Hawkman III & Hawkwoman II
Created by Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert
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NAME + ALIASES:
Katar Hol
KNOWN RELATIVES:
Paran Katar (father, deceased), Naomi Carter (mother)
GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Justice League of America
FIRST APPEARANCE:
Current: Hawkworld v.1 #1 (1989).
Historical:
Brave & Bold #34 (March 1961)
DEATH:
Hawkman v.3 #33 (July 1996)
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NAME + ALIASES:
Shayera Thal II
KNOWN RELATIVES:
Shayera Thal (mother, deceased), Andar Pul (father), Hyanthis
(grandmother), Thal Porvis (grandfather)
GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
None.
FIRST APPEARANCE:
Current: Hawkworld v.1 #1 (1989).
Historical:
Brave & Bold #34 (March 1961)
DEATH:
Rann/Thanagar War #5 (November 2005)
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Katar Hol's father was a Thanagarian agent named Paran Katar, who arrived
on Earth in 1939. Adopting the Earth name Perry
Carter, he befriended
Carter Hall (Hawkman I).
Paran introduced Hall to the astounding Thanagarian "Nth
metal" and with it , they
fashioned for Carter a harness, which allowed him to defy gravity.
After Paran's departure from Earth, their invention inspired him to
found the similarly-winged police of Thanagar. (Hawkworld
Annual #1) Before returning to Earth, Paran also met and fell
in love with a Native American woman named Naomi. Naomi had
met Paran through Carter
and Shiera Hall, to whom she'd served as a translator for the Cherokee
people. Their love was so strong that she agreed to return with
him to Thanagar where she gave birth to their son Katar
Hol.
On Thanagar, was forced hide her true
identity as an Earthling and
iIn
time, Naomi found their high society distasteful. She decided to
return to Earth, but Paran would not allow her to take their son. Young
Katar never knew his mother; the two met for the first time many years
later, on Earth, thanks Carter Hall. (Hawkman
v.3 #)
Though there were times when Thanagar was Earth's ally (The
Silver Age), its ways tended towards imperialism. Its government
became elitist and corrupt and Paran eventually made enemies with
the powerful commander, Byth. (Hawkworld v.1
#1) Byth
tricked Katar Hol into killing his own father. For this, Hol was subsequently
arrested and imprisoned on the Isle of Chance for ten years. Byth,
on the other hand was promoted to Thanagar's highest post: Administrator
of Protection.
Before his incarceration, Hol met a woman named Shayera Thal.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Thal was killed in an explosion, and Hol
saved the life of her illegitimate daughter. This girl was then raised
by Shayera's father, Thal Porvis, and given the same name as her mother. (Hawkworld
v.1 #2) After Hol's ten-year exile was ended, he met the now-grown
Shayera who had become a Wingman herself. Together, they usurped Byth's
power. (Hawkworld
v.1 #3)
Katar became a hero and was sent with Shayera as ambassadors to Earth.
Shortly before this, the original Hawkman
and Hawkgirl (Carter and Sheira Hall) had left Earth and were
trapped in Limbo. To fill the void, the media dubbed Katar and Shayera Hawkman (III) and Hawkwoman (II).
(Hawkworld v.2 #1) They adopted Earth as
their new home, but unlike their predecessors, Katar and Shayera were
not lovers. They drifted apart; Katar joined the
Justice League (Justice League America #0) and
Shayera went to work as a civilian policeman in Chicago.
Also during the Halls' absence, a Thanagarian spy named Fel Andar,
posed both as Carter Hall Jr. and he and his wife, Sharon Parker, assumed
the roles of Hawkman (II) and Hawkwoman (I).
Fel Andar's cover was blown during the Dominators' alien invasion when
Sharon betrayed him to the Martian
Manhunter. (Hawkworld #22) Andar killed Sharon (#23) and
escaped back to Thanagar. (#25)
Carter and Shiera returned from Limbo (Armageddon:
Inferno #4) and during the events of "Zero Hour," they
were merged, along with all other "hawk avatars" into
the form of Katar Hol. Shiera did not survive this merge. (Hawkman
v.3 #13) When Katar emerged from this transformation, he
had the eyes of a hawk, and could grow and retract his wings at
will. Also, he possessed semi-mystical abilities that allowed him
to sense things in the auras of others. It was also around this
time that Katar finally met his mother, Naomi.
