Hawkman And The Atom Fly Again – Hawkman #5 Review

Hawkman finds himself suddenly in the Microverse, the subatomic universe upon which our universe rests. The Atom, aka Professor Ray Palmer, greets his old friend and asks him about his recent journeys. Carter fills in Ray about his confusion with his history, reincarnations, and the possibility that his lives go further back than Ancient Egypt and Prince Khufu. Carter and Ray also discover that one of Carter’s past lives may have left an Nth metal weapon in the Microverse. The two heroes go to investigate.

Hawkman #5 reunites one of DC’s greatest duos: Hawkman and the Atom. Frankly, that’s awesome enough on its own, but this needs to be longer than 100 words.
Funnily enough, this is among the slowest issues of Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch’s take on the Winged Warrior so far. Much of the book is Carter recapping the past four issues to the Atom, but it does bring us the gem of old-style superhero camaraderie that DC has been quite good at delivering lately. Carter and Ray’s mutual admiration and affection borders on the corny at times, but it’s so genuine that you can’t help but enjoy the dialogue.
We do get some awesome Hawkman and the Atom action in the latter pages of the comic, with Carter being the gung-ho one while Atom tries direct Carter’s fury. We also get a new trick from Ray Palmer that—well, someone might have some Ant-Man/Giant Man envy.

Hitch’s artwork continues to be fantastic and does Hawkman and the Atom visual justice, which few artists could mimic. There is a depth to the facial expressions and body language of Carter and Ray that visually conveys the tight bond the two men share. The action scenes look great, too. Hitch’s and Andrew Currie’s inkwork adds more depth and punch to the visuals. Jeremiah Skipper’s color work is appropriately wild due to the Microverse setting, but the colors of our heroes’ costumes still stand out in the foreground.
Hawkman #5 is another impressive installment from Venditti, Hitch, and company. We get a long-awaited reunion between two DC classics, as well as Hawkman clubbing alien monsters with the help of the Atom. This one gets a strong recommendation. I definitely suggest giving it a read.
Hawkman #5 comes to us from writer Robert Venditti, artist Bryan Hitch, inkers Hitch and Andrew Currie, color artist Jeremiah Skipper, letterer Richard Starkings with Comicraft, cover artists Bryan Hitch with Alex Sinclair, and variant cover artist Matteo Scalera.