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Down But Not Out

by Drew Clements westofmiskatonic@gmail.com

Last week I covered the relatively obscure, but loved, Sleepwalker #1. This week I'll continue putting the ol' Down But Not Out spotlight on older characters that have made a recent comeback. Yeah, and it just so happens that I love this character too. He's been showing up in Brian K. Vaughn's Runaways as a somewhat out-of-control former teen hero; he's a former member of the New Warriors (vol.1); he's had more team-ups with Spider-Man than can be counted. So who is it? If you guessed Darkhawk, then you're correct. Give yourself a pat on the back and a punch in the face. Darkhawk #1 - "Dawn of the Darkhawk" Original Release Date: March 1991 Writer: Danny Fingeroth Artist: Mike Manley Letterer: Joe Rosen Colorist: Joe Rosas Editor: Howard Mackie Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco Darkhawk created by Tom DeFalco and Mike Manley The first page of this book displays the title character, in full costume, standing atop a gargoyle. It's a nice shot of DH, glider wings extended. The page really has nothing to do with the story; it's just a splash page with the main character, front and center. Now, on the next page we see Hobgoblin on his goblin glider, flying toward us. Three text boxes read: "They say you can judge a man by his enemies. This is the Hobgoblin. He doesn't know it yet, but he's soon to become the sworn enemy of a hero who doesn't even exist yet." Nice. This is an excellent illustration of Hobby, by the way. His look is as menacing and horrifying as ever. The goblin speeds up through the window of a skyscraper. Inside the room, he speaks to a man by the name of Philippe Bazin, asking if Bazin had found "it" yet. Bazin replies that his agents are following up a lead and that as sure as they found the Egyptian relic he holds now, they will also find what Hobgoblin seeks. Hobgoblin responds by destroying the ancient vase, warning that they had better find it or he'll be in a rather unpleasant mood. The scene shifts to the run-down Wonderland Amusement Park in Queens, New York on a dark night. Two well-dressed hoods are putting the squeeze on a bum, Johnny Saint, who lives in the park. They ask Johnny where "it" is and when the vagrant expresses that he doesn't know what they're talking about, they threaten him, but are stopped from proceeding in their violence by Bazin, who sits in a nearby car. Bazin gives Saint a stack of money with his number written on the rubber band wrapped around it (I should try that when attempting to get dates...) and tells the bum to give him a call if his memory improves. We now move to the next morning at the New York County Courthouse. There we catch up with an attractive redhead Assistant District Attorney by the name of Grace Powell. She's hurrying to court when a man approaches her, offering an envelope to "Leave well enough alone--and prosper. Otherwise--suffer the consequences." Grace responds, "Unless that's a signed confession--tell your boss to keep his money--and his threats to himself." The woman then slaps the envelope out of the man's hand, spilling the money everywhere. The man tells her that he really doesn't know whom the envelope is from, he's just the messenger, but he'll get HER message back to who needs it. Grace seems to know exactly who the message is from and it doesn't seem to be the Hypno Hustler (yes! I found a way to reference HH! Again!). We catch up with Mrs. Powell at home after a long day of work. She stands vigil by the front window of her home, hoping to see her husband, Officer Mike Powell, arrive home any minute. He's late, but she just tells herself that he's just busy doing paperwork. From behind, a voice tells her not to worry and that he's probably fine. Grace responds to the voice, her teenage son Chris that her husband/his father always calls if he's going to be late. Tonight he had not. Chris is not alone; he's there with his two younger brothers, Jonathan and Jason. When Grace hints that she fears he could be hurt, Jonathan attempts to ease his mother's mind, "Mom, statistics say there's less than a one-in-ten-thousand chance dad's been killed on duty--" Chris slaps his little brother with a newspaper for saying something that could only further upset their mother. All is well because Mike arrives home, safe and sound. The family gives him a big group hug and Chris pipes up, "We were worried, Dad--I thought maybe Bazin..." But his father cuts him off. Grace relates her dealings with the messenger from earlier in the day, one of "Bazin's goons". Mike suggests that perhaps it's time for them to leave town. The man wishes, "If only our side had an edge." Chris tells his dad that he's never heard him speak that way before. He wishes there were something he could do to help (foreshadowing?? yup!). We catch up with the three brothers on a Sunday afternoon. The two younger brothers are fighting, as kids do, but without the brass knuckles and mayonnaise. The paranoid Chris sees two shadows through the window in the living room. He opens the front door to find the shadows belong to two of his friends, Gene and Rebecca. The two want him to come hang out with them, but he tells them that he's watching the twins. They eventually, through the use of the dreaded peer pressure, get Chris to leave the twins at home alone. Time lapses and on the first panel of the next page we see a close-up of Grace's face. She's shouting, "They're gone! My babies are gone!" She had trusted Chris to watch his brothers and he had failed at an amazingly simple task. For all they knew, Bazin could have kidnapped them. Chris tells his mother to call the police, but that he's got a pretty good idea where they are. Soon, Chris is outside the Wonderland Amusement Park, asking Johnny Saint if he'd happened to see the two kids. Saint tells him that he had, but to please not hit him. Chris doesn't understand what the crazy squatter is talking about, but asks where the loon had last seen the twins. Johnny tells him to check the Funhouse. Inside the funhouse, Chris hears voices. Climbing up a ladder, he finds the two boys at the trick mirrors. While scolding the kids, they hear other people coming, so