Well, when I picked up my weekly comics on Comixoloy today, I wasn’t expecting to come out with a new favorite series. In fact, I think this just blew the rest out of the water by the sheer fangirl-ness it brought out. I’ve read both issues three times today and I was sure nothing was going to kick Supergirl out of the lead spot. (You can tell because I’m writing about it today in a full post instead of the little Fangirl blurb on Friday.)

What comic would this be? Why it’s in the title and below:

Hawk & Dove Written by Sterling Gates & Art by Rob Liefeld (Colors by Matt Yackey)

The General Stuff

This is my first experience with Hawk & Dove – completely. I don’t think I’d ever even heard of them before I saw the mini series pop up on Comixology before the big DC 52 relaunch (Remember folks, new to American comics save for Batman…) It wasn’t until I was browsing through covers on the main DC website and saw the third issue “Hawk & Dove vs Condor & Swan” that I went “I…think I need to read this.” So, I tacked the first two issues to my Wed. order today so I’d be ready.

I think the fact I picked up Issue 1 & 2 at the same time helped quite a bit where this series is concerned. Issue 1 suffered from a lot of low reviews and so it wasn’t high on my list (since I’m trying to control myself by picking and choosing series).

After reading the first issue, I can see where they got that idea -artwork aside (I’ll get to that later). While I really loved the two characters, Hawk & Dove, the first issue definitely reads more like a prologue or a quick intro (summary?) than a self-contained comic. It made me laugh, though, and filled in some back story for the two characters that I definitely needed. So, definitely important to read, but definitely something that needed a little more immediately after.

(Not to say the issue by itself should be entirely discounted, I definitely laughed during the opening plane scene and I really felt myself attached to Hank and Dawn as they worked out their frustrations on their respective loved ones.)

But that’s where Issue #2 comes in. We have a bunch of new characters related to the ‘Avatars’ of Hawk and Dove (Condor!) and we get a lovely crazy lady to go with our new crazy man Condor. Plus, we get to see more of Hank and Dove in action together, as well as seeing them out of consume. Things get even more fun when we see Dove’s boyfriend, Deadman and Hawk’s ex, Ren.

It’s fast, funny and we find out that Hawk and Dove usually get along a little better than what we saw in the prologue (and that they’ve been together for years, not a few weeks or something.) Not to mention our new villains Condor & Swan are completely ruthless (even telling us straight out that Condor is a cannibal), but they work together really well unlike our bickering main duo. It’s a fun comparison and I can’t wait for their big showdown in Issue #3.

Hawk & Dove

I am in love with these two. Hank/Hawk is angry all the time and I love it. Dawn/Dove is definitely the peacemaker (no one should wonder why I loved Red Hood- long live the puns!), but I like how Hank’s constant anger doesn’t really get her down. She just sort of accepts him while dealing with her own problems and secrets – without rolling over and taking it completely (she’ll tell him like it is, but it’s clear she doesn’t want to change him or anything). Despite their bickering, they work really well together on a character level and I think that’s what makes it all so great. They’re like those two friends who fight constantly, but deep down care a lot about each other – and everyone knows it (save for maybe Hawk & Dove, themselves).

(And the obvious jealously dripping from both Ren and Deadman toward Dawn and Hank, respectively, was fantastic. <3)

On a side note, I now ship Hawk & Dove like there’s no tomorrow. Canon or not, they’re my DC OTP. <3

The Artwork

I love the artwork of this book.

I hope Rob Liefeld never leaves this series. There’s been this focus on ‘realism’ in the comics world lately, that I haven’t quite gotten into, no matter how popular the Nolan Batman films have been. It’s definitely worked it’s way into modern comics lately with all of the issues focusing on realistic proportions and an overly detailed drawing style.

If I wanted realism I probably wouldn’t be reading/watching Super Hero comics/shows in the first place.

It’s amazingly refreshing to see the exaggerated, 90’s comic style that I’ve come to adore in older book series I’ve been exploring as of late, like the first Young Justice series (which is amazing). Big blocky shoulders, almost-Hartman hips, full lips and exaggerated facial expressions – I love it. I know the art has been getting a lot of bad press lately for a style that’s so radically different from a lot of what the rest of DC is doing right now, but personally I’m really glad it’s there. It adds that extra something to the characters that brings them to life.

Conclusion

This series hits so many of my fan buttons and I didn’t even realize it. The gruff manly man (I’m such a closet fan of this trope…but no longer!), the adorable level headed girl partner (who’s strong without being in your face about it), bickering couples, jealous spouses, stressed/over worked agent (Watanabe!), and so much more.

Plus, there’s Hank’s backstory with his brother that I won’t get into to avoid spoilers, but I look forward to more flashbacks of that, too.

And of course finding out more about Dove’s secrets (and seeing if it lines up with the spoilers I’ve been reading about the older series’).

The point is – series is good stuff. Read 1 & 2 together to get a fuller picture of what proves to be an amazing series.

Edit: Slight fangirl moment – Liefeld linked here from his blog! (Which is awesome.) And our fangirl moment ends. <3