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Hank Hall

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Hank Hall
Textless cover of Hawk & Dove #5 (March 2012), art by Rob Liefeld.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAs Hawk:
Showcase #75 (June 1968)
As Monarch:
Armageddon 2001 #1 (May 1991)
As Extant:
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #4 (September 1994)
Created by
In-story information
Alter egoHenry "Hank" Hall
Team affiliationsHawk and Dove
Teen Titans
Black Lantern Corps
Birds of Prey
Justice League
Notable aliasesHawk, Extant, Monarch
AbilitiesHawk:
Superhuman strength, durability, stamina, speed, agility and reflexes
Enhanced body density, healing factor and invulnerability
Extant:
Time travel
Chronokinesis
Energy blasts
Flight
Omniscience

Hank Hall is a fictional character that appears in DC Comics. He first appeared in Showcase #75 (June 1968) as Hawk of Hawk and Dove. After that, he became known as Extant, and appeared in the limited series Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, as well as some related tie-ins.[1] Long after that, he became the supervillain Monarch in the crossover event limited series Armageddon 2001.[2] Hawk has appeared in numerous television shows and films. He appeared in his first live-action adaptation in the television series Titans, played by Alan Ritchson in the first, second, and third seasons.

Publication history

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The character first appeared in Showcase #75 (June 1968), created by Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates. He latter appeared as Monarch in Armageddon 2001 #1 (May 1991), created by Archie Goodwin, Denny O'Neil, and Dan Jurgens, and as Extant in Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #4 (September 1994), created by Jurgens.

Fictional character biography

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Hawk and Dove

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Main article: Hawk and Dove

Hank Hall is originally the superhero Hawk of Hawk and Dove. Hawk represents "chaos", while Dove represents "order". His brother Don Hall dies during Crisis on Infinite Earths and is replaced with Dawn Granger.[1]

Armageddon 2001: Monarch

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Main article: Monarch (comics)

Monarch is an oppressive tyrant from a bleak, dystopian Earth fifty years in the future. The people are unhappy with his rule, particularly scientist Matthew Ryder, an expert on temporal studies, who is convinced he can use his technology to travel back in time and prevent the maniacal ruler from ever coming to power. He learns that forty years ago, one of Earth's strongest and most powerful heroes eventually turns evil and becomes Monarch, and ten years from that event he conquers the world. During a time travel experiment, Matthew is transformed into a being called "Waverider", and begins searching the timestream for the hero who becomes Monarch. Monarch follows him and comes into battle with the heroes of the present day. In the ensuing battle, he kills Dove, and her enraged partner kills him for it. Removing the villain's mask, Hank discovers that he is Monarch, and dons the armor.[1]

The reveal of Hank Hall as Monarch led to some controversy amongst the fan community; Monarch was originally intended to be revealed as Captain Atom, with clues in the story pointing towards this which had to be discarded when it was changed at the last minute. This change was due to the premature leaking of Monarch's identity. While Monarch was always supposed to be Captain Atom, this was supposed to be a secret. When Monarch's identity was prematurely leaked, DC decided to preserve the surprise of the story by switching Monarch's identity to that of Hank Hall.

As many fans pointed out, Hawk and Dove (vol. 3) Annual #2 has Hank Hall fighting Monarch face to face in 2001 with Hawk being the destroyer of Monarch.[3] Dove allows Waverider to see a multitude of futures and realize Hawk is Monarch.

Armageddon: The Alien Agenda

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When hostile aliens encounter Monarch and Captain Atom in the past (sometime between 230 and 65 million years ago), they attempt to enlist both (with each figure having no knowledge of the other involved) to assist them in creating a wormhole. The wormhole's creation would destroy the universe in which the primitive Earth existed, but would allow the aliens to travel freely.

Zero Hour: Extant

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Main article: Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!
Hank Hall as Extant during Zero Hour, art by Eric Battle.

Shortly after returning to the present, Monarch confronts Waverider and uses his power to see the past and future, becoming aware of the power within him. It is explained at this point that when Monarch killed Dove, her powers went directly into Hawk. Realising this, Monarch unleashes his hidden powers and becomes Extant.[4] Extant then removes Waverider's timetravel device and joins forces with renegade Green Lantern Hal Jordan, now known as Parallax, in a plan to alter time as they saw fit.[1]

His first act is to alter the future so that he can have a metahuman army at his disposal, mostly consisting of members of the Teen Titans; his plan is to amass an army so powerful that no one can interfere with his efforts to control time itself. Several armies of heroes band together to stop his plans before they began in the 30th century, and alter history so that his followers never come to exist in the future.

Down, but not out, Extant begins to strike back at the heroes at Ground Zero, the beginning of time. Parallax warps several metahumans from various time periods together for the ultimate assault, and Extant hits the Atom with a chronal blast, de-aging him into a teenager. Sensing defeat is imminent, he escapes the fight, promising vengeance at a later date.

