Hawk and Dove
Hawk and Dove are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates, they appeared in Showcase #75 during the Silver Age of Comic Books. The duo has existed in multiple incarnations over the years across several eponymous ongoing series and miniseries, and has also appeared in a number of recurring roles and guest appearances in titles such as Teen Titans, Birds of Prey, and Brightest Day. The duo originated as teenage brothers Hank Hall as Hawk and Don Hall as Dove. Following Don's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dawn Granger assumed the role of Dove in Hawk & Dove #1. The mantle of Hawk would later be taken up by Dawn's sister Holly Granger in 2003 after Hank was killed during 1994's Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! until her death and Hank's resurrection in Blackest Night. An unrelated team consisting of military cadet Sasha Martens as Hawk and rock musician Wiley Wolverman as Dove also appeared as the focus of a 1997 miniseries. The pairing of Hank and Dawn serve as the current and most commonly published incarnation of the team.
Inspired by the emerging political divides of the 1960s between pro-war hawks and pacifist doves, the central concept traditionally revolves around two young heroes with contrasting personalities and diametrically opposed ideologies who, by speaking their superheroic aliases, are transformed and granted power sets of heightened strength, speed, and agility. With Dove embodying reason and nonviolence and Hawk embodying force and aggression, the two heroes complement one another to effectively fight evil. With the introduction of Dawn Granger, it was revealed that Hawk and Dove's powers are derived from the Lords of Chaos and Order.
Though the duo's ongoing titles have all been relatively short-lived and their guest appearances in other titles sporadic, the heroes have experienced a storied and sometimes tragic history. Multiple characters have worn the respective titles of Hawk and Dove at one time or another and the legacy has experienced death, resurrection and even Hank's own descent into madness and subsequent transformation into the mass-murdering villain Monarch and later Extant.
Hank Hall, Dawn Granger, and Don Hall made their live-action debuts in the television series Titans, played by Alan Ritchson, Minka Kelly, and Elliot Knight, respectively. Furthermore, Fred Savage, Jason Hervey, Greg Ellis, and Dee Bradley Baker voice the duo in Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave and the Bold respectively.
Publication history
Silver and Bronze Ages
Spinning off from their Showcase debut, Hank and Don Hall received their own series titled The Hawk and the Dove. Created by plotter/artist Steve Ditko and writer Steve Skeates, with Carmine Infantino coming up with the title, Ditko plotted only the first issue and left after the second. In a 1999 interview, Skeates expressed dismay with changes that would be made to his script by Ditko and editorial, citing a tendency to neutralize Dove's abilities as a crimefighter in favor of Hawk's:It was strange. A lot of changes would happen after I turned in a script. Quite often, my idea of what to do with the Dove was have him do brave stuff – and then it would be changed by either Dick Giordano|Dick or Steve into the Hawk doing that stuff. They'd say it was out of character for the Dove. They seemed to be equating Dove with wimp, wuss, coward or whatever. And I don't really think it was because they were more hawkish. I just don't think that they knew what a dove was.
Although Skeates attempted to change the direction of the series after Ditko left and artist Gil Kane joined the creative team, Skeates himself left after the fourth issue, leaving Kane to take on both writing and art responsibilities until the book's cancellation due to low sales after only the sixth issue.
The original Hawk and Dove made sporadic appearances in different DC titles throughout the 1970s and 1980s, primarily within the Teen Titans and New Teen Titans, joining the original incarnation briefly from Teen Titans #25–30, under the guidance of writers Dick Giordano and Robert Kanigher and artist Nick Cardy. Skeates also provided scripts for some of these issues they appeared in. The brothers also teamed up with Batman in The Brave and the Bold #181 in an out-of-continuity tale written by Alan Brennert and drawn by Jim Aparo.
The original Hawk and Dove's last appearance together was in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12, in which Don Hall is killed.
Modern Age
Following Dove's death, Hawk and Dove would appear together in various flashbacks, while Hawk would appear alone in occasional guest-appearances in the Teen Titans titles, including his own solo two-part story in Teen Titans Spotlight #7–8 by Mike Baron and Jackson Guice.In 1986, Karl Kesel and Barbara Kesel began collaborating on a revival of Hawk and Dove, with the idea of creating a second Dove, who would this time be a female that would later become Dawn Granger. Karl Kesel stated:
I was inking the figure of the dead Dove on George Pérez's "Crisis" spread in The History of the DC Universe not crying tears over the death of the guy since he was pretty much a minor hero, but regretting the end of a really interesting team. I always liked Hawk and Dove. I always thought how they'd say "Hawk!" and "Dove!" and transform was really cool. Then it hit me: The mysterious voice that gave Hawk and Dove their powers could easily give the Dove powers to someone else! Maybe… a woman! I called Barbara as soon as I could. She sparked off the idea instantly and before even we knew it, we were co-writers.
