24. Darkhawk #1 and 2 ... Marvel ...

You know how every now and then Marvel and DC will attempt to diversify its lines by introducing new characters as solo or group? Sometimes they have appeared as guest stars in an ongoing before spinning off into their own series while other times, its bang straight in

Darkhawk is Marvel's offering in the age of grim n gritty comics and surprisingly it lasted quite a few years before it got axed. However, unlike other characters that would get dusted off the shelf every once in a few years with a limited series or one-shot or even failed ongoing relaunches, Darkhawk has never had that luxury. Yet oddly it has a "cult status" until today

It's not that Darkhawk has disappeared but rather he has subsequently appeared as guest stars and members in non-mainlining team books and it's pretty much quite regularly too. So the origins?

Well, it's about a young man who lives with his mom and 2 younger brothers. Like all people with a single parent family, they struggle with expenses and being the older brother, he is trying to juggle being the man of the household while pursuing his dreams and a hot babe! Hahaha!

So one day, out on a lark, (o he works part time too) he found a jewel and when touched transforms him into this weird uniform. So here in issues 1 and 2, our pal tries to find out about his powers. But he wasn't given the luxury of time as hoods are coming to home and hearth and messing around his neighbourhood. With issue 2, to up the market sales, we have both Spidey and Hobs making appearances

And that's it in a nutshell. The artwork is workmanlike at best but it tells a tale. It's neither great nor bad just a typical comic adventure of its time and in its own way actually works because it doesn't cash in on the growl and over-posturing styles of the trend then

I admit that I followed it for about 6 issues before dropping it simply because of limited budgets and the fact that you feel not so engaged with the protagonist

Ratings: 5/10