Extant first reappears in the 1999 one-shot "Impulse: Bart Saves the Universe".[5] In it, Extant picks a fight with the original Justice Society as a means of tricking the Linear Men into saving the life of an innocent bystander who was destined to die. The man they saved would now go on to develop a nuclear weapon that, when tested, would shift the Earth out of its proper orbit, causing massive changes in the timelines of some of Earth's greatest heroes. Among these changes, Hal Jordan never becomes Green Lantern, thus he never becomes Parallax, and never stops Extant from destroying all of time. Fortunately for the citizens of time, Impulse arrives and is barely able to defeat Extant and prevent the Linear Men from saving the doomed scientist.

He engages the Justice Society again on a later date as he seeks to acquire the reality-warping power of the Worlogog, recently dismantled by Hourman, who fears its power. Although Extant succeeds in his goal with the aid of Metron's stolen Mobius Chair, Doctor Fate learns from the imprisoned Mordru that when Hourman dismantled the Worlogog, he retained a small fragment of it, thus creating an infinitesimal flaw in the prime Worlogog that the JSA can exploit.

After the resurrected Dove sacrifices herself to distract Extant, Hourman divides his Hour of Power amongst his teammates, granting them all immunity to Extant's reality warping powers for four minutes, each of them attacking him on a different temporal plane until being able to separate him from the Worlogog. Following this setback, Extant again attempts to escape. Instead, he is teleported by Hourman and Metron, at Atom Smasher's behest, into the seat of an airplane whose crash Kobra caused earlier in the timestream. Atom Smasher's mother originally died on the plane that, but he replaces her with a weakened Extant, saving her life and murdering the super villain in the process.

Hawk restored

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In response to fan-criticism of Armageddon 2001, many of whose readers felt that the character of Hawk had been severely misused in the story's last-minute changes, DC Comics set about restoring the character as he had originally been intended; a hero. DC retconned Extant's portion of Hank Hall's timeline in issue 14 of JSA, dated September 2000, in which Metron announced his intention to erase the villain's "wretched timeline" with his Mobius Chair. This was the second issue of a 3-part story entitled The Hunt for Extant! (the details of which are listed above). After this, DC also retcons Monarch's portion of Hall's timeline with the final issue of the 6-part miniseries The Battle for Blüdhaven, dated September 2006, which now depicts Captain Atom's transformation into Monarch, as had been DC's original intention back in 1991. Hawk is restored, but he is not revived until the final issue of Blackest Night.

Blackest Night

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Hank Hall as the resurrected White Lantern Hawk from Birds of Prey #4, art by Ryan Sook.

In the Blackest Night crossover, Hank Hall is reanimated as a member of the undead Black Lantern Corps. The black power rings also try to reanimate his brother Don, but are denied, stating "Don Hall of Earth at Peace".[6] Hank then tracks down and attacks Dawn and the new Hawk (Holly Granger). After a short battle, Hank rams his hand into Holly's chest, ripping her heart out, and using it to charge his ring.[7] Holly's body is then revived by a black ring, and the two attack Dawn together. Severely outmatched, Dawn retreats, with Hank and Holly giving chase.[8] Hank and Holly follow Dawn to Titans Tower, where more Black Lantern Titans are attacking the living heroes. The two eventually overwhelm Dawn, with Holly plunging her hand into Dawn's chest. Dawn suddenly radiates a white energy that completely destroys Holly's body and ring. The other Black Lanterns, seeing Dawn as their greatest threat, attack her. However, she turns the light on them, destroying all but Hank, Tempest and Terra who quickly retreat.[9] While battling the Black Lanterns at Coast City, Hank is later brought back to life by the power of the white light.[10] Dawn has a vision of Don who tells Dawn that she can save Hank, and to not give up on him.[9]

Brightest Day/Birds of Prey

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At the beginning of the Brightest Day event, Hank and Dawn begin working together again as a crime-fighting duo. Dawn expresses worries over Hank's increasingly violent demeanor, but he simply brushes off her concerns.[11] While stopping an army of powerful teenaged super villains in Gotham City, Hank and Dawn are invited by Zinda Blake to join the Birds of Prey.[12] The two are immediately called by Oracle to help Black Canary and Huntress during their battle with a dangerous villainess known as the White Canary. Dove attempts to defeat her herself, but is surprised when White Canary is somehow able to dodge her attack and then draw blood from her.[13] Hank and Dawn later encounter Deadman who Hank asks to resurrect Don.[14] At a crater in Silver City, New Mexico, Deadman attempts to revive Don, only to be prevented from doing so by the Entity.[15] As a number of onlookers (including Jackson Hyde) watch the Entity speak to the heroes, it instructs Hank to catch the boomerang that Captain Boomerang will throw at Dove.[16]

After being injured by the Penguin, Hank Hall is sent to a hospital while his teammates plan their next move.[17] During his hospital stay, Hank has a vision of himself, clad in a White Lantern uniform and talking to Don. Just before the dream ends, Don assures his brother that he is at peace.[18] Later, Dawn is transported to the Star City forest by the Entity, Hawk unintentionally went with her, but when the "dark avatar" made his presence known, the Entity tells them that they must protect the forest and withstand the ultimate savior, which is Alec Holland.[19]

