Hawkman (Carter Hall)

In the days of ancient Egypt, Prince Khufu is engaged in a feud with his rival, the Egyptian priest Hath-Set. The priest eventually captures both Khufu and his consort Chay-Ara, and kills them. Millennia later, in 1940, Khufu is reincarnated as American archaeologist Carter Hall, and Chay-Ara as Shiera Sanders. Hath-Set himself is reincarnated as a scientist named Anton Hastor. Upon finding the ancient knife Hath-Set used to kill him, Hall regains his memories of his past life and recognizes Hastor as the reincarnated evil priest.

Using the properties of "Nth metal" to craft a gravity-defying belt, Hall creates wings and a costume, ultimately confronting Hastor as Hawkman after Anton captured Shiera with a spell that drew her to his lair. He also encounters and remembers Shiera during this time. Following Hastor's defeat, the two begin a romance.

Hawkman becomes a charter member of the Justice Society of America, and takes the position of permanent chairman, following the Flash and Green Lantern. Shiera, meanwhile, adopts the identity of Hawkgirl and fights beside Hall throughout the 1940s. In 1942, Carter enlists in the U.S. Army Air Force as an Airman[1] and serves as a pilot with the 1st Interceptor Command during World War II.[2]

Hawkman is JSA chairman in 1951 when the team is investigated by the "Joint Congressional Un-American Activities Committee" (based on the real-life House Un-American Activities Committee) for possible communist sympathies. Congress asks members of the JSA to reveal their identities. The heroes decline, and Hawkman and most of the JSA retire for the bulk of the 1950s.

Carter Hall finds the ancient knife connected to his past life. Interior panel of Flash Comics #1 (1940).
Art by Dennis Neville.

The JSA and Hawkman regroup in the early 1960s following the Flash's meeting with his counterpart on the parallel world Earth-1, the JSA being active on Earth-2. Around this time, the Halls, having married, have a son named Hector. Little is known of Hawkman's activities during the 1960s, other than the JSA's annual meeting with Earth-1's Justice League of America.

In the early 1980s, Hawkman is instrumental in denying his son and other JSA children membership in the JSA, leading directly to the formation of Infinity, Inc.

Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, some of Hall's history was retconned by DC when the parallel worlds were combined into one, but one piece of retroactive continuity was written before Crisis and fills out early Hall history: All-Star Squadron Annual #3 states that during a JSA battle against Ian Karkull, the villain imbued them with energy which retarded their aging, allowing Hall and many others - as well as their spouses - to remain active into the late 20th century without infirmity.

Also, following the Crisis, the Golden Age and the Silver Age Hawkmen lived on the same Earth, until Carter was cast off into Limbo in the Last Days of the Justice Society one-shot.

Originally, the Hawkworld miniseries retold the origins of Katar Hol and Shayera Thal from a modern perspective, but following its success, DC launched a Hawkworld regular series, taking place after the miniseries, resulting in a complete reboot of Hawkman's continuity.

Much of Carter Hall's post-Hawkworld history is fleshed out in the pages of DC's JSA and Hawkman (vol. 4). These two titles, penned to a great extent by writers David S. Goyer, Geoff Johns, and James Dale Robinson, examine Hall's previous lives.

According to the post-Hawkworld origin, Prince Khufu lives during the reign of Ramesses II in the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt. Khufu believes that his ka, or soul, will not journey on to the land of the afterlife. Rather, his soul and that of his betrothed, Chay-Ara, are fated to remain in the mortal world.

As prophesied by the wizard Nabu, a spacecraft lands in Egypt. Prince Khufu, Nabu, and the champion Teth-Adam search the desert, finally coming across the remains of a Thanagarian ship styled with a hawk-like motif. Nabu casts a spell translating the strange language of the female space traveler. Just before dying, she whispers the words, "Nth metal", the name of the substance that powered the downed ship.

