Hawkgirl
Personal information
Real Name: Shiera Sanders Hall
Residence: New York and other cities
Occupation: Archaeologist, curator, adventurer
First Appearance (Golden Age): Flash Comics #1 (January 1940)
First Appearance (Post-Golden Age): All-Star Comics #62 (October 1976)
Character History
Little is known of the early life of
Shiera Sanders before fate led her into the life of Carter Hall. When the
criminal known as Anton Hastor attacked New York, his assualt on the subway
system attracted the attention of wealthy archeolgist Carter Hall. As the tale
unfolded, Hall, Shiera and Hastor were all revealed to be re-incarnated forms
of Egyptian nobility, confronting each other throughout eternity. In ancient
Egypt, Shiera had been the lover of Prince Khufu, as Carter Hall had been known
then. Both were slain by the jealous priest Hath-Set, setting into motion a
series of re-incarnations that would bring the trio together repeatedly in the
future.Hastor, the former Hath-Set,
realized as did Hall the portents of the events and the ancient drama unfolded
anew. After Hall secured Shiera in his home, he pursued the villain to his lair
and damaged much of his equipment. Hastor then recognized the third and missing
peice and generated a cloud of ancient vapors that lured the reincarnated
Shiera to his laboratory. When he realized that Shiera was gone, Hall, now
guised as the Hawkman retured to Hastor's lair just in time to rescue Shiera.
He then proceeded to wreck the laboratory and left Hastor for dead. (Flash
Comics #1)
As they had in ages past, Shiera and
Carter again became lovers. Hawkman took up the guise as Hawkman more
agressively and later that year, the fall of 1940, he joined the Justice
Society. Initially, Shiera was content to stay in the background but as Carter
shared his fantastic experiences with her, she became more and more intrigued, including trying out the wings once a mission with the JSA versus Mister X (All-Star Comics #5) . In the fall of 1941, Carter loaned her a spare set of
wings to use as a party costume. Standing on a balcony, Hawkman's trained hawks
confused her with their master and led her to a couple in distress. The couple,
the Aldens, were being swindled by a phony hit-and-run racket and Hawkgirl
pursued the criminals in the Alden's behalf. Inexperienced, Shiera was easily
captured. As it happened, Hawkman was in hot pursuit based on clues from his
birds and the criminals were easily thrashed (Flash Comics #24). Winning over
Carter's initial objections, Shiera adopted the identity of Hawkgirl full-time.
Shortly thereafter, America was
embroiled in the second World War and an expanded group of heroes known as the
All-Star Squadron formed. While the Justice Society remained an elite group,
Hawkgirl became an active member of the All-Star Squadron, participating in
many homefront cases, including one against Anton Hastor, who had apparently survived
the initial encounter (All-Star Squadron #10-12).Hawkgirl remained active as
Hawkman's partner through the war, though the extent of her affiliation with
the All-StarSquadron has yet to be revealed. After the war, both she and
Hawkman became more involved in dealing with America's evolving super-criminals
including the Hummingbird (Flash Comics #52, 60), the Monocle (Flash
Comics #64) and the Gentleman Ghost (Flash Comics #88,90,92,103)
In 1951, the JSA was subpoenaed by
the House Un-American Affairs Committe, a body manipulated into accusing the
group of possible treason. When their identities were demanded, the JSA chose
to retire rather than comply (Adventure Comics #466). At some point
either shortly before or shortly after this, Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders
were wed. With the lack of costumed adventures, the two returned to Hall's true
love, archeology. Working in digs in Egypt, Syria and Turkey, the Hall's earned
acclaim as adventurous explorers of the distant past.
In 1963, Shiera gave birth to a son,
Hector, while on a dig in Egypt. When Carter resumed his identity as Hawkman to
rejoin the Justice Society, Shiera stayed behind to raise their son. In the
late 1970's, Shiera got a healthy dose of adventure when she was kidnapped by
the ancient alien Xanadu but was rescued by the Justice Society shortly
thereafter (All-Star Comics #62-63).
In the 1980s, Hector left home and
attended college at UCLA. While there, he developed his own costumed identity
as the Silver Scarab and petitioned for membership in the JSA, along with
several other junior heroes (Infinity Inc #1). Rejected, the group when
on to form a new team known as Infinity Inc and assist the JSA in defeating the
Ultra-Humanite (Infinity Inc #3-10). Shortly thereafter, at Infinity
Inc's first press conference, Hector revealed known his identity but those of
his parents as well (Infinity Inc #12).
Not long after the Hector left home,
Shiera resumed her role as Hawkgirl. In a case not yet revealed, Hawkgirl was
finally granted membership to the Justice Society as they group confronted the
Crisis on Infinite Earths (revealed in JSA #X). During the conflict,
Hawkman was badly burned by Dr. Phosphorous (Crisis on Infinite Earths
#9) and the couple retreated to Fiethera for medical assistance. The final fate of Hawkgirl on Earth-Two remains to be revealed.
Powers and Abilities
Hawkgirl has much of the same abilities are her husband Hawkman. She is armed with and skilled in the use of a variety of ancient medieval weapons and possesses wings laced with nth metal, giving her the power of flight. While she lacks superhuman abilities, she is an Olympic level athlete and highly experienced hand-to-hand combatant. She may have some degree of memories of past experience that is helpful. She was exposed to the radiation of Ian Karkull's apparent destruction in 1940 and was exposed to radiation that preserved her youth and vitality well into her later years.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Hawkgirl had no superhuman powers and could be captured or injured with sufficiently overwhelming force.
Multiversity
In the post-Crisis Timeline, the history of Hawkgirl is thought to be largely similar to her Earth-Two counterpart. One key difference is that Hawkgirl may have been a member of the Justice Society, though when this occurred, if it did, has not be precisely defined. She was actively engaged in uniform with the JSA during the Crisis on Infinite Earths and was with Hawkman when he was burned in battle with Doctor Phosphorus. After he had healed in Feithera,
Hawkman and Hawkgirl attended the memorial ceremony for the JSAers who had
fallen during the Crisis. From there the JSA and the Halls entered Limbo, where
they remained for three years battling Surter and staving off Ragnarok (Last Days of the JSA #1).
While in Limbo,
Hastor returned in the reincarnated form of Jame Rock, an Egyptian woman.
Hastor/Rock murdered Hector Hall, transforming him into the foretold
"child without a soul" (Infinity Inc. #42-44). Hector's spirit
then entered the dream world to become the new Sandman (Infinity Inc.
#49-51). When the Halls returned from Limbo, they learned of Hector's death,
and discovered that Lyta Trevor Hall had disappeared with their grandson. They
beseech the Spectre to return him, but the Spectre denied them and left them
to their grief (Spectre vol. 3 #21).
Hawkgirl remained active with the
JSA and she and Carter joined them as they prepared for their assault on
Extant. At the critical moment, however, they were whisked away and then fused
with all other incarnations of Hawkman (Zero Hour #3, Hawkman
vol. 3 #13). Hence, the minds of Carter and Shiera Hall seem to have survived the Zero Hour,
but they lack independent physical form. Eventually, Shiera's soul ends up in the body of her niece, Kendra Saunders who becomes the new Hawkgirl and joins a new version of the Justice Society (JSA Secret Files and Origins #1).
During the Blackest Night event, Kendra is killed and when resurrected by the White Lantern, the Hawkgirl who returns is now Shiera (Blackest Night #8). The final fate of Hawkgirl in this timeline is unknown.
Earth-40
On this earth, Shiera Saunders is an operative who engages in a tryst with the agent known as Superman, secretly Zod of Krypton. Afterwards, Zod murders her to prevent any knowledge she may have gleaned from being shared. Whether she was active as a version of Hawkgirl in this timeline is unknown (JSA Liberty Files: The Unholy Three #1).
Appearances
Hawkgirl's Golden Age appearances are largely included in those of Hawkman and are found delineated in his checklist appearances.
Other significant appearances
|
Issue |
Comments |
Reprints |
|
Supporting Role in Hawkman chapters of JSA stories |
All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 1. |
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Cameo |
All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 2. |
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Joins with other JSA girlfriends in costume vs Brain Wave |
All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 4 |
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Cameo |
All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 5 |
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Kidnapped by Zanadu, first Silver Age appearance |
Justice Society Vol. 1, Only Legends Live Forever, Showcase Presents, All-Star Comics |
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On a dig with Carter when he is taken by the Master Summoner |
Justice Society Vol. 2, Only Legends Live Forever, Showcase Presents, All-Star Comics |
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Joins the All-Star Squadron, 1940’s |
Showcase Presents: All-Star Squadron #1 |
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All-Star Squadron #29, 31, 35, 44, 46, 50, 51, 53, 54, 57-60, and 67 |
With the All-Star Squadron, 1940’s |
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With the Justice Society, vs. Ian Karkull, exposed to life-prolonging radiation |
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Flashback and cameo |
America vs. the Justice Society TPB |
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As part of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Hawkman injured |
Crisis on Infinite Earths HC, Crisis on Infinite Earths TPB, Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths |
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Cameo during Generations Saga |
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Secret Identity revealed |
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Participates in Crisis on Infinite Earths on Earth-Two |
Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion Deluxe Edition |