Hawk and Dove are a superhero duo that come with a lot of baggage. Since the original creation by Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates the creative teams behind them go through a lot of behind-the-scenes drama. From creative differences to couples breaking up, are Hawk and Dove cursed to cause disharmony?
How Objectivity Ruins Relationships
The original Hawk and Dove are brothers Hank and Don Hall respectively. Created during the draft period of the Vietnam War, the characters are a struggle between war and peace. Ironically the themes are less of a debate and more of who has the most influence. Between the Steves who create this pair, Ditko has more leeway unlike his co-writer Skeates. Ditko being an objectivist used his years of experience and influence to make Hawk the more appealing character by holding Dove back. Unlike Skeates who wanted Dove to be a Badass Pacifist instead of Hawk’s naive sidekick.
Even after Ditko leaves the title, their editor Dick Giordano ensures that Ditko’s interpretation remains. Eventually Skeates just quit while saying his piece in a 1999 interview. Ditko doesn’t even bring up Hawk and Dove ever again, not even in essays he sporadically released. While Don and Hank do become more prominent team players with the Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths casually kills off Dove because he was seen as a weak link. I am so glad Justice League Unlimited gives Don the roll he deserves. It’s as much a tribute to Steve Ditko as much as it is showing him up.
The Hawk and Dove Couple
By the Iron Age former creative couple Karl and Barbara Kesel reboot Hawk and Dove. Dawn Granger replaces uh… Don as Dove. How did nobody notice the naming similarities with Flash’s Tornado Twins? Anyway Dawn’s creation is a collaborative idea between Karl who works with Barabara for authenticity. Basing Hank and Dawn on real people in their lives this new direction feels like a real family dynamic. It was a new start complete with designs by… Rob Liefeld… We’ll come back to him later.
All things must come to an end however. Karl and Barbara eventually divorce at some point. No specifics (that’s private) but with both of them making leaps in their careers, they probably just end up like most couples; losing the spark that make their relationship special. However DC extinguishes the spark in Hawk and Dove through Armageddon 2001; this causes Dove to be fridged while Hawk becomes the villain just so DC can have a surprise twist. All of which comes at the character arcs, fans, and the Kesels’ expense. Is it any wonder why the Kesels went off on their own?
Anyone Up For Trap Shooting?
Subsequent Hawk and Dove titles are mainly DC’s vain attempts at trying to recreate what makes the duo great. Political commentator Mike Baron of Star Wars and Nexus fame writes a new take on the duo. But military brat Sasha Martens and slack rocker Wiley Wolverman only fit their roles two-dimensionally. Unlike previous Hawks and Doves, their personalities don’t match their roles. Hawk practically drives all of the action while Dove is just reactive comic relief. TV Tropes doesn’t even bother to give this series a section for how bad it is.
With DC not willing to admit their mistakes, Geoff Johns takes it upon himself to at least get Dawn back. All while killing off Hank (then Extant) and replacing him with Dawn’s left stage sister. Unfortunately nobody at DC could agree on how to portray these two. Sometimes the artists show Dawn as modest while looking more heroic as Dove. Other times she and Holly are bimbos. The worst however comes from when writers like Judd Winick make Dawn the passive character that the Dove title is mocked for. So by that point DC kills off Holly in the Blackest Night event to resurrect Hank in order to hide more mistakes.
Hawk and Dove: Symbol of Disharmony
The New 52 of DC brings a new start to Hawk and Dove; but a blank slate is not a clean one. Rob Liefeld returns to the title with writer Sterling Gates, bringing none of the group dynamics and chemistry. If anything Hawk and Dove are just the surface level depictions people associate them with, an angry man-child and a passive buffer. It doesn’t help that DC’s editorial department and creatives had no proper communication.
It got worse when Liefeld took over writing duties after Gates gets laid off. People probably know from my posts that I am not a fan of Liefeld’s work. But I can’t really fault him for Hawk and Dove… at least not alone. DC’s mismanagement and last-minute decisions put pressure on Liefeld to continue some other series. This mountain of stress got to him, putting out random unconnected adventures in what is supposed to be an overall narrative for Hank and Dawn. If anything this solidifies the duo’s legacy less on balance and more on dependency.
DC, Give Hawk and Dove Justice
Hawk and Dove at their best tell stories of finding a middle ground and looking beyond the surface. Their adventures are almost a meta-commentary on how a properly functioning team accepts differences and abilities. A writer needs to communicate with the artist as much as the editor does with both of them. There might be some bumps in the road, but cooperation is a journey of itself. But once one side starts to overshadow or take advantage of the other, things fall apart.
For Hawk and Dove that means being two-dimensional characters who just bicker or only act by the other. It certainly doesn’t help that Dove’s powers curb Hawk’s bloodlust, that dependency is a bad relationship. At least the Kesels bring authenticity to how these people communicate. They don’t even have to be in a relationship like in the Titans show. Just make whoever are in the mantles in a healthy yet dysfunctional dynamic while going through self-reflection.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always, remember to look between the panels.