Teth-Adam lifts the ship back to Khufu's palace, where it is studied inside the Temple of Horus at Erdu. The remaining Nth metal is examined, and its most obvious property proves to be its ability to negate gravity. The remaining sample from the ship is melted and used to create several remarkable devices, including a scarab which allows Khufu to fly, a deadly knife, and a battle glove referred to as the Claw of Horus. However, the metal also strengthens the souls of Khufu and Chay-Ara, binding them together in their love and imprinting them with the collective knowledge of Thanagar. Although the villainous priest Hath-Set murders the two with the knife of Nth metal, their souls live on in the mortal plane. They are reincarnated over many lifetimes, always finding true love in each other, but cursed to be repeatedly killed at the hands of a reincarnated Hath-Set.

After his death, Khufu's soul is reincarnated countless times in markedly different eras and locations. Some of his known reincarnated identities have been depicted in Hawkman (vol. 4) and include, but are not limited to:

• Brian Kent (also known as the Silent Knight), alive during 5th-century Britain, love of Lady Celia Penbrook;
• Koenrad Von Grimm, the son of a blacksmith in 14th-century Germany;
• Captain John Smith of the 16th-century Colony of Virginia;
• Hannibal Hawkes, the Nighthawk, a gunfighter in the American Old West, love of Cinnamon;
• Detective James Wright, a Pinkerton detective in the early 20th century, love of Sheila Carr.

Eventually, the soul of Prince Khufu is reborn as Carter Hall, an archaeologist active during the 1940s. After regaining the memories of his first life in Egypt, Hall uses the hawk motif of the Egyptian god Horus to inspire his role as the original Hawkman.

Some of Carter Hall's lives and wives. Art by Joe Bennett.

During the same period, his love Chay-Ara is reborn as archaeologist Shiera Saunders. After the two meet and marry, she becomes Hawkgirl, fighting at Carter's side. They become founding members of the Justice Society of America, and Hawkman takes the role of chairman. The pair reduce their activities in the early 1950s but became fully active again in the early 1980s when Hall briefly joins the Justice League of America as a mentor. The two have a son, Hector Hall, who later becomes an incarnation of Doctor Fate. Just following the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxiseries, Hawkman and the JSA become trapped in a battle in an ever-repeating Ragnarök.

Years after they vanish, Hawkman and the JSA return to the modern day when a primitive but superpowered tribe volunteer to substitute themselves in the Ragnarök cycle. Soon after, however, death finds Carter once again during the events of Zero Hour. He and his wife Shiera merge with Katar Hol and a "hawk god" creature in a new version of Hawkman, attributed to them being fundamentally unstable due to their complex origins as a result of the last Crisis. This individual is active for a brief time, but soon loses his sanity and is banished to Limbo.

Years later, JSA member Kendra Saunders is transported to a ravaged Thanagar by the High Priests of the Downsiders. Seeking a champion to stop the evil Onimar Synn from enslaving the planet, the priests use Kendra's centuries-old connection to Carter to bring him back to the mortal plane. Following this unorthodox resurrection, Hall retains all the memories of his past lives, as well as those of Katar Hol, the Thanagarian Hawkman. However, Kendra has no interest in renewing the relationship due to her lack of memories of their past time together, and the role as chairman in the JSA goes to Mister Terrific by majority vote (over both Sand and Hawkman) . During the Black Reign storyline, however, Hawkman takes over as chairman to lead the team against Black Adam's recent takeover of Khandaq, but after his actions result in two deaths and their main objective-to bring Adam's team back to America-fails, he is asked to temporarily step down from the JSA.

After defeating Onimar Synn, Hall once again becomes a member of the JSA. Operating both with the JSA as well as with Hawkgirl, Hall embarks on a wide variety of exotic adventures. His quest as a hero takes him from the streets of St. Roch to exotic dimensions and even into outer space as he fights in the Rann-Thanagar War. Following this event Carter stays in space to help mediate the truce on Rann and avenge the murder of Hawkwoman.

As a result, Hawkman is absent during DC Comics' One Year Later event. Hawkman (vol. 4) becomes Hawkgirl at issue #50 and Hawkgirl is left by herself to patrol and protect St. Roch. During the events of the missing year, Hall serves as a member of the Thanagarian police force, attaining the rank of Commissioner.

In 2007, Hall returns to Earth in a 4-part story-arc presented in Hawkgirl #59-60 and JSA Classified #21-22 and appears as an active member of the JSA in the pages of Justice Society of America. This series was canceled with Hawkgirl issue #66 in July 2007.

