Thirty years later, a new hawk arises! Your Major Spoilers review of Darkhawk #1 from Marvel Comics awaits!
DARKHAWK #1
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artist: Juanan Ramirez
Colorist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Editor: Darren Shan
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 25, 2021
Previously in Darkhawk: Connor Young is a seventeen-year-old star basketball player with the world ahead of him, until a surprising medical diagnosis changes everything. But what happens when a mysterious amulet finds him and gives him powers beyond belief? What will he do with these new abilities?
BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL
Darkhawk #1 begins at a high school basketball game, as star player Connor Young brings home another win for his team. In the locker room afterwards, he has a strange bout of dizziness, but recovers quickly and makes his way home, during which he encounters the aftermath of a robbery perpetrated with “future weapons.” The next day, Connor collapses during his morning run, and is hospitalized for his injuries, only to be told that he has Multiple Sclerosis. Believing that his sports career is over, and thus, also his life, Connor tries to stay positive, but has to leave the next game after hearing all the whispers from classmates wondering what’s wrong with him. That’s when the strange “meteor” crashes from the sky, giving him a familiar gem that transforms him into… the all-new, all-different Darkhawk! The battle that follows shows us the truth behind the criminal gang, and a final-page surprise that reminds me of the original Darkhawk’s villainous twist.
IT’S WEIRD, I THINK OF HIM AS “A NEW GUY”
As someone who remembers the original Darkhawk’s debut, I have to say this Darkhawk #1 is a stronger debut for Connor as Darkhawk than Chris Powell got. That said, the pacing here feels like it’s not making the best use of that space allotted, with the first two-thirds of the issue focusing on Connor’s life and diagnosis, with the Darkhawk debut on page twenty-three. The remainder of the issue hustles us through his first super encounter, making it seem as though there’s no learning curve for these powers and feeling very cramped. So many first issues these days have to work really hard to get everything in, seemingly in the hopes of hooking the fickle readers quickly, but this one is doubly frustrating. Connor’s father, friends, and life are much more interesting than the superheroics this time around, and ideally, I’d have liked to see more of that before superhero time. That said, the design of the new Darkhawk is quite good, and there are a couple of very impressive shots of him in action, but Ramirez’s art isn’t always at that high level. There are a few facial expressions in this issue that are just plain bizarre, and some of the storytelling transitions in the last third of the book are unclear, adding to the rushed feel of the third act.
BOTTOM LINE: IT HAS POTENTIAL
All in all, though, Darkhawk #1 provides remarkable depth and emotion around our main character’s personal life, providing some very effective, very authentic-feeling moments about Connor finding out that he has MS, and the Darkhawk part of the story has some lovely art in it, which all boils down to a better than average 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. It’s a little bit amazing to me that there are enough hardcore Darkhawk aficionados to make this book viable, as my mind still wants to think of him as one of the new members of the Marvel Universe (and a bit of a dimestore Peter Parker), but I’m willing to give this five-issue series a shot based on this issue’s strengths.
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DARKHAWK #1
This issue is impressive in a lot of ways and I am interested in Connor's story and the presentation of his diagnosis, but things feel very rushed in this issue, and there are some consistency issues with the art that lessen enjoyment for me.
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Writing7
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Art6
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Coloring7
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