Hawkman

Hawkman's History

In the days of ancient Egypt, Prince Khufu was engaged in a feud with his rival the Egyptian priest Hath-Set. The priest eventually captured both Khufu and his consort Chay-Ara, and killed them. Millennia later, in 1940, Khufu was reincarnated as American archaeologist Carter Hall, and Chay-Ara as Shiera Sanders. Hath-Set himself was reincarnated as a scientist named Anton Hastor. Hastor turned to evil, while Hall regained his memories of his past life and recognized Hastor. Using the properties of "ninth metal" to craft a gravity-defying belt, Hall created wings and a costume and confronted Hastor as Hawkman. He also encountered and remembered Shiera during this time, and following Hastor's defeat the two began a romance. Hawkman was a charter member of the Justice Society of America, and became their permanent chairman, following the Flash and Green Lantern. Shiera, meanwhile, adopted the identity of Hawkgirl and fought beside Hall throughout the 1940s. Hawkman was JSA chairman in 1951 when the team was investigated by the "Joint Congressional Un-American Activities Committee" (based on the real-life House Un-American Activities Committee) for possible communist sympathies and asked to reveal their identities. The heroes declined, and Hawkman and most of the JSA retired for the bulk of the 1950s. The JSA and Hawkman reactivated in the early 1960s following the Flash's meeting with his counterpart on the parallel world Earth-1, the JSA being active on Earth-2. Around this time, the Halls, having married, had a son, Hector, who would later become the Silver Scarab and after that an incarnation of Doctor Fate. Little is known of Hawkman's activities during the 1960s, other than the JSA's annual meeting with Earth-1's Justice League of America. In the early 1980s, Hawkman was instrumental in denying his son and other JSA children membership in the JSA, leading directly to the formation of Infinity, Inc. Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, some of Hall's history was retconned when the parallel worlds were combined into one, but one piece of retroactive continuity was written before Crisis and fills out early Hall history: All-Star Squadron Annual #3 states that during a JSA battle against Ian Karkull, the villain imbued them with energy which retarded their aging, allowing Hall and many others - as well as their spouses - to remain active into the late 20th century without infirmity.