After that, it was stated that Katar Hol's soul has passed on from the realm of limbo, as have his memories that existed in Carter's mind. Despite this, Carter still existed in a reconstructed version of Katar Hol's body. However, in a Hawkman Special published in August 2008, the mysterious being called Demiurge told Carter Hall that his previous existence as Prince Khufu was all an illusion created by some unknown force. As Demiurge departs, he calls Hawkman "Katar Hol", indicating that Hawkman is in reality Katar Hol who believed he was Carter Hall.

He briefly assisted the Justice League during their battle with the Shadow Cabinet by knocking out Hardware as he tried to flee from the JLA Watchtower with Arthur Light's corpse. In the aftermath of the battle, Carter reunited with Kendra after her relationship with Red Arrow ended.

During the Final Crisis crossover event, Hawkman, like all the other heroes, fights to stop Darkseid from destroying the DC Multiverse. In an attempt to save civilians, Checkmate creates a dimensional tunnel between universes. It begins breaking down, and Lord Eye tries to close it, which will kill all the people still in the tunnel. Hawkman and Hawkgirl manage to destroy Lord Eye, but are caught in the explosion. In the meantime all the other people are safely transported via a second Boom Tube. This fulfills the prophecy of the Demiurge.[3] While it is implied that Hawkman and Hawkgirl are dead, author Geoff Johns has stated they are alive at the beginning of the upcoming event, the Blackest Night.[4] It is later confirmed in Justice League of America that Hawkgirl is alive, but is hospitalized.

In Blackest Night #1, Kendra is shown having an argument with Hawkman over whether or not to visit Jean Loring's grave with the Atom. As the two heroes quarrel, the reanimated corpses of Ralph and Sue Dibny, now members of the Black Lantern Corps, enter Hawkman's sanctuary. The Black Lanterns attack, Sue impaling Hawkgirl on a spear. Ralph taunts Hawkman, telling him that Hawkgirl never loved him; a claim she refutes with her dying breath. Hawkman is killed shortly afterward, and both heroes are reanimated as Black Lanterns by Black Hand himself.[5]

It was also revealed in Green Lantern #46 that Khufu and Chay-Ara's bodies were taken from Earth by the Zamarons and placed in the violet central power battery. Their love is the source of the Star Sapphire's powers. The pair receive black rings during the battle on Zamaron. Their escape from the central power battery causes widespread destruction on the planet, enough for the Star Sapphires to abandon the planet, and sets the Predator free; it does not seem to have affected the Star Sapphires' powers.[6]

During the battle at Coast City, the Atom is chosen by the Indigo Tribe to be more effective against Nekron's forces.[7] The Atom tells Indigo-1 to keep his involvement in the deployment of the troops a secret, and asks that she help him find a way to legitimately resurrect Hawkman and Hawkgirl.[8] In the final battle, Hawkman and Hawkgirl are both resurrected by the white light. Kendra is revealed to be Shiera Hall and remembers all her past lives; she and Carter joyfully reunite.[9]

In the Brightest Day crossover event, Carter and Shiera follow Hath-Set, who has collected the bones from all of their past bodies, and created from them a portal to Hawkworld. While there, Carter is told by the Entity to "stop the Queen Khea" from leaving.[10] While Hawkgirl is held by Hath-Set and his Queen Khea, Hawkman and his group of the panthera attack the Manhawks homeworld. Hawkman hears Hawkgirl's cries and charges toward to rescue her. His arrival leads to a confrontation with Queen Khea, who turns out to be the mother of Shiera Hall. During the fight, Queen Khea controls his Nth metal mace and armor, and Hawkman is tied together with Hawkgirl. Queen Khea opens the gateway and enters the portal to the Zamaron homeworld.[11] When she arrives on the Zamaron homeworld, Star Sapphire (Carol Ferris) frees them both to stop Queen Khea's invasion. The two attack Queen Khea as Hawkgirl wants to face her, but the Predator Entity bonds with the Queen.[12]

