I just read the second tpb and love this series. I'm completely sold on Lark's artwork. Incredible stuff.

yeah, i will finish the 2nd GC trade tonight and am really liking it if for no other reason than that they label the covers in the back of the book.

Gotham Central is the best Batman book to come out in years. The crime noir is perfect...why didn't anyone do this with Batman before, you ask? because that's the way Batman was done from the very beginning. Grim and gritty without blowing everyone's head off with a shotgun. Nitewing previously held that honor - it's great mix of Batman-esque theatrics with Spider-man's angst made a great read...along with a super-consistent writer/artist team.

I don't know, Gotham Central is okay I guess. I mean, it gets a little boring with all the character development, perfectly fine-tuned dialog, the tough as nails crime drama, the superb mystery, the dark tone of the imagery that fits perfectly with the noir feel of the story, the fact that each story just adds to the depth of the overall story...who needs that?

Say, did I hear that Hawkman and maybe Hawkgirl are about to die?

I hope not. I just finished the 3rd tpb last night and really enjoy the series. This is the first time in my recollection that Hawkman has been done right. I know they'll just be reincarnated again, but it has been too short a time for either of them to die just yet. There is so much for them to explore with the character in the current incarnation. A few flashback stories alone could add a lot of depth.

Regarding the Headhunter storyline, when Hall's previous bodies were reanimated to confront Hawkman, were the knight and the western zombies known DC characters? Couldn't be Shining Knight, that's Sir Justin as I recall and I think was around the same time as Hawkman (at least pre-crisis). I admit to not knowing too much of DC's western comics outside of Jonah Hex & Vigilante.

I don't read Hawkman, but I hear Nighthawk and Cinnamon (established DC Western characters) have been established as being previous incarnations of Hawkman and Hawkwoman.

Here's Nighthawk (on the horse):
http://www.comics.org/graphics/cover...0/537_4_36.jpg

The Unnoficial Guide to the DC Universe indicates that the Silent Knight, an old character from the Brave & the Bold, has appeared in recent issues of Hawkman, so I'm guessing that he's also an incarnation of Hawkman. Which is weird, since his name was Brian Kent, so I would have guessed that Nelson Bridwell or Roy Thomas would have long-ago established him as an ancestor of Superman.

Here's the Silent Knight:
http://www.comics.org/graphics/cover...1098_4_007.jpg

I think that "Golden Eagle" guy may be taking his place(temp?) and something is supposed to be revealed regarding the Hawks. There's something going on....

Jason, I think you hit the nail on the head with Nighthawk & Silent Knight! Excellent work.

The Golden Eagle guy who was part of Titan's West? Isn't he dead? (like that's ever stopped 'em before!)

Update after 5 seconds of research:

Golden Eagle assumes the mantle of Hawkman in September’s issue #44. Series co-writer Jimmy Palmiotti said that he and Justin Gray will be delving into the origin of Golden Eagle, and the series will be tying into Rann-Thanagar War in the coming months.

Wasn't he the "surfer" guy in Titans West, and one of the only casualties (if not the only one) of that Titan's hunt story? Like the rest of Titans West (besides maybe Hawk and Dove, who became a joke later anyway), I can't take him all that seriously...

I'm a huge Hawkman fan, everyone thinkgs I'm crazy, but he is my second favorite DC character after Batman.

And yeah, the rumor is that Carter gets offed soon & the book is likely to be one of the books to be shit canned once the DCU one-year jump into the future happens, although I really hope that this is indeed just a rumor. The Johns/Rags run on the current series has been one of my favorite superhero runs of the past few years.

Hawkman is one of my favorite characters as well. I loved Geoff Johns' run on the book, but I stopped reading it when he left. Has it even been worth reading recently?

Yeah count me into the Hawkman fanclub too. I've always dug him.

wow, his death was pretty nasty.

Care to elaborate? In spoiler tags, of course.

I read Hawkman up until Johns left the book. I hear Palmiotti is doing a good job though.