The revival was approved for a five-issue miniseries, and the Kesels were joined by then-up-and-coming artist Rob Liefeld. The miniseries, shortened from its 1968 title to simply Hawk & Dove, was published in 1988–1989. The revival veered away from the duo's Silver Age political leanings and told a more straightforward superhero story with human trappings, introducing a number of supporting characters and villains that were loosely based on many of the Kesels' friends and family. Their portrayals of Hank and Dawn themselves were modeled on Barbara Kesel's brother and Karl Kesel's sister, respectively. This new direction was well received by fans and sold out, which then spurred the launch of an ongoing series with Hawk & Dove in June 1989, co-written by the Kesels, with Greg Guler replacing Liefeld on art chores. The Kesels also wrote a Hawk and Dove feature in Secret Origins #43 that elaborated on the origin story of Hank and Don, revealing that Hawk and Dove's powers were given to them by the Lords of Chaos and Order and that Hawk and Dove themselves were Agents of Chaos and Order, respectively.
Despite its strong start, the relaunched ongoing series was eventually cancelled after 28 issues and two Annuals, with issue #28 being published in October 1991. To date, this is the longest any Hawk & Dove ongoing series has lasted.
Fictional character biography
Hank and Don Hall
Hank and Don Hall are the sons of Judge Irwin Hall. They find out that their father has many enemies when he is nearly assassinated. Hank and Don eventually follow the attacker back to his hideout and accidentally lock themselves in the closet of some criminals plotting to dispose of him. Mysterious voices echo throughout the room, offering the boys a chance to save their father. All they have to do is call upon the powers of the Hawk and the Dove. The voices belong to a Lord of Chaos named T'Charr and a Lord of Order named Terataya. The Hall brothers invoke their new powers and become Hawk and Dove. The conservative Hawk is hot-headed and reactionary, whereas the liberal Dove is more thoughtful and reasoned, but is prone to indecisiveness. Judge Irwin Hall displays a more centrist political beliefs, and firmly disapproves of vigilantism, not knowing his sons are costumed adventurers and saved him from his would-be assailants.After their series ended, Hawk and Dove became semi-regulars in the Teen Titans, eventually joining Titans West. Writer Alan Brennert attempted to end their saga in a 1982 issue of The Brave and the Bold where 12 years later, Hank and Don Hall, then adults, are trying to cope with their 1960s values in the 1980s. After Hawk and Dove team up with Batman, the mysterious voice revokes Hank and Don's powers, deeming them still immature. This is later intentionally disregarded with a joke in New Teen Titans #50, when it is realized the real time aging of Hank and Don would affect the age of the Teen Titans as well.
In Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dove is killed by the Anti-Monitor's shadow demons. Without Dove to restrain him, Hawk becomes violent to the point where many superheroes consider him nearly as much trouble as the supervillains.
Modern Age
In 1988, a new Hawk and Dove miniseries written by Karl Kesel and Barbara Kesel reintroduced the duo. This series places a woman named Dawn Granger as the Dove, replacing Don. The new Dove mysteriously receives her powers while attempting to save her mother from terrorists. At the end of the miniseries, it is revealed that Dawn received her powers the moment Don lost them.This Dove, while considerably more aggressive and self-confident than Don, also has greater-than-average strength and dexterity, faster-than-human speed and expanded mental capabilities. Dove fights mostly defensively, preferring to out-think and remain in control of her opponent. She also heals quickly and cannot revert to Dawn if her wounds or some other condition would be fatal to Dawn. They manage to hold their own against the Lords of Chaos' creation Kestrel.
Set in Washington, D.C., the series introduces several supporting characters, including Hank's girlfriend, Ren Takamori, and friends Kyle Spenser and Donna Cabot. They also work with police Captain Brian "Sal" Arsala, who develops a mutual admiration for Dawn. It also introduces Kestrel, an evil spell created by M'Shulla and Barter, owner of Barter Trading: Exotic Goods and Services.
Hawk and Dove are lured to the mystical land of Druspa Tau – the home of the Lords of Chaos and Order – by Kestrel. It is all an effort of M'Shulla to seek out that world's Lords of Order. They are eventually discovered – Terataya, Lord of Order, and T'Charr, Lord of Chaos – in the form of a combined being called Unity. After M'Shulla and Kestrel are defeated, T'Charr and Terataya reveal they created Hawk and Dove to prove to the other Lords of Chaos and Order that the two forces could work together and then convince Hawk and Dove to absorb the essence of their respective creators. This merging enhances their powers: Dove gains the ability to fly and is stronger and bulletproof; and Hawk gains superhuman strength and durability.