Origin
Hank Hall and his brother Don were complete polar opposites. Hank was hard-headed, and irascible with a talent for athletics. He lorded this over his brother, whose talents were more intellectual and pacifistic. Although they could often be each others most ardent adversaries, Hank and Don were extremely close and Hank was very protective of his younger brother.
By his teens, Hank grew to be fiercely proud of America’s role in world events, and firmly believed in the policy of dealing with Communist regimes from a position of strength. Irwin Hall, a prominent superior court judge, often lectured his sons on seeing both sides of an issue, not just making judgments from their respective conservative (Hank) and liberal (Don) views. He tried to make them realize that justice requires balance, not single-mindedness.
During Hank’s senior year in high school, Hank and Don were visiting Judge Hall at work when an assassination attempt was made on their father. Hank and Don followed the would-be assassin to a warehouse hideout. Climbing inside to eavesdrop, Hank and Don became locked in a room where they listened helplessly to the mob’s plans to kill their father, they wished they had some sort of power to save him. Their plea was answered by a mysterious mingling of voices who offered them superpowers if they each would just “say the word”.
The voices belonged to T’Charr, a Lord of Chaos, and Terataya, a Lord of Order. Even though the forces of Order and Chaos were eternal enemies, these two Lords had fallen in love. They wanted to prove to their fellow Lords the benefit of Order and Chaos’ working together in balance and found two likely candidates for this purpose in Hank and Don Hall, creating Hawk and Dove.
Hank was named Hawk to reflect his aggressive personality. Whenever danger was present, he could say “Hawk” and trigger the magical change into Hawk. Once the danger was gone, Hawk quickly reverted to Hank. Hawk’s clothing appeared out of nowhere and spread quickly across his body, completely replacing whatever Hank was wearing. This costume could not be removed on low-magic worlds like Earth and actually hid the fact that Hawk, as a conduit for pure Chaotic energy, wasn’t completely human.
Creation
The character of Hank Hall was created for use in DC Comics by both Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates. His first appearance came in Showcase #75. When both Ditko and Skeates each became dissatisfied over the direction of one of the Hall brothers (Don being too much of a wuss, and Hank being too violent and crazy), they both leave Hawk and Dove’s own series, and Gil Kane eventually took over as writer for the superhero duo’s last issue. Hank Hall along with Dawn Granger were relaunched in a New 52 book written by Sterling Gates and drawn by Rob Liefeld.
Major Story Arcs
Teen Titans
Hawk soon made himself known in Washington, D.C. first by saving his father (with Dove’s help), then by numerous other deeds. Hawk was often feared or distrusted, but even his critics saw the good he was doing for the city. Hawk and Dove joined the Teen Titans for a short time, but soon went to reserve status in order to devote more time to protecting their “home turf”.
Death of Dove
Meanwhile, T’Charr and Terataya saw that the brother bond they’d expected to help prove their point was instead under-mining the experiment by causing Don to be too deferential to his more volatile sibling. They shunted Dove’s power from Don Hall to an untainted vessel – Dawn Granger. Unfortunately, Don/Dove was rescuing some children from a collapsing building at the time, and was killed by a shadow demon.
The New Dove
Without the balancing effect of Dove, Hawk had less control over his chaotic tendencies. He soon was dismissed from the Titans’ reserve list and blacklisted in twelve countries. He was eventually tracked down by the new Dove (Dawn Granger), who suggested they become a team. After some initial – and violent – protests, Hawk came to accept the new Dove, seeing her not as a usurper but as someone who would carry on his brother’s work. With Dove’s return, Hawk’s chaotic side was once again in check. During a later adventure in another dimension, Hawk learned the true nature of his powers and had those powers further augmented by the Lord of Chaos who had created him. Hank grew more furious as time went on, and was unaware of the tragedy that would soon befall him.
Becoming Monarch
Ten years in the future, a power-mad despot ruled the world. Knowing this despot was actually a hero gone bad, Waverider wandered to the past to prevent Monarch’s origins. During the battle against Earth’s heroes Monarch managed to escape, stopping along the way to pick up Dawn Granger, otherwise known as Dove. During the next few hours, Monarch used his teleporting ability to steal an odd array of equipment. Standing atop a hilly glen, Monarch proceeded to build a powerful device that would subjugate the Earth of âthe present’ to his will. By this time, Hawk tracked them down and when Dove tried to stop Monarch, the villain seemingly killed her.
Hawk and Dove were always destined to be two sides of the same force, and they needed each other to maintain stability. With Dove dead, there was no one who could keep Hawk’s mind in check; no one to stop him from slipping into chaos. And in a rage, Hawk killed Monarch – learning that he himself was the Monarch of the future.
Hank Hall looked at the dead Monarch and then the machine he was building. Muttering to himself that Earth needed someone to maintain balance, someone to instill a sense of order; he put on Monarch’s armor and continued building the device. The combined might of earth’s heroes eventually defeated Hall, who now was known only as Monarch.