Katar met his end after battling a legion of animal avatars. To end
their threat and save Katar's soul, he was transported by the sorceror
Arion to the "realm
of the Hawk God." (#33) Both Katar
and Carter's souls drifted there until Hawkman was recalled to
life on Thanagar by the Justice Society. In the process, Katar's soul
did not survive but Carter Hall lived. (JSA
#23) Carter
originally possessed all of Katar's memories, but he remarked
that they have faded over time.
Shayera Thal remained on Earth after Katar's death but discontinued
her career as an adventurer. When next she met Carter — with his new
partner Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl II) —
they teamed up to stop Byth again. (Hawkman
v.4 #15) Shayera returned to Thanagar after
this case and rejoined the Wingmen. When the planet Rann destabilized
Thanagar's orbit, Shayera fought in the Rann/Thanagar War. During the
war, Carter and Kendra returned to Thanagar, too, but sided with Rann
(because Thanagar was being led by the devil-god
Onimar Synn). Eventually Shayera joined the Hawks but was killed by
Blackfire. (Rann/Thanagar War #5) After the
hostilities cooled and the great Crisis was ended, Carter vowed to achieve
justice for Shayera's death. He remained on Thanagar, compiled evidence
against Blackfire and found a way to strip her powers. (JSA
Classified #22)
In Other Media
Hawkgirl was a main character on the Justice League animated cartoon.
This character was the Thanagarian, Shayera Hol. She bore the name Hol
though she was not married.
This character grew up in the downside slums under a great hovering
city. Eventually she became a Wingman and an undercover police detective
and was the champion of those people. She was sent to Earth as a spy;
her cover story was that she was hit by a weapon that mysteriously and
irreversibly transported to Earth. On Earth, she became fascinated with
ancient Egyptian tales of hawk-like beings and later joined the Justice
League. Her powers are innate: the wings are a part of her body and her
eyes are super-keen. She can also communicate with birds. There was never
officially any Hawkman, per se. Instead, there was Rho
Katal (an anagram
for Katar Hol), Shayera's former lover who would not side with her to
befriend Earth. Much of this was revealed in "Starcrossed: The Movie," available
on DVD.
Later in Justice League Unlimited, Shayera met Carter Hall when
he became Earth's first Hawkman. Though the two of them were supposedly
destined to be lovers, Shayera only ever pursued a relationship with
the Green Lantern John Stewart.
Hawkman is the most confusing character
in DCU continuity, but the revisions have been fully explained. In post-Crisis
continuity, Carter Hall (the Golden Age Hawkman) was the the first
Hawkman, who joined both the JSA and the JLofA. His wife, Shiera Saunders
Hall, also served on both teams as Hawkgirl. (JLA:
Incarnations #2, JSA Secret Files #2)
Spectre #54 (6.97) erroneously depicts Carter and Katar together
in a JLofA/JSA team-up. Possibly an editorial blunder, this story was
nonetheless written by John Ostrander — the same writer as the Hawkworld
series. Also, Legends of the DCU #12-13 and JLA 80-Page
Giant #2 (11.99) both erroneously depict Katar as the JLA's
Hawkman.
"Inside DC" #36 also verifies that in post-Hawkworld continuity,
the impostors Fel Andar and Sharon were the pair that appeared in the
J.L. International v.1 #10, 19-24 and Action Comics 588.
At first, neither Katar nor Shayera possessed any superhuman abilities.
They used the power of the Thanagarian Nth metal to various ends. Most
notably, the metal allows the user to defy gravity. They wore artificial
wings to help control their movements during flight. The metal also extends
a modest level of strength, invulnerability and healing ability to the
user.
Both Hawks were also expert hand-to-hand combatants.
During Zero Hour, Katar underwent a transformation which gave him the
eyes of a hawk, and retractable wings. Also, he
possessed semi-mystical abilities that allowed him to sense things in
the auras of others.
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