The HAWK and the DOVE
September 1968
Published by DC Comics, New York
By STEVE DITKO, Steve Skeates, Dick Giordano
Hank and Don Hall were the two sons of Judge Hall, a respected fighter for justice. Then one day, an unseen voice chose the two boys to become instruments of justice themselves. Each merely had to say the words “Hawk” and “Dove,” respectively, to become transformed into a super-powered crimefighter. The interesting part was that the two boys were as different as could be when it came to their own personalities. Hank (Hawk) was a hard-headed blowhard who thought with his fists. Don (Dove), on the other hand, shunned violence and preferred to think his way out of a situation.
Having debuted in Showcase #75, This 1968–69 series gave Hawk and Dove a chance to “spread their wings.” Much of the interest came from the pair’s obvious sibling rivalry, as well as the contrast between the fighter and the thinker. As the voice had no doubt surmised, the path to success lay in a combination of the two approaches.
Premiere issue. "The Dove is a Very Gentle Bird" is written by Steve Skeates with art by Steve Ditko. From the pages of Showcase comes the sibling team of crime-fighters with completely opposite views on how to deal with society's problems. On the right, you have Hank, who as Hawk is a reactionary whose first and only response to lawbreakers is to meet violence with violence. On the left, you have Hank's brother Don, who as Dove is always willing to listen to, compromise with and understand the problems of those outside the law.
When the Drop-Outs, a psychedelic group of armed robbers, crash a political fund-raiser held by Judge Hall, the boys' father, the differences between the two philosophies really comes to a head. Hank transforms into Hawk and throws himself at the crooks while Don, afraid that changing into Dove will arouse his father's ire, skirts around the edges of the fight looking for a clue as to the Drop-Outs' true identity. Set in the tumultuous '60s, this short-lived series captured the dichotomy of public opinion on how to deal with the perceived unraveling of civilization. It's overlaid with a healthy dose of Ditko's dogmatic "black or white," no moral grays, "A equals A" objectivist philosophy.
The central concept which was originally inspired by the emerging political divides of the 1960s (see war hawks and war doves) traditionally revolves around two young heroes with contrasting personalities and diametrically opposed ideologies who, by speaking their super-heroic aliases, are transformed and granted power sets of heightened strength, speed, and agility. With Dove representing reason and nonviolence and Hawk representing force and aggression, they complement one another and find a state of balance in order to effectively combat evil. With Dawn's introduction, it was revealed that Hawk and Dove receive their powers from the Lords of Chaos and Order, respectively, and that their powers are mystic in origin.
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