It was revealed that Captain Boomerang's mission for throwing the boomerang was to free Hawk as an avatar of war from the Lords of Chaos because his act of saving Dove would have broken their hold on him to be his own self. However, he failed to catch the boomerang and instead it was caught by Boston Brand, who ended up dying in the process and used his final act to move his white power ring to Alec Holland and bring back the Swamp Thing to cleanse the Green of Nekron's influence.[20]

Powers and abilities

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As Hawk he possesses a "danger sense transformation" which allows him to change into a super-human with the powers of super strength, unlimited stamina, enhanced speed, increased agility, enhanced body density, extreme durability and healing factor.

His partner Dove suppresses his violent nature, and without her Hank's rage becomes boundless.

As Monarch he possesses the same powers that he had as Hawk, along with a suit of highly durable armor that is crafted using advanced technology.

As Extant, he has the powers of chronokinesis, energy projection, flight, and omniscience. After piecing together the Worlogog, he becomes nigh-omnipotent.

While being a member of the Black Lantern Corps, Hank wields a black power ring which allows him to generate black energy constructs. He is also able to perceive emotional auras. Whilst he is able to perceive Holly's aura as red for rage, he sees Dawn's as a pure white that his ring cannot identify. While wearing the black power ring, it lowers his original power by over 50%.

Other versions

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  • An alternate universe incarnation of Hank Hall / Hawk appears in JLA: The Nail.
  • An alternate universe incarnation of Hank Hall / Hawk from a reality created by Anansi appears in Justice League of America (vol. 2) #26.

In other media

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Television

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  • Hank Hall as Hawk appears in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Fred Savage.[21] This version is a member of the Justice League.
  • Hank Hall as Hawk appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Greg Ellis.[21]
  • Hank Hall as Hawk appears in Titans, portrayed by Alan Ritchson and by Tait Blum as a young adult.[22][23] This version is a former football player and half-brother of Don Hall / Dove, with the two operating as the original Hawk and Dove to hunt down sexual predators. After Don and Dawn's mother, Marie, is killed in an accident, Hank and Dawn Granger gradually enter a relationship, with Dawn subsequently becoming the new Dove using the physical abuse she and Marie suffered at the hands of the former's father as motivation. The new duo go on to meet and team up with Dick Grayson and the Titans, though tensions occur when Grayson and Dawn enter a romantic relationship. While planning on retiring, Hank and Dawn cross paths with Grayson again when he requests their help in protecting Rachel Roth. This leads to Hank, Dawn, and Grayson being attacked by the Nuclear Family, who were hired to retrieve Roth, and Dawn ending up in a coma due to injuries sustained in the ensuing fight. Dawn eventually awakens when she receives a vision from Roth, telling her and Hank to find Jason Todd.[24]

Video games

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Hank Hall as Hawk appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[27]

Miscellaneous

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Hank Hall as Hawk makes non-speaking cameo appearances in DC Super Hero Girls as a student of Super Hero High.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Greenberger, Robert (2008), "Extant", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 117, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1, OCLC 213309017
  2. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  3. ^ Hawk and Dove (vol. 3) Annual #2 pp. 9-19
  4. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  5. ^ Impulse: Bart Saves the Universe, DC Comics (1999)
  6. ^ Blackest Night #2 (August 2009)
  7. ^ Blackest Night: Titans #1 (August 2009)
  8. ^ Blackest Night: Titans #2 (September 2009)
  9. ^ a b Blackest Night: Titans #3 (October 2009)
  10. ^ Blackest Night #8 (March 2010)
  11. ^ Brightest Day #0
  12. ^ Birds of Prey (vol. 2) #1
  13. ^ Birds of Prey (vol. 2) #2
  14. ^ Brightest Day #4 (June 2010)
  15. ^ Brightest Day #5-6 (July 2010)
  16. ^ Brightest Day #7 (August 2010)
  17. ^ Birds of Prey (vol. 2) #4 (August 2010)
  18. ^ Birds of Prey (vol. 2) #5 (September 2010)
  19. ^ Brightest Day #23 (April 2011)
  20. ^ Brightest Day #24
  21. ^ a b "Hawk Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 17, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  22. ^ Diaz, Eric (February 2, 2015). "Exclusive: Which DC Characters Will Be On TNT's The Titans". Nerdist. Archived from the original on February 2, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  23. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 7, 2017). "Titans: Alan Ritchson Cast As Hawk In DC Live-Action Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  24. ^ Agard, Chancellor (September 23, 2021). "Titans star on character's 'beautiful' exit: 'The decision was made for me, and it was for the best'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  25. ^ Francisco, Eri (December 9, 2019). ""Crisis on Infinite Earths" Titans Cameo Makes TV Streaming History". Inverse. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  26. ^ Martin, Michileen (January 15, 2020). "Every Crisis on Infinite Earths cameo ranked". Looper. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  27. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
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