Anyone else disturbed these days at how fast people get stuff online for illegal purposes before the real deal comes out? It's a good way to "preview" comics, but because I love the industry I only read the ones I actually buy (actually, if I was even remotely interested in a comic I buy it. If it sucks, I usually just trade it back for store credit) because I know that the industry needs all the support it can get.

I'm a HUGE Legion fan and i'm enjoying the new Legion series. Most people who are new to the Legion and started reading with this series are really enjoying it, but from what I hear most long-time readers really miss the Abnett/Lanning days. I for one don't. They were good in the mid-90's and up until Legion Lost (best Legion story in years, and it really really needs a TPB. Now.). The last few year have just been really lukewarm. Understandable, I mean there are only so many stories a single great creative team can tell. I really enjoy the new direction, it has a Geoff Johns feel to it...very silver age yet sensibly modern. The way the team is divided each issue so far to give us a better glimpse at the characters is great, as are the side-stories. I never like the way most writers made Brainy an asshole, but it works perfectly here...he's just a frustrated genius. The issue with Dreamgirl has been my favorite so far.

Actually, this industry gets brought back to life with those CBR's floating around. There is a direct connection between the amount of CBR's downloaded and the rise in TPB purchases. I've known in other circles of folks who don't pick up monthly titles at all and/or have not been into comics for years that suddenly with the rise of CBR comices, start picking up monthly titles aswell as picking up trades.

A lot of folks who were turned off in the mid 90's with the rise of foil covers and the surge of pricing in comics come back because they are re-introduced to them in this format. If a title warrents supporting, you can trust those folks will pick it up in either trade of monthly format.

I have an extensive pull list and pay about 60-80 a month on books. I don't think that those files really have any effect. Folks who want to take comics on the road with them or read them while they are on the can buy the copy. Folks who don't mind reading them on screen download. But at the very least it exposes them to the book and gives them the potential to pick up the collected works or start picking it up monthly.

With the amount of books out there and the number of story arcs to follow, I don't fault someone in trying to be a little more selective with what they buy.

As for Hawkman
WARNING, THIS IS A SPOILER.

I have a moderate pull list but including specials and TPBs I get about $120 worth a month. I agree though about CBRs and how they influenced the industry in a good way. It gives new readers a chance to explore a very obscure and esoteric hobby that easily alienates larger audiences. I also think that the recent resurgence of comic-related movie properties has also been a major contributing factor....just look at Daredevil...sales were lagging really badly and even well after Bendis took over the book still lagged. Now it regularly sees the top 25 in sales after two DD movies came out.

Just like how MP3s have actually benefitted the music industry and boosted support of artists. The movie industry on the other hand owes it's lagging business not to piracy but to DVDs. Why pay to see a movie when almost for the same price you can own it on a superb format that doesn't degrade and watch it whenver you like at home where you can easily emulate the movie-going experience and not have to put up with other people's crap?

Also, I saw that image of Hawkman. Ouch.

Pardon me, but what are these CBRs your talking about? Review copies? Online pdf versions?

What do you mean? Do you mean comics being previewed online, I too, have never heard of a "CBR"? If so I think it totally sucks. I get a lot of customers in my store that say they will pass on a book b/c they read it online or worse read the last half of the book b/c the first half was online. And for me, I could never, ever read a comic on the computer, I need to have the thing in my hands & half the beauty of the art is seeing it on the paper.

I don't know what a CBR is either I just continued using it because I was afraid of getting modded. But yeah, most of what I read is from bitorrent in pdf. format.

Sometimes I like reading comics online, because I can see the full page without damaging the comic.

CBR is pretty much a zipped up mass of the pages in order that make up a comic scanned by which ever group. You can winrar or winzip it and you see each page scanned.

While there is folks who will be content with just reading those, it has made an impact in bringing new folks back into comics. Those who don't buy because they already read it more than likely wouldn't have bought it or would have read it at the store anyways.

Damn, so how will Hawkman's death affect what's going on with Batman and his remembering The Mindwipe? I thought for sure Hawkman and Batman were going to come to blows since Hawkman seemed to be so pissed about things. Also is Kendra, Hawkgirl, going to die?

It's true though, I only read the ones I already get pulled for me. I hardly (if ever) DL something that I was going to ignore anyway.