| Derek's
Continuity Corner:
"Ancient History"
Most notable about this episode may be that
Geoff Johns wrote it. It was Johns that made Hawkman popular
again in comics, sorting out some of the most confusing
continuity around. That familiarity helped him here, though
as Goodson pointed out, this is JLU, not DCU.
In Johns' descrambled continuity, Carter
Hall had been the reincarnation of Prince Khufu, who along
with his wife had been doomed to be murdered over and over
again by the traitorous Hath-Set. Khufu's spiritual journey
had indeed been influenced by the crashing of a Thanagarian
ship, but he himself had been human.
A recent run of JSA took the team
back to explore Hawkman's roots, revealing a tie-in with
the wizard Shazam and his Egyptian champion Black Adam,
as well as a heretofore unknown Mesopotamian Metamorpho.
John Stewart was nowhere to be seen, but
for the purposes of this half-hour, making him part of the
eternal triangle works. What seems to be missing, though,
is the curse of Hath-Set coming back again and again to
undo Hawkman's happiness.
If anything,
Hath-Set has been replaced by the Shadow Thief, in the comics
Carl Sands. The explanation in this episode veers wildly from
established continuity, but hey, it is cool. Most of
the Hawkman/Shadow Thief continuity has been described
elsewhere, so let's move on to the Gentleman Ghost.
Currently bedeviling the JSA and established
as having been around for at least one of Hawkman's past
deaths, Gentleman Jim Craddock fights any Hawkman he can
find, going up against both Carter Hall and Katar Hol. Luckily
for him, he's also one of the most memorable, moving on
to fight Batman when Hawkman fell out of sales favor.
Why not? He's got the manners that make
women swoon, the monocle that makes him appear sophisticated,
and his fashion sense may be out-of-date, but it's still
pretty natty. If only he had a face.
Unlike some supervillains that appear otherworldly,
Jim Craddock really is a ghost. Though his biographical
details fluctuate (damn those continuity waves), Craddock
has been dead for at least a hundred years, killed by the
Old West hero Nighthawk. It's not just coincidence that
he faces all these Hawks - remember, they're all the same
soul.
A rogue (at best) in life, Craddock's soul
can't rest until Khufu's finally does. That requires a karmic
balancing that neither man seems able to achieve.
So if you've got to wander the Earth in
a quasi-disembodied state, you might as well steal and cause
general mayhem, especially when you've got too much taste
to hang out in an abandoned house on the hill.
The show generates some continuity waves
of its own this episode with John full knowing the future
but doing his damnedest to fight it. Between you and me,
I'd pick Shayera over Vixen, but that's mainly because supermodels
are just too high maintenance.
|
