The Brave and the Bold #36

 

    The best way to start this blog is with high flying action and what better way to do that than with the winged law officers from the planet Thanagar: HAWKMAN AND HAWKGIRL! So this sensation was penned by the often underrated Gardner Fox (whom penned such classic stories as those found in the Green Lantern and those found in The Flash, when head writer John Broome was away for that issue) and drawn by another comic book legend that is often underrated; Joe Kubert. (For a bit of background on Joe Kubert, check out this blog posting from the one and only +Longbox Graveyard and the link for that post is http://longboxgraveyard.com/2013/05/22/sgt-rock/)  As was DC's style in the early Silver Age, reader's would get two stories for the price of one and in my opinion, I LOVE that format. Twelve to thirteen pages adds up to the perfect amount of panels to tell a complete story with plot, intrigue, action, and triumph and readers would get treated to two 12-13 page stories via this method. DC did not draw things out and spread them out over multiple issues, which I've found was Marvel's favorite delivery method. Don't get me wrong, I TOTALLY understand the appeal, it helps the bottom line by selling more and more mags, along with subscriptions, but it leaves the reader who doesn't have the complete story arc feeling a bit "incomplete" and as a collector of these Silver Age sensations, getting complete Marvel story arcs is often "challenging" but I still love Stan the Man and a signed Silver Age Thor comic bearing his signature that I got at New York City Comic Con is my most prized possession so EXCELSIOR!!!  

    

    Now the Brave and the Bold #36 is broken up into two stories, the first of the two entitled "Hawkman and the Strange Spells of the Sorcerer". This story basically breaks down like a mini Indiana Jones story as Hawkman and Hawkgirl actually work in a museum while they are "undercover" while on earth studying our law enforcement procedures and practicing their own brand of high flying policing. Hawkman and Hawkgirl are faced with battling phantasms created by dark magic that they cannot harm. Turns out they are merely distractions to throw the winged lawmen from Thanagar off the scent of one of their coworkers from the museum from completing a dark magic spell to bring these phantasms to life. However, as JK Rowling insinuates in the pages of Harry Potter, if you can break a wizard's concentration while they are casting a spell then the spell will not work and this is exactly what Hawkman and Hawkgirl were able to do. So Hawkman and Hawkgirl are actually winged investigators whom so happen to work in a museum and have alien technology. They are basically a blend of Indiana Jones, Doctor Who, and Batman and the answer to all that rolled in one is simply one word....EPIC!

   

    The story Fox penned as the second tale in this mag was even better than the first. This story, also featuring art by Joe Kubert, was entitled "Hawkman and the Shadow Thief of Midway City". A shadow was robbing Midway City blind, leaving police "in the dark". As it would turn out, the thief was actually using something that he received as a gift for saving an alien's life; something known as a dimensiometer which would enable the thief's body to escape to another dimension leaving only his shadow in this dimension. Hawkman and Hawkgirl were eventually able to deduce the dual identity of the shadow thief and for all the loot he was stealing the shadow thief was living in a trailer which I found a bit odd but it's this fact that enabled Hawkman to capture him in a most epic fashion. As the shadow thief attempted to escape from Hawkman, Hawkman carried the trailer to the edge of a cliff and as the shadow thief took a leap through his trailer wall, he plummeted off the edge of the cliff and and for Hawkman to save him the thief had to give up the dimensiometer, which he gladly did. The last panel of this mag features Hawkman and Hawkgirl flying off into the distance, off to their space ship to return to Thanagar and DC included this note: 

         

Dear Reader, 

And so Hawkman and Hawkgirl leave earth to report back to their own world of Thanagar! Will they ever return?That depends on you! if enough of you have purchased the "tryout" issuess of Hawkman in the Brave and the Bold, if enough of you write us asking for the winged wonders reappearance in his own magazine--- We will be happy to fulfill your request!

    It's these personal touches like these that just go to show you the connection that comics used to have to their readers. Their relationship was one based on open communication and one that made the reader feel like and understand that their favorite characters LITERALLY needed their support. Well, Hawkman would have had my vote. Would the winged wonders have had yours?