Darkhawk #51

by Chad Bowers

[Quirky Cat]

I’m going to take a minute and do something slightly different here, and talk about a single issue instead of a full volume.

A couple of months ago I was perusing Marvel’s upcoming releases, when I spotted something out of the ordinary; Darkhawk #51. This took my brain a moment to comprehend, though I immediately had two thoughts following it; 1.) Has Darkhawk been rebooted and I somehow magically missed fifty freaken issues! (my poor heart!) 2.) Is this the first of a Darkhawk reboot, has that moment finally come?
As it turned out, my second thought was more accurate than the first (thankfully I had not been so oblivious as to miss 50 whole issues). The Darkhawk so many of us know and love (please tell me it isn’t just me that fangirls over him?) is back, but it isn’t a full-fledged reboot (yet). Titled ‘the Return’ it’s part one of a one part story; meaning it’s the only new issue of Darkhawk…for now. If one were to say…flip to the second to last page in the issue, they’d see a rather large (and sad) announcement talking about how there’s nothing next after this (my heart!) BUT, and please bear with me here, you can do something about that! Included below the heartbreaking announcement is an e-mail (MHEROES@MARVEL.COM) as well as a hint (or rather, instructions) to send an e-mail titled ‘OKAY TO PRINT’ to said address, gushing about the latest (and hopefully not last) Darkhawk issue.
Now, being the huge fangirl I am, I want to do more than that. So here I am, lighting the Fires of Isengard. I implore you, if you have ever been a fan of Darkhawk, or would like to become a fan, pick up this issue (money talks after all), and send them an e-mail! Write a blog post, talk about it on facebook, pester your friends about it. I know I’m probably more hopeful than I should be about a Darkhawk reboot; but seriously, I’ve been waiting years, YEARS to see what happens next to Christopher Powell. It isn’t the first time I’ve gotten my hopes up either; I completely freaked out by his walk on appearance in the Runaways, and I was also so sure that would lead to something else..but alas.
I know I’m not the only one who would love to see this actually go somewhere. So do me a solid, and give the series a try (fun fact: all of Darkhawk’s past exploits can be found on Marvel Unlimited, so it’s pretty easy to hunt everything older down).
I should also mention they’re test piloting (I’m assuming that’s what’s going on here) four more other series; Master of Kung Fu (#126), Not Brand Echh (#14), Power Pack (#63), and Silver Sable #36) so if you’re a fan of any of those series, I strongly urge you to follow the same instructions as mentioned above.

Now that I’ve finished begging and whining…I suppose I should actually review the issue I’ve been talking so much about. I think this one would work pretty well for both long term fans and new fans. While a brief backstory is mentioned (an adequate summary for those that haven’t read the previous 50 issues), it isn’t a smothering level and isn’t all dialogue.
Christ Powell is back on Earth, though you wouldn’t know it from his dreams; they’re still tormenting him with visages of the Tree of Shadows, his Amulet, and the Raptors (as in, the Fraternity of Raptors). It’s easy to think you’d be able to control your dreams, when it isn’t happening to you. Obviously Chris would love to make these dreams go away, he’d love to be able to fully integrate himself into this life he has (it’s not like he was missing being Darkhawk after all).
It’s been a year since his amulet worked; enough time for Chris to start thinking that maybe it never will again, maybe it is all over. Maybe even time to give up the amulet? (Not to just anybody of course, he’s not an idiot). But still…
I love the irony that is Chris Powell; he always wanted to be a hero, ever since he was a child. But unlike many children, he wasn’t imagining a superhero when he said that; he was picturing his dad (well, until the truth came out on that one), he was picturing the police. So it doesn’t surprise me at all to see Chris doing what he always wanted to do (what being Darkhawk prevented him from doing); he’s joined the police. Though he’s got more superhero intel and contacts than the average police officer does, obviously.
Chris’ true self shines during the following confrontation with a few…less than clean…officers. Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones present, and things change pretty rapidly from here. Two Raptors, Canorus and his brother Aceptar have come to collect Chris (well, most of him) and bring him to Lord Talonar. Unfortunately for them (but fortunately for us fans) this sets off a chain of events that brings Chris back to the point many of us were more familiar with. Here’s hoping it’s not the end.
For more single issue reviews, check out my posts over on Comic Bastards.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks