The Savage Hawkman #1–Review

Written by Tony S. Daniel, Art by Philip Tan, Colors by Sunny Gho

The Story: Side effects of the Hawkman suit: piss it off and it will bond to your muscles.

What’s Good: I have almost no knowledge of the character Hawman, so I was a little excited reading this–especially after reading Daniel’s Detective Comics. I got to say this–the story is really promising. I love the idea of Hawkman as an Indian Jones kind of character.  And with a fresh introduction to the character, Daniel sold me on this idea. What’s good to see is that he’s not simply Indiana Jones with the powers of Hawkman; he’s more like if Indiana started thinking his fedora was out to get him and tried to burn it multiple times. He’s done being Hawkman and just wants one of them to die.

We’ll get back to the story later. What really shines in this issue is the art. Phillip Tan and Sunny Cho make a great team. Tan’s art isn’t “savage,” but it has this energy like it’s about to burst open. And when it does, it’s a wonderful thing. The alien nemesis has the savagery we don’t get from Hawkman as of now, and I can’t wait to see Tan’s version of a SAVAGE Hawkman. But the explosive potential felt in the art is highlighted (no pun intended) even more by Cho’s colors. The best part of her colors is that you don’t even realize she was holding back until the first beautiful full page spread of Hawman in his new armor. Everything before it is slightly muted and hazy. And on that page, the only vibrant thing is Hawman. They backgrounds, the cave, the in-your-face placement of that creepy girl in the hood that keeps coming up? All muted. In fact, despite the girl being so prominently there, it might actually be easy to skip over her from just how striking the colors are of Hawkman on that page. I’d pick this up regularly for this kind of quality.

John Carter: A Princess of Mars #1 of 5 – Review

By: Roger Langridge (writer), Filipe Andrade (artist), Sunny Cho (colors), Sana Amanat (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)

The Story: John Carter is the captive of the green men of Mars and must learn their language.

Some Comments Before the Review: I am a long-time Barsoom fan. I discovered John Carter through Marvel’s excellent 1977 series, which led me to Burroughs’ novels and to novel-reading in general. For this reason, I am also reading and reviewing Dynamite’s excellent “Warlord of Mars”, “Dejah Thoris” and “Fall of Barsoom.” Literature is often described as a dialogue, where one creative vision responds, positively or negatively, to another. I’m approaching Marvel’s all-ages “Princess of Mars” as a part of that ongoing conversation.

The Review: The most striking creative choice in this issue is, hands down, the art style. Andrade’s style is so different, in its approach to perspective, exaggeration, anatomy, and polished roughness, that at no point can the other parts of the book be disentangled from it. Andrade’s art is, without reference to positive or negative, fascinating. I found myself questioning both the artist’s motives for creative choices, as well as the editor’s for having chosen such a style. John Carter is an exaggerated, cartoony figure that reminded me equally of the angularity of some of the stringy physiognomies of Heavy Metal’s European works, mixed with Disney’s Hercules. Dejah Thoris is not the incomparable daughter of Helium in her awesome beauty, but something closer to an art nouveau 1920s flapper in faux-futuristic wear. Tars Tarkas appeared (and sounded) priestly and sage rather than fearsome, and the Tharks overall borrowed an insectoid flavor for their hands and posture. I was unsure if this was a strikingly creative character-design choice or whether this was a further exploration of the exaggeration of posture and anatomy for style’s sake. And I think this nailed down for me the central artistic tension I felt. I’ve read unreliable narrators. I now feel I’ve seen an unreliable artist, who makes me question or distrust what I’ve seen. This is not the same charm as a beautifully drawn figure or action sequence, but it is an element of fascination nonetheless and a volley in the stylistic conversation of how Carter has been depicted before.