Shiera and Carter manage to eventually separate both of them by stabbing Khea at the same time with weapons made of Zamaronian crystals. The bones of the past lives of Hawkman and Hawkgirl separate from the gateway, and, animated by the violet light of love, grab Khea and imprison her in the Zamaronian central power battery. Shiera and Carter, with both of their missions accomplished and their lives returned, are teleported back to St. Roch by Carol. Carter and Shiera are interrupted by Deadman, whose white ring tells the two of them that they should lead separate lives. Carter refuses and says they are not going to live apart again, the ring responds "So be it" and unleashes a blast of white light that kills Hawkman and Hawkgirl, turning them into dust.[13] Deadman orders the ring to resurrect both Hawkman and Hawkgirl, but the ring refuses, saying that Hawkman was brought back to life to overcome what held him back in his past life because he was essential in saving Earth.[14]

When the "Dark Avatar" made his presence known, Hawkman and Hawkgirl are revealed to be part of the Elementals, guardians of the forest located in Star City. They were transformed by the Entity to become the element of air and protect the Star City forest from the "Dark Avatar", which appears to be the Black Lantern version of the Swamp Thing.[15] The Elementals are then fused with the body of Alec Holland in order for him to be transformed by the Entity into the new Swamp Thing and battle against the Dark Avatar. After the Dark Avatar is defeated, Swamp Thing appears to have brought the Elementals back to normal; however, as Hawkman looks around for Shiera, he discovers that she was not brought back like he was. He is later told by Swamp Thing that Shiera is everywhere, revealing that she was still the elemental of air. Afterward, Hawkman returns home yelling "Shiera!"[16]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Hall tries to rid himself of his Hawkman armor by burning and burying it in a forest. However, the Nth metal suit re-bonds with him, preventing Hall from escaping his life as Hawkman.[17] It is later revealed that the current Hawkman is actually Katar Hol, with "Carter Hall" being an assumed identity.

The real Carter Hall returns as Hawkman to the DC Universe in Dark Days: The Forge. His origin of him as a pharaoh who is constantly being reincarnated is used for the character. Carter Hall is an archaeologist once again who is researching the origin of Nth metal and how it gives him his powers. At some point, Carter encountered Barbatos and hit him with his mace. When the aged Batman and Superman arrive at the World Forge, they realise they were too late and it has fallen to darkness and are met by a gigantic hammer wielding hawk-like beast who proclaims that it is Carter Hall, the dragon of Barbatos and Keeper of the Dark Forge, and that only endings are at the World Forge.[18]

A new Hawkman series was announced in March with writing by Robert Venditti and art by Bryan Hitch, the book will explore Carter Hall's experiences after the events that happened during Dark Nights: Metal, alongside his relationship to Hawkgirl.[19]

The first arc of the comic deals with Hall, believing there are gaps in the memories of his past lives, recovering a mystical artefact that allows him to unlock all his memories. He becomes aware of multiple previous incarnations of himself, which include Katar Hol, and also has a vision of Earth in the future, destroyed by gigantic winged creatures (later revealed to be spaceships) known as the Deathbringers. Hall deduces that his first human incarnation, Prince Khufu, had the same vision, resulting in a winged figure becoming an important symbol throughout all his lives.

Carter Hall also discovers that, as well as reincarnating over time on Earth, he has also lived multiple lives on alien worlds, and on at least one occasion, two or more of his reincarnations have existed simultaneously. The other lives revealed are:

• Katar Hol of Thanagar
• Catar-Ol of Krypton
• Golden Hawk, a legendary hero of an unnamed planet destroyed by the returning Deathbringers
• Avion, an ancient hero of the Microverse
• The Dragon of Barabatos
• Airwing of New Genesis
• Katarthul of Rann
• Red Harrier
• Sky Tyrant of Earth-3
• Titan Hawk

His lives throughout Earth's history include:

• Prince Khufu, the Ancient Egyptian warrior prince.
• Silent Knight, a medieval hero.
• Birdman, of the Easter Islands.
• Dr. Carlo Salón, a plague doctor in 17th Century Spain.
• Nighthawk, the gunslinging western hero.
• Carter Hall, the Golden-age version from WWII who was a member of the Justice Society of America

