Saturday, December 1, 2012

Book Review: Hawk and Dove Vol. 1: First Strikes (New 52)


Book: Hawk and Dove Volume 1: First Strikes (issues #1-8) by Rob Liefeld and Sterling Gates

Edition: Single Print Issues

Description:

Hank Hall (Hawk) is not happy. He's not happy to have Dawn Granger (Dove) as a new partner in his war on crime. He's not happy that she's dating the ghostly Super Hero, Deadman. He's not happy to learn that someone is trying to plunge the United States into a new civil war! Now it's up to Hawk and Dove to root out the forces behind this conflict and stop them before they turn the U.S. into a wasteland!




Rating: 4 1/2 stars

My Review:

I didn't read the trade edition, I read the single issues. These were the only eight issues published before the series was cancelled.

After reading this, I find all the bad reviews this received to be really surprising. Unlike some of the other books I've read in the New 52, this was actually good. It was fast paced, well written and the artwork was good.

I found Hawk (Hank Hall) and Dove (Dawn Granger) to be really interesting and the writer actually seemed to have a good feel for the characters. Their villians (Condor, Swan, Hunter, etc) were also pretty interesting. The character Deadman was also featured and he had an interesting part in the first five issues.

The only downside I would say for the series (besides being cancelled) was with issue #6: "One Night in Gotham" which featured Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Robin (Damian Wayne). I didn't think Liefeld had a good understanding of Batman and Robin. They felt a little out of character and while I like the artwork I thought Damian didn't quite look like a ten year old. Some artists draw him as if he's in his twenties instead of being a little kid.

All in all, I thought this series was great, too bad it was cancelled.

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