they hide. Below, they watch as their father accepts a bribe from some of Bazin's goons. One of the less-than-nice employees of Bazin makes a flip comment and Mike Powell attacks him. One of the bruisers pistol-whips Mike, rendering him unconscious. Before the man can shoot Mike, Jonathan screams for them to stop. The goon with the pistol grabs Jonathan and pulls him from the perch where the three were hiding. Chris leaps from the spot, knocking the hood back, releasing his hold on Jonathan. Chris shouts for his two brothers to run. Throwing the stack of money at one of the gangsters, Chris escapes behind his brothers. The three, in their flight, fall when a rotten section of floor gives way. They find themselves in a lower room and immediately try to find a way out. Unfortunately, the three goons find their way in first. Chris hears them before they arrive and pushes his brothers into a closet and locks the door. The bad guys are about to attack when Chris pushes a large metal shelf onto them. He begins looking around for something to use as a weapon; something with a sharp "edge". In front of him, on a shelf, he sees a sharp-edged amulet. Without thinking, he grabs the dark thing and it instantly wraps him in a costume of armor. I always liked Darkhawk's costume. It's a creative design, that's not bogged down by unnecessary accessories (like a cape). It's functional and just plain looks cool. Chris comments that he feels as though he is surging with power. He suddenly remembers the killers who want to take out him and his brothers. Without thinking, a blast of power erupts from the amulet, which is now embedded in the chest of his costume. The surge of power rips through the metal shelf and impacts one of the hoods. Chris remarks that his voice sounds different. He also wonders how he's able to dodge the bullets that are being unleashed by the gangster's pistols. Attempting to intimidate them, he warns, "You have invaded the lair of the, uh, Edge-Man. The three youths are in my charge. Be gone--or pay the price!" The hoods decide that since he's only one guy, they can take him (do all bad guys think alike? how many times have the baddies said that about Spidey?). DH makes quick work of two of them, while the third rips a livewire from the wall. He corners DH with the surging wire, who jumps out of the way at the last minute. Unfortunately for the hood, there's a high voltage box behind DH that he puts the livewire into. It fries him. Chris is shocked that the man is dead, but moves on to tie the remaining two bad guys up. He catches a glimpse of his reflection in a cracked mirror. In a panic, he tries to remove the costume and taps the amulet, making the armor disappear. Before letting his brothers out of the closet, he runs off to make sure their dad is okay. When he gets to where he last saw Mike, the man is conscious. Chris confronts him about the situation and the man flees, ashamed, but first tells Chris to take care of his brothers and mother. Unable to find him, Chris returns to let the two kids out of the closet. A day later, Chris returns to the Wonderland Amusement Park, where a demolition crew has destroyed the funhouse. Johnny Saint, approaches Chris from behind and tells him that the "power's got to be used--not abused--by a Darkhawk." Chris turns to see the man face-to-face, but is shocked to find that he's not there. What the? Disappearing hobos? Two days later at home, the twins are back to normal, fighting as usual. The phone rings and Grace picks up, only to be threatened again, "Lay off Bazin--or you'll have one less kid to feed." (Burned!). Chris silently wishes that he had the power to put a stop to Bazin and his threats. He realizes that he does have the power now! But, does he have the nerve to use it? There's an interlude here, with Hobgoblin and Bazin discussing a new lead. Bazin talks about a being of great power that killed one of his men, Hobgoblin suggests that this could be exactly what he's been looking for. Here we jump back to Chris who has decided to take on the mantle of Darkhawk! The following panel jumps back to the Hobgoblin and Bazin, who suggest that Hobby start his search at an old amusement park... And thus ends the first issue of Darkhawk. Any thought that this teenage super hero is a Spider-Man clone should be immediately dismissed. The subject matter in this book is very mature. As the series moves along, you really begin to feel more and more for Chris and his family. Outside of the family issues, Danny Fingeroth also explores DH's rookie status. DH is inexperienced and really not fit to be a hero at first; he makes mistakes that could easily cost people their lives. But as things move along, he grows through his experiences. Character development was big with this book. Just about everything Chris and/or Darkhawk experiences impact his overall personality and way of thinking. It's a nice bit that you don't see enough of. This book only gets better as its issue numbers get higher. Mike Manley's art is appropriately dark. There are no bright colors here, just lots of dark shades of brown, blue, green, and black. It sets up such a serious tone, which as I said above, is the feel for the book. Manley also draws the coolest rendition of the monstrous Hobgoblin. While this title doesn't fall into the "fun" category (at least the first few issues) that I typically fall in love with, it does have all the other things I look for in a book; the writing is top-notch and the accompanying art not only complements that writing, but adds atmosphere and tone. The hero is relatable, which is a big thing for me. If I can't somehow relate to your character, then I have no interest in them (Superman is the perfect example of this FOR ME. I just can't relate to the big guy.). Unfortunately there was a lot of fluff released by Marvel in the 90s, but there were some great gems like this one. DH deserves to be back at the current Marvel as much as Moon Knight (soon, I hear!) does. Check out Darkhawk if you're looking for something that plays up the darker side of teenage super heroes. It's not a rare series, so I'm sure you can find it at your local comic shop, though I'd suggest trying eBay. You can probably find the bulk of it in a set.