He also spent centuries being reincarnated on the planet Nebulen, which was being fought over by two alien armies in a seemingly endless war. Hawkman was endlessly reincarnated as a common foot soldier, alternately being part of each side. He eventually ended the war by walking into the no man's land alone and unarmed, offering his food to the opposing side. A redheaded female enemy soldier, potentially a reincarnation of Hawkgirl, left her trenches to meet with him, and exchanged food. Both sides then abandoned the conflict and made peace, deserting en masse to settle together on Nebulen, which grew into an advanced and peaceful society. A statue memorializes the anonymous soldier whose gesture of peace ended the war.[20]

With the aid of the descendants of people he saved in previous lives, Carter begins following a trail of clues left by his past selves to uncover the mystery of his vision, while also randomly being pulled through time and space by unknown means to encounter his past selves. This journey leads him from the ends of the Earth, to the Microverse, and into the depths of space. He deduces that his past selves knew the purpose of the visions of the Deathbringers and realised that they were starting to forget, and therefore left the trail for their future incarnations.

Carter experiences a vision of his original incarnation, Ktar Deathbringer. Ktar was general of the Deathbringers, a race of winged humanoid aliens who cut a swathe through the galaxy in the distant past, slaughtering millions on Earth, Rann, Thanagar, Krypton, and many others. The Deathbringers would sacrifice the few survivors on their temple world of Qgga to a being known as the "Lord Beyond the Void" that resides behind a rift in space. At each battlefield, Ktar would be visited by an apparition of a red-haired woman. With each slaughter, his guilt and self-loathing grew. On Qgga, while preparing the final sacrifice that would allow the Lord to enter the universe, Ktar was visited by the woman again and turned on the Deathbringers, destroying Qgga and sending the Deathbringers into the void. Upon his death, Ktar was offered a chance to atone by endlessly reincarnating, only being allowed to finally pass on when he had saved as many people as he had killed. He was also ordered to prepare for the return of the Deathbringers, who are shown to be active in the galaxy under the leadership of Idamm, Ktar's long-term second in command.[21]

Carter's search ultimately beings him to the former site of Krypton. Transported through time to Krypton's last day he encounters his past self Catar-Ol, a historian and tutor to Kara Zor-El, the future Supergirl. Unlike other prior reincarnations, Catar also possesses past life memories and is aware of the Deathbringers. He was working to build a weapon to defeat the Deathbringers, which the trail of clues lead to, however, he was unable to complete it before Krypton's destruction. Carter is disheartened, but Catar encourages him to find another way to save Earth, telling him that he must "be the weapon".[22] Carter returns to Earth, and seeks help from Madame Xanadu, however, the Deathbringers attack London, with Idamm personally engaging Carter.[23] Carter bests Idamm in single combat but is overwhelmed by the overwhelming numbers of the Deathbringers. Somehow taking control of the timeshifts, Carter summons all his past selves to the present to aid him in the batte. [24] The Hawkmen put up a valiant fight, but the Deathbringers are revealed to be immortal, and therefore seemingly unbeatable.[25]

Idamm orders the planet destroyed, but Carter rallies the Hawkmen to attack the Deathbringer's ships, disabling their weapons. Meanwhile, Carter duels with Idamm again. Utilising his centuries of combat experience, Carter viciously beats Idamm down, repeatedly inflicting what would be lethal damage to another opponent. Idamm eventually yields and surrenders the role of general to Carter. Carter orders the Deathbringers to stand down, with none daring to question his leadership. Before returning to their proper places in the timestream, the other Hawkmen transfer their memories to Hall, allowing him to remember his full history for the first time.[26]

Carter discovered another one of his past lives in the form of Sky Tyrant. Sky Tyrant was Carter Hall's reincarnation on Earth-3. This life learned about his origins as Ktar Deathbringer and the debt he must pay. However, Sky Tyrant is afraid of dying and decided to prolong his 'immortality' and add to the debt by killing people on his Earth. After dying by unknown means, Sky Tyrant was locked away in Carter's subconscious until the latter was unknowingly infected by the Batman Who Laughs and a recent encounter with Shadow Thief caused Sky Tyrant to reemerge and trap Carter in his own consciousness. Sky Tyrant was confronted by Shayera Hol/Hawkwoman but soon escaped before she could defeat him. Using their shared consciousness, Sky Tyrant wished to learn more about their history through the secret Black Journal.[27]

In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock," Lois Lane finds a flash-drive among the mess while at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Hawkman and the rest of the Justice Society.[28]

• In The Flash (1990) episode "Watching The Detectives", Tina McGee mentions that she is expecting a call from Carter Hall.

Carter Hall as he appears in Smallville, played by Michael Shanks.

• Actor Michael Shanks played Carter Hall in several episodes of seasons 9 and 10 of Smallville, including the two-hour television movie Absolute Justice (which includes several other members of the Justice Society of America).[30][31] In season 10 of Smallville episode 11, Carter Hall dies at the hands of Slade Wilson. He was buried in Egypt next to his wife and his burial was attended by the Justice League.
• Carter Hall appears alongside Kendra Saunders in The Flash (2014) and Arrow crossover event "Heroes Join Forces", portrayed by Falk Hentschel before becoming a regular in the first season of Legends of Tomorrow; all of which are set within The CW's Arrowverse. He was killed by Vandal Savage, who used his body to extend his henchmen's lives before the Legends stop him and retake Carter's body to give him a proper burial.[32][33][34] After Kendra has visions of Carter being reincarnated as one of Savage's soldiers, she tried to restore his memories. She eventually succeeds, though they are temporarily captured by Savage before the Legends rescue them; allowing them to overpower and kill Savage. Following this, they decide to leave the team and proceed with their lives in 2016.
  • Hentschel reprised his role in the fan film Cooped Up.[35][36]
• Carter Hall is featured in Stargirl as a member of the Justice Society of America. In the pilot, 10 years prior to the series, Hawkman was with the Justice Society when the Injustice Society attacked their headquarters and killed most of their members, during which he was killed by Brainwave.

• In the series Justice League Unlimited, Carter Hall (originally named Joseph Gardner and voiced by James Remar) is an archeologist who finds Thanagarian technology left over from two lost Thanagarian lawmen who wound up in ancient Egypt 8,000 years earlier and ruled there. This version of Carter Hall is amalgamated with Katar Hol. He thinks that he and Hawkgirl are reincarnations of the two lovers and so, using Nth metal, he becomes Hawkman. He tries to get Shayera to love him, but soon realizes he is not really a reincarnation, but was under the influence of a Thanagarian telepathic ship's log.
• Carter Hall appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Golden Age of Justice!", voiced by William Katt. He appears as a member of the Justice Society.
• Hawkman (Carter Hall) appears in DC Super Hero Girls, with his vocal effects by Phil LaMarr. He has reincarnated multiple times and fallen in love with the reincarnation of Hawkgirl each time. This version speaks in a low, growling register and is easily agitated.

• Hawkman appears in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America in the opening credits.
• Hawkman appears in the animated movie, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies voiced by an uncredited Michael Gough. In the film, he fights alongside Captain Marvel, engaging Superman and Batman outside Lex Luthor's bunker. He initially gains the upper hand against Batman until Superman and Batman switch targets. While infiltrating the bunker, Batman takes his costume.

Carter Hall is set to appear in the upcoming Black Adam film, set in the DC Extended Universe portrayed by Aldis Hodge.[37][38][39]

• Hawkman appears in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Troy Baker.
• Hawkman is a spawnable and (Wii U only) playable character in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.
• Hawkman appears as a support card in the iOS and Android mobile game Injustice: Gods Among Us. He is also revealed to have been killed by Superman's Regime forces in Hawkgirl's ending; his wife now seeks to avenge his death.
• Hawkman appears in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Travis Willingham. He is captured and imprisoned beneath the Hall of Justice by Lex Luthor, who impersonates him. He remains imprisoned there until the game's conclusion.
• Hawkman appears in the MMO DC Universe Online, voiced by Jason Liebricht, where he gives out the Legends PVP and Arena information from the JLA Watchtower. He and Hawkgirl are part of several missions as both friend and foe, depending on the faction the player has chosen.[40]