Hawk and Dove
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Hawk and Dove are the names used by a number of DC Comics superheroes who fight crime together as duos, despite their sharply differing methods and attitudes about violence. This difference is signified by the bird iconography: the hawk typically representing aggression, and the dove representing pacifism.
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Hank and Don Hall
Created by Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates, brothers Hank and Don Hall first appeared in Showcase #75. The pair gained their powers of heightened strength and agility from a mysterious voice and fought crime together as Hawk & Dove, despite their diametrically opposed opinions about the use of force. The conservative Hawk (Hank) was hot-headed and reactionary, whereas the liberal Dove (Don) was more thoughtful and reasoned (but prone to indecisiveness). Their father, a judge, displayed more balanced political beliefs and firmly disapproved of vigilantism, not knowing his sons were costumed adventurers.
Their own title, The Hawk and the Dove, ran for six issues from 1968 to 1969. Skeates was reportedly unhappy with the direction the book was taking, feeling that Don was being portrayed as an ineffective wimp, rather than a pro-active pacifist.
Image:Hawk&Dove-DitkoV1n1.jpg After their series ended they became semi-regulars in Teen Titans, eventually joining Titans West. Dove died in 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths while saving a young boy from a building being attacked by deadly shadow creatures. The creature that killed Don came from behind him and Don was too far away for the horrified Hank to do anything about.
Image:Hawk-dove.jpg Currently, a statue of Don is in the memorial in Titans Tower in San Francisco.
Hawk continued on his own, but without Dove to restrain him, he became excessively violent to the point where many of the superhero community considered him nearly as much trouble as the supervillains.
Hank Hall and Dawn Granger
Image:Hawk and Dove2.jpg In 1988, a new Hawk and Dove mini-series written by Karl and Barbara Kesel revealed that Hawk and Dove gained their powers from T'Charr and Terataya, two of the Lords of Chaos and Order, respectively. A woman named Dawn Granger became the second Dove, who Hawk reluctantly teamed up with. This Dove, while considerably more aggressive and self confident than Don, had the power of flight as well as the additional innate ability to instantly assess a combat situation, enabling her to resolve it in a manner that minimized the need of force on her part. This new team appeared in an ongoing series that ran for 28 issues from 1989 to 1991.
Set in Washington, D.C. (where the duo attended Georgetown University), the series introduced several characters, including Hank's girlfriend Ren, his friend Kyle, and police detective Brian "Sal" Arsala, who would develop a mutual admiration with Dawn. In the Hawk and Dove Annual #1, guest starring former members of Titans West, it was revealed that Hank once slept with Bette "Flamebird" Kane. One of their most vicious (and consistent) foes was Kestrel, a psychotic agent of the Lords of Chaos.
In the series, it was revealed that Dawn received her powers the moment Don had been stripped of them; effectively, Terataya's timing coincidentally killed the first Dove. Also, the Hawk and Dove "experiment," as it was considered by T'Charr and Terataya, was an attempt to prove that the two forces could coexist--namely because the two Lords were in love. This led to a questioning of their relationship by both Dawn and Hank.
In 1991, an editorial snafu concerning the miniseries Armageddon 2001 forever altered the lives of Hawk and Dove. The central time-travelling villain of the piece (known as Monarch) had originally been conceived as a future identity of Captain Atom (post psychotic-break); however, word of this plot twist leaked to the fan community, and as a last-ditch effort to preserve a surprise conclusion, Monarch's identity was revealed as the future Hank Hall.
Monarch attacked Hawk and Dove and managed to murder Dawn in front of Hank, causing him to suffer the psychotic break, kill Monarch, and assume the villainous identity. He briefly became a recurring foe for Captain Atom before changing his name to Extant in Zero Hour. Later he challenged the Justice Society of America, an encounter that led directly to his demise. Despite this, a statue of him is in the Titans Tower memorial in San Francisco.
Sasha Martens and Wiley Wolverman
Image:Hawkanddove3.JPG Another Hawk (Sasha Martens) and Dove (Wiley Wolverman), appeared in a six-issue mini-series in 1997, written by Mike Baron. In this version, completely unrelated to the concept of the Lords of Chaos and Order, the duo's conflicting personalities manifested as "military brat" and "slacker dude," respectively. They gained large bird wings and a telepathic link by receiving experimental medical treatments as children.
Following the mini-series, the new Hawk and Dove made a handful of cameo appearances in Titans-related books, before seemingly disappearing.
Holly and Dawn Granger
In 2003, JSA issues #45-50 told of a mysterious woman in a coma who was taken into the care of the Justice Society. Initially thought to be the coma-addled body of Hector Hall's missing wife, Hippolyta Trevor, the woman was revealed to be none other than the presumed-dead Dawn Granger. The Lords of Order had apparently resurrected her for purposes unknown.
Furthermore, she recently gained a new partner when her estranged and aggressive British sister, Holly Granger, was granted the mystical powers of Chaos, becoming the third Hawk. Holly's first appearances was in Teen Titans (third series) #22-23, joining her sister and many other former Titans against a newly evil Dr. Light. The duo later re-teamed with the Titans to rescue Raven's "soul self" from their old nemesis, Kestrel.
Recently in the Day of Vengeance Special, the Spectre attacked and apparently destroyed T'Charr and Terataya, thus effectively stripping Holly and Dawn of their powers as Hawk and Dove. Whether or not they will regain them or what, if any, role they will play in the Tenth Age of Magic remains to be seen.
One Year Later
In Teen Titans (v. 3) #34, Holly and Dawn are shown, in their regular costumes (implying that their powers are unchanged), to be in Titans Tower sometime during the year, with dialogue from Hawk implying that they were at the time members of the Teen Titans. Their current affiliation is unkown, since Robin did not mention them as members of the current roster. Template:Endspoiler
Other media
Image:Hawkanddove.JPG Animated versions of Hawk and Dove I were featured alongside Wonder Woman in an episode of Justice League Unlimited entitled "Hawk and Dove."
This version of the duo depicts a stronger relationship between the brothers; Don is more self confident, and their philosophical bickering is more like a brotherly teasing. They are voiced by Jason Hervey and Fred Savage, both of whom starred in the TV series The Wonder Years as brothers Wayne and Kevin Arnold. Ironically, there is a role reversal: Savage, who played nerdy Kevin, voices the violent Hawk, while Hervey, who played the bully Wayne, voices the passive Dove.
In this episode, their fighting styles were thoroughly contrasted. Hawk employs brute-force, aggressive tactics, at times resembling nothing so much as an American football-player. Dove, on the other hand, uses blending techniques reminescent of aikido or perhaps judo, fitting with his attacker's movements to fling them aside.