JSA: Return of Hawkman (Book 3) (Paperback)

by David S. Goyer (Author), Geoff Johns (Author), Stephen Sadowski (Author)

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563899124
• ISBN-13: 978-1563899126
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,161 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awe-Inspiring Return of Hawkman, October 9, 2003

By	Edmund Lau Kok Ming (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

DC went crazy in the 1990s. Thinking that all their characters have become too archaic for the cutting-edged tastes of today's readers, they systematically set out to eliminate all their "old" characters and replace them with "new" characters. Thus we have all the big "events" of the 1990s - the "death" of Superman (to be replaced by FOUR Supermen - and finally the original returned with long hair), the "maiming" of Batman (to be replaced by a psychotic, badly-drawn Jean Paul Valley), the "defeat" of Wonder Woman and the "amputation" of Aquaman.

And there were the "events". Underworld Unleashed. Zero Hour. Final Night. Day of Judgment. Our Worlds At War. Joker's Last Laugh. etc. etc. Mega-crossovers that involve a million titles.

Here in this book, we have DC doing what DC should have been doing. Silver-Age storytelling with a modern sense of the epic. Goyer and Johns here stick to the "comic-characters-as-absurd-heroic-visions" view of past-writers like John Broome and Gardner Fox. There are no attempts here to force the characters to become unneccessarily "adult" ala' the pretentious Vertigo attempts. The characters here dress and talk like comic characters. And that's what they should always have been. And finally, no crossovers. The whole saga happened within ONE title - JSA.

Of course, as the title implies, Hawkman returns. And what an awe-inspiring scene that was. I still get that familiar tingle down my spine looking at that full-page blast of Carter Hall resurrected and proclaiming, "Arise, my once and future love!" And his return was just in time too. As the JSA then rush off to face Onimarr Synn.

Finally, there is that JSA meeting at the end of the story. Hawkman is back. And they do a little re-examination of what the JSA stands for - "Young Justice and the Titans, they look up to the Justice League. But the Justice League... they look up to US!" That's what the JSA is all about - LEGACY, what with being the original super-team in human history.

GET THIS BOOK! THEN GET THE HAWKMAN : ENDLESS FLIGHT TPB ALSO!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JSA just keeps getting better, December 20, 2002

By	Blake Petit "Novelist, Comixtreme.com columni... (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Poor Hawkman. Trapped for years in a miasma of conflicting versions and contradictory histories. People talk about comic books being confusing sometimes -- Hawkman was the poster child.

Enter David Goyer and Geoff Johns.

They'd already turned the world's first superhero team -- the Justice Society of America -- into one of the best of the 21st century. In this book they bring back Hawkman in a way that is respectful to all previous incarnations without being slavishly devoted to them. Most importantly they did it in a way that is accessible to new readers, makes sense to old readers and is enjoyable for everyone.

You want to know how good a comic can be? Read JSA.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astounding, March 28, 2003

By	D. Smithee "Universal Daddy" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

Hawkman has always come across as a rather boring character and I initially passed on this collection. That was a mistake on my part that I realized when I finally picked it up and read it.

The writers of this excellent series have smartly chosen to keep story arcs fairly brief lasting about five issues. This allows each trade paperback to contain two arcs. The two in this volume are excellent.

The first arc finds the JSA being attacked by the Injustice Society and Johnny Sorrow. The Flash winds up accidently travelling back in time to ancient Egypt in his efforts to defeat Sorrow. (Time travel isn't something treated lightly like in Dr. Who.) This ties the two arcs together nicely and also relates the origins of three legends: Dr. Fate, Captain Marvel and Hawkman.

Other surprises wait as Black Adam joins the JSA and the exploration of Hawkman and Hawkgirl's relationship deepens. Kendra discovers she's really Hawk's wife reincarnated, but everything isn't peachy keen. All in all, it's well written and art is top notch. Enjoy!