Very, very sweet!
9 comments:
You can argue that Kubert was more suited for Hawkman than Murphy Anderson, but I loved the latter's interpretation. It was as if Golden Age art had been burnished to a sophisticated sheen, and it's represented well in the panels you show here.
The panels with Hawkman in bed and the city in the background look like Hal Foster could have done them. Detailed, beautifully composed.
Just great.
Didn't mean I don't love Kubert's, btw. I loved his just as much!
I didn't get a chance to cast my vote on your earlier post about the best romances of the Silver Age, but I was going to say Hawkman and Hawkgirl -- and this story proves precisely why! That last panel is straight out of a romance comic -- just with a few added appendages!
Thanks again for coming to my ChatCast and congrats on winning the little contest! :)
Love that first panel. It's like Hawkman doing a Bob Newhart routine.
I have both volumes of DC Showcase Presents Hawkman and the scene at the end of this issue was my favorite from the whole series.
Ed, I'm in the same boat. While I love Kubert's expressiveness, I prefer Anderson's tight lines and his ability to draw details.
Jacque and The Flash, I concur; it's a great moment. And I love the comic chat idea.
Aaron, I'm a huge Newhart fan from my earliest boyhood; my dad had a copy of The Button Down Mind among his albums and I wore it out. BTW, there do seem to be a lot of phone calls in the Hawkman series.
Concerning the earlier comment, "It was as if Golden Age art had been burnished to a sophisticated sheen...", the following article which touches on Anderson's style may be of interest:
- ...Anderson was the perfect choice to be FATE's Silver Age penciller AND inker in that his approach, which has been described by his peers as 'classic', was ideal for drawing superheroes who had been originally created during former times when a sense of style was more important than realistic portrayal.
http://www.comicbookbin.com/showcase055.html
That article also says:
- ...Anderson spoiled us for anything but his Hawkman--it was simply so definitive. The heroic spirit, noble ideals, and poised energy that Sherman imbuded in the Golden Age DOCTOR FATE were further refined by Anderson's highly cultivated aesthetic.
http://www.comicbookbin.com/showcase055.html
The allusions to Norse mythology are obvious, but the panel with the former husbands reminded me of "Hercules Unchained."
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