Dove’s apparent death, however, was actually part of a larger plan by the evil sorcerer, Mordru. Mordru saved Dawn from death and created a concealment spell so she would appear dead. Mordru knew the offspring of Hawk and Dove would create a being of perfect balance between Order and Chaos – and he planned to use that vessel for his own evil ends. Dawn was impregnated by Hank Hall, who had become the villainous Monarch. Dawn later gave birth to Hector Hall – who later assumed the mantle of Dr. Fate.
Becoming Extant
Stealing the chronal energies of Waverider, the rogue Monarch adopted the guise of the time-warping Extant and joined the former Green Lantern Hal Jordan – now the power-mad Parallax – to hasten the breakdown of time and create an entirely new reality of their own design.
It was then revealed that the Team Titans leader in the future was the villainous Monarch – who created a false future world so he could train meta-humans (The Team Titans) to act as sleeper agent assassins. He knew of the impending time crisis, and wanted a super-powered army at his command. Extant commanded all the Team Titans to attack the heroes who were trying to unravel this time crisis. His plan was thwarted; the heroes contained the Teamers.
Threatening to engulf the entirety of creation with the collapsing time stream, Parallax wiped out potential time-lines and drew scores of heroes from various possible eras into battle at the most literal Ground Zero, the beginning of time. There, as Parallax fell before the heroes’ assault, the young meta-human Damage exploded with unspeakable power, initiated a new “Big Bang” and restarted time. Reality and the time stream were rebuilt at the most basic levels.
But Zero Hour erased the false time-lines that had emerged. As a result, all the Team Titans were erased from existence. It was also during this event that Extant hit Atom with a chronal blast that de-aged him to a teenager. Atom would later lead a short-lived incarnation of the Teen Titans.
Death
Extant continued to plague all heroes, trying to manipulate time to further his own power-mad goals. A later encounter with the Justice Society may have at last put his schemes to an end forever; Atom Smasher was still reeling over his mother’s tragic death, who died in a plane crash engineered by the terrorist group, Korba. He eventually placed Extant on that same plane – in place of his mother – mere moments before it exploded. This closed a time lap and resulted in the destruction of Extant.
Blackest Night
For full arc information see: Blackest Night
When Black Power Rings flew over the graves of Hank and Don Hall, they revived Hank, but were unable to bring back Dove
because of his peace with the world. Hank rises and goes after Holly and Dawn Granger, the current team of Hawk and Dove.
He lures them into a library by leaving a trail of dead hawks and doves up to the library. He attacks them, but Dawn is able to evade all of his attacks. Holly, unfortunately is too fixated on attacking Hank, and her heart is soon ripped out, turning her into a Black Lantern. Along with many other Black Lantern titans, he and Holly attack Dove. She is approached by the ghost of Don Hall, the first Dove, who says they would be able to save Hank. She then unleashes a white energy blast at the Black Lanterns. Hank is able to escape with Tempest and Terra, while Holly and the rest of the Black Lanterns are destroyed. Hank is eventually revived by the Entity, the white light, just as Don said.
Joining the Birds of Prey
Hank recently joined the Birds of Prey along with Dove. Nobody on the team trusted him because of his arrogant and reckless behavior. On their first mission he was severely wounded at the hands of the White Canary.On the verge of passing out from his wound Hank tells Dove he is dying and that he has failed his mission. Hank said he wanted to get cremated and wanted his remains scattered, saying no Deadman, No Gravestone in Georgetown and no White Ring. With Dove tearing up he made her promise to not bring him back again that it wouldn’t be right. This drove Dove to punch the penguin in the face in anger. Later the Birds took Lady Blackhawk and Hank to the hospital. While Hank was unconscious he had a “dream” where he was in his White Lantern costume and standing over his brother’s gravestone in Georgetown, where Don his brother is waiting for him. Don tells him he can’t come with him yet because he has a purpose. Hank tells him nothing is right that he shouldn’t be alive and says that it should be him instead. Hank says when he is himself he can’t feel anything that nothing tastes or feels right. It’s like he is living underwater and it is only when he is Hawk he comes alive.Hearing this made his brother Don sad. Finally waking up in the hospital with Dawn be his side he is surprised to find his wound completely healed along with a note saying he has a purpose on it, also surprised not to find a scar on where his wound was. Although he has a healing factor in his Hawk form his wound healed while he was in his human form. Wanting payback after the teams earlier defeat, Oracle stops him and gives Hawk and Dove their next mission. Hank also apologizes to her for his behavior and for being out of line earlier but due to fact that he punched a Tank earlier just for aiming at him she still didn’t trust him.
Brightest Day
For full arc information see: Brightest Day
When Deadman show’s up in Dove’s room, Hank takes him to the cemetery in an attempt to resurrect his brother. The attempt fails much to Hawk’s anger.
After obeying the ring’s wish and going to “Eat cheeseburgers“, he is teleported with Deadman and Dove to the White Lantern. Hank tries to pick it up but is unable to, however when Deadman picks it up he is given a mission by the lantern: to stop a boomerang thrown by Digger Harkness from harming Dove.
When he tries to get more answers Deadman teleports to Hal Jordan and Dove goes with him to Hank’s surprise. Hawk and Dove are teleported to Star City Forest by Deadman. Deadman, Hawk, and Dove are to protect the White Lantern Tree, This tree is to be the foundation for the new Parliament of Trees. It was revealed that Captain Boomerang’s mission for throwing the boomerang was to free Hawk as an avatar of war from the Lords of Chaos because his act of saving Dove would have broken their hold on him to be his own self. However, he failed to catch the boomerang and instead it was caught by Boston Brand, who ended up dying in the process and used his final act to move his White Power Ring to Alec Holland and bring back Swamp Thing and cleanse the Green from Nekron’s influence. Hawk sadly was not free from being an avatar of war, while the darkness in him from Nekron was officially gone, his life was no longer his to control as a result.
The New 52 (Post-Flashpoint)
Hank Hall along and Dawn Granger were relaunched as Hawk and Dove in the New 52, they are assisted by Deadman, who Dove has some type of relationship with. Hank and his brother were still the original Dove and Hawk but at the start of the series Don is dead and his death during the Crisis on Infinite Earths is referenced.
Hawk and Dove often do battle against a pair of supervillains whose powers are nearly identical to their own named Condor and Swan. Their new adversaries try to kill the President of the United States Barack Obama as well as Hank’s father Irwin. While Hawk and Dove are fighting Condor and Swan, Swan flees and leaves Condor to be defeated by Hawk and Dove. Condor is then shown as an old man. As before Hawk is very aggressive and is a berserk brawler who takes advantage of his incredible healing factor. Dove is graceful, very fast, and agile. She prefers to talking things out and use intellect to solver her problems.
Powers & Abilities
HAWK: As Hawk, his magical transformation gave him enhanced strength, endurance, intelligence and agility. Hank’s powers were extensions and amplifications of traits he already possesses. Hawk had super-strength, faster-than-human speed, and a heightened body density which renders him almost invulnerable. As Hawk, he also healed incredibly quickly and could not revert to Hank or his wounds or some other condition would be fatal to Hank. Hawk fought offensively, always on the attack, and was easily enraged.
MONARCH: Even without his armor, Monarch is an above-average being with great strength, speed, and skill. Hank Hall was given special abilities by the Lords of Order and Chaos and at this time, neither force has interfered with Hank’s destiny as Monarch. As Monarch, Hank uses a suit of armor designed in the 21st Century for power and intimidation. The armor is a marvel, filled with all sorts of armaments including energy blasts and a teleportation device that allows him to move great distances in the wink of an eye. Monarch is ruthless and quite insane, making him one of the most dangerous human beings on Earth.
EXTANT: Extant has mastery and control over time, allowing him to travel to various eras at any time. He also has enhanced strength and durability, and chronal blasts, that can age or de-age its victims.
Alternate Version
He and his brother make a small cameo appearance in The Dark Knight Strikes Again, written by Frank Miller. They are long since retired and share a Manhattan apartment, both are elderly and out of shape. The two banter back and forth with Hawk wanting to suit back up in their old superhero costumes but Dove stating all they did was argue.
Other Media
DCAU
Justice League Unlimited
Voiced by Jason Hervey and Fred Savage, the original Hawk and Dove appeared in an episode of Justice League Unlimited titled “Hawk and Dove”. Wonder Woman asks them for their help in stopping the god of war Ares from inciting a war in Kazina. Dove’s pacifist style is mostly to credit in their being successful, as the Annihilator was powered by rage, which is the direct opposite of Don’s peacefulness.
Don (along with Hank) also appears in the series finale episode titled “Destroyer”. The brothers fight alongside other members of the Justice League such as Captain Atom, the Creeper, and The Question, against Parademons.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Hawk and Dove also show up in the episode “When OMAC Attacks!” for the series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Voiced by Greg Ellis and Dee Bradley Baker, they assist Batman and stop an intergalactic war from getting out of hand between The Controllers and the Warlords of Okaara. Their stances on dealing with problems comes to light, with Hawk proclaiming that violence is needed to stop people, and Dove wanting to be a diplomat and talk things through.
In the episode “The Siege of Starro!“, Starro manages to take over the minds and bodies of Hank and Don, in addition to other heroes. Eventually Starro is defeated and the brothers are returned to their normal state.
Titans
As of 2018, Hawk and Dove were depicted in the new DC Universe live action series Titans; the story follows the origins of various young heroes including Robin, Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire as well as other hero teams like the Doom Patrol and Hawk & Dove. Hawk is played by Alan Ritchson.
Characteristics
- Nickname:
- Gender: Male
- Height: 5′ 10″
- Weight: 181 lbs
- Eyes: Brown
- Hair: Brown
- Place(s) of Work: Washington D.C.
- Date of Birth:
- Place of Birth:
- Age:
- Occupation:
Family
- Irwin Hall [Father]
- Rae Hall [Mother]
- Don Hall [Brother]
*Some data was from